U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss said the order is unlawful and unenforceable because it violates the First Amendment right to free speech, which “does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type.”
Afederal judge Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump’s order to cut funding for National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service, alleging the executive order violates the First Amendment because it amounts to “viewpoint discrimination.”
Trump signed the executive order last May, stating that NPR and PBS no longer served a meaningful purpose warranting taxpayer funding because there are so many private media choices in the digital era.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss said the order is unlawful and unenforceable because it violates the First Amendment right to free speech, which “does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type.”
“It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the President does not like and seeks to squelch,” Moss, an Obama appointee, wrote in the order, according to the Associated Press.
Free speech should not cost the general public a dime. I think that’s why it’s called free speech.