Judge Rules Trump's Order to End Funding for PBS, NPR Was an Illegal First Amendment Violation
(Variety) A federal judge ruled that President Donald Trumps executive order last year to end funding for PBS and NPR public media violated the First Amendment.
In a ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss of the District Court for D.C. said Trumps executive order to cease funding for NPR and PBS is unlawful and unenforceable. The judge wrote that the First Amendment right to free speech does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type.
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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 wrote.
Trumps order defunding PBS and NPR singles out two speakers and, on the basis of their speech, bars them from all federally funded programs
Although there are many lawful reasons that the government might decline to make a valuable governmental benefit available to someone, punishing disfavored private speech is not one of them.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/judge-rules-trump-order-end-185010219.html