It’s been over six months since my last post. Sorry about that, but life got as hectic as a diner at breakfast rush, and you’re about to find out why.

Here’s the skinny:

We’ve had this little thing called an election recently, but let’s save that juicy bit for dessert.

Kory v. Newson, the sequel to the AB 2098 blockbuster. Last we chatted, Judge Shubb threw a curveball at our preliminary injunction motion by resuscitating the professional speech exclusion for First Amendment protection—a notion the Supreme Court had already rejected in 2018 in its NIFLA decision. (Nat’l Inst. of Family & Life Advocates v. Becerra, 585 U.S. 755 (2018)

Just last week, I stood before the 9th Circuit, which seemed poised to tightening the noose on NIFLA after already trimming its sails in Tingley v. Ferguson 47 F.3d 1055 (9th Cir. 2022). For those not steeped in First Amendment esoterica, I promise a rain check for a deeper dive. The cliffhanger? It seems likely the circuit court will side with Judge Shubb. The oral arguments were tougher than a two-dollar steak, and while a fiery dissent might be in the offing, I’m not betting the farm on it. More on this saga once we get the decision, (and due to some tension about what NIFLA and some other cases mean, it might be a very tough decision).

Stockton v. Ferguson To recap from a prior episode, this is a case against the Washington Medical Commission, which has been prosecuting physicians for their public speech against the mainstream Covid narrative.

Picture this: a doctor writes an op-ed suggesting the Covid vaccine is more a Band-Aid than a cure-all, and the board counters with claims straight out of an alternative reality novel that the Covid vaccine will stop infection and transmission, and gives a gobbledygook explanation of why. The district judge denied our preliminary injunction motion, so we appealed to the Ninth Circuit. That appeal is pending. However, because the Commission’s action are so (there’s a fitting scatological term, but I’ll go with just) crazy, we also sought an emergency injunction from the 9th Circuit. But they gave us a hard no, and told us to to proceed with the appeal.

We just couldn’t let that stand. So, we recently filed an application with the Supreme Court for an injunction pending appeal or to take the case up on cert now. It’s a long shot, but sometimes you just have to swing for the fences. For the legally curious, here is our hail Mary.130475 Application FINAL

An interesting coincidence: One of the two judges who rejected our 9th Circuit PI motion in Stockton, was one of the three panel members who heard the Kory oral argument, and she had about the same opinion about the Kory case as she had about Stockton.

Meanwhile, if the Kory panel issues a decision while Stockton is still hanging before the Supremes, we’ll sprint to file a cert petition faster than you can say “judicial jiu-jitsu,” hoping the Supremes will tackle both cases and set the record straight on physicians’ free speech, to patients and to the public.

But wait, there’s more!
Since May, I’ve been moonlighting as one of the legal wingmen to my pal Bobby K., jumping into the fray of his federal case in San Francisco against Meta for censoring his super PAC documentary, and diving into his New York Elections Board drama to get him back on the ballot. Both efforts moved at warp speed and, while we didn’t get the result we hoped, the paperwork blizzard was something to behold.

And Then There Was The Election
I’ll keep it brief: We’re teetering on the brink of fascinating and hopeful times. Bobby, one of the sharpest tools in the shed, seems to have Big Pharma hosting crisis meetings. While I can’t spill insider beans (because I don’t have any), rumors suggest Bobby is having and will continue to have major role in steering the health ship alongside Trump. And it starts from the ground up—literally. With Farmer Joel Salitan talking soil health, we might just cool the planet, one farm at a time. And that’s just for openers. The names being whispered for future roles promise to stir up more than just a little dust, and much trouble for those who have profited from maintaining the unhealth of Americans.

It’s sure to be a wild ride, so buckle up, and stay tuned!

Rick Jaffe, Esq.