Rutenburg v. Twitter, Inc.
- Yvonne Rogers
- 4:21-cv-00548
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Rutenburg v. Twitter, Judge Rogers ordered Maria Rutenburg to explain why the case should not be dismissed for lack of federal jurisdiction.
Maria Rutenburg and Twitter, Inc.; the order required Rutenburg to address the court’s jurisdiction concern and changed Twitter’s response deadline.
What happened
In Rutenburg v. Twitter, Inc., the court ordered Maria Rutenburg to explain why her case should not be dismissed because the court may lack authority to hear it.
The court identified a possible problem with claims that Twitter violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments: those constitutional protections generally apply to government action, while Twitter is a private company. The court did not decide whether the case must be dismissed.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denied as moot the parties’ agreed schedule for briefing a possible preliminary-injunction motion or motion to dismiss, extended Twitter’s deadline to respond to the complaint by 90 days, and set deadlines for written responses to the order.
The detailed version
- Rutenburg v. Twitter, Inc. · No. 4:21-cv-00548
- Yvonne Rogers
- Feb. 11, 2021
Background
Maria Rutenburg sued Twitter, Inc. The order does not describe all of Rutenburg’s claims, but it refers to claims under the First Amendment and related claims under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Court’s jurisdiction concern
The court ordered Rutenburg to show cause—meaning to explain in writing—why the case should not be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, or the court’s legal authority to hear the case. The order cited the concern that constitutional free-speech protections generally restrict government action, not conduct by a private entity such as Twitter. The court did not make a final determination that jurisdiction was absent and did not dismiss the case in this order.
Other rulings and deadlines
The court denied as moot the parties’ stipulation concerning the briefing schedule for any forthcoming motion for a preliminary injunction or motion to dismiss. The court extended Twitter’s deadline to respond to the complaint by 90 days, until May 19, 2021, and terminated Docket Number 15.
Rutenburg’s written response to the order was due February 24, 2021. Twitter’s response was due March 10, 2021, and Rutenburg could file a reply by March 17, 2021. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers signed the order on February 11, 2021.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.