https://www.kcra.com/article/california-covid-19-misinformation-law-judge-blocks/42679694
A new California law that empowers the state medical board to punish doctors for spreading COVID-19 misinformation is now on hold following a federal judge’s decision this week. Video above: Top headlines for January 26, 2023Judge William B. Shubb of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California temporarily halted the law after opponents of the measure began the process of challenging it in court. Five doctors sued state leaders, claiming the law is a violation of their First Amendment rights to free speech and expression and their Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process of law. The group argued the term “contemporary scientific consensus” is undefined in the law and undefinable as a matter of logic. No one can know, at any given time, the “consensus” of doctors and scientists on various matters related to the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, a spokesperson on behalf of the doctors said. Judge Shubb, an appointee during the Bush administration, sided with the group stating, “COVID-19 is such a new and evolving area of scientific study, it may be hard to determine which scientific conclusions are ‘false’ at a given point in time.” Shubb said the term misinformation is “unconstitutionally vague.” The court proceeding may be the first of many relating to the measure that was first proposed in early 2022, which at the time saw the omicron variant of COVID-19 surge throughout the state and nation. The author of the law, Democratic Assm. Evan Low, had not responded to a request for comment as of Thursday afternoon.
A new California law that empowers the state medical board to punish doctors for spreading COVID-19 misinformation is now on hold following a federal judge’s decision this week.
Video above: Top headlines for January 26, 2023
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Judge William B. Shubb of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California temporarily halted the law after opponents of the measure began the process of challenging it in court.
Five doctors sued state leaders, claiming the law is a violation of their First Amendment rights to free speech and expression and their Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process of law.
The group argued the term “contemporary scientific consensus” is undefined in the law and undefinable as a matter of logic. No one can know, at any given time, the “consensus” of doctors and scientists on various matters related to the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, a spokesperson on behalf of the doctors said.
Judge Shubb, an appointee during the Bush administration, sided with the group stating, “COVID-19 is such a new and evolving area of scientific study, it may be hard to determine which scientific conclusions are ‘false’ at a given point in time.”
Shubb said the term misinformation is “unconstitutionally vague.”
The court proceeding may be the first of many relating to the measure that was first proposed in early 2022, which at the time saw the omicron variant of COVID-19 surge throughout the state and nation.
The author of the law, Democratic Assm. Evan Low, had not responded to a request for comment as of Thursday afternoon.
