Let’s do it. The Supreme Court has dealt a major blow to President Donald Trump’s decision to ban CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House.
Federal Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the Trump administration to immediately restore journalists from all three media organizations to the White House. The court acknowledged that journalists were not given due process required by the Constitution before revoking their press passes.
On September 18, Trump announced the expulsion of these three media organizations from the White House in a social media post. He accused them of continuously reporting ‘fake news’. Then on September 19, the journalists of the three organizations were banned from the White House and their press passes were revoked. The three media organizations went to court trying to get the ban lifted.
Judge Kelly said in his ruling that the government should provide information and an opportunity to present its case before it takes away a person’s constitutionally protected rights. The court acknowledged that the administration did not provide an adequate precedent for journalists in this case. The administration’s subsequent letter was not considered sufficient to address this deficiency.
At the beginning of the hearing, the administration cited national security as a justification for the ban. The government’s lawyers argued that it was a privilege, not a right to enter the White House. Meanwhile, lawyers for media organizations argued that the national security argument had arisen after the ban.
Judge Kelly also referred to a 2018 case. In which the Trump administration revoked CNN journalist Jim Acosta’s White House press pass. Kelly ordered the pass reinstated in that case. In the current case, he also noted that previous court decisions required journalists to provide information and an opportunity to present their views before their passes were revoked.
Three media outlets challenged Trump’s decision, citing First Amendment and due process rights. The new court order will require the administration to restore access to the White House. — Agency
