Judge Defers Ruling on RFK Jr.'s Motion to Consolidate in Missouri v. Biden

U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty deferred (docket 3:22-cv-01213) a ruling on a motion to consolidate (docket 3:23-cv-00381) filed Tuesday by plaintiffs Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Children’s Defense and Connie Sampognaro (see 2304050007) until a resolution has been rendered on the pending motion for preliminary injunction in Missouri et al. v. Biden et al. in U.S. District Court for Western Louisiana in Monroe. The court is also waiting for resolution on a pending motion for leave to amend complaint to add class allegations and for class certification. Missouri v. Biden centers on allegations of “government censorship of free speech by means of coercion and/or significant encouragement toward social-media platforms,” said Doughty, a Donald Trump appointee. Kennedy v. Biden is a “First Amendment challenge to the massive, systematic efforts by the federal government to induce social media companies to censor constitutionally protected speech,” said plaintiffs’ Saturday notice of motion for consolidation. Kennedy filed to run for president as a Democrat Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission. “Due to the current procedural status of this case and the voluminous filings already made in relation to the pending motions, the Court finds that it would not be appropriate at this time to consolidate these matters,” Doughty said, noting the two pending motions before the court are still not fully briefed. The court agrees with defendants that allowing the Kennedy plaintiffs to submit a separate motion for preliminary injunction, consolidation of that motion with the Missouri Plaintiffs’ motion, and submission by the Kennedy plaintiffs of a motion for certification of their putative class prior to the court hearing the Missouri plaintiffs’ outstanding motions would place a “substantial burden on both the court and defendants.”