CA Lawmakers Ask Merrick Garland to Halt Net Neutrality Lawsuit

LOS ANGELES—After the Federal Communications Commission tossed out federal net neutrality rules in June of 2018, California passed its own law to enforce open internet regulations. Less than 24 hours after the bill became law in September of that year, the United States Justice Department slapped California with a federal lawsuit to stop it.  Now, a group of California Democratic lawmakers have called on Merrick Garland — President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to become U.S. Attorney General — to drop the lawsuit immediately after Biden’s inauguration on January 20.  Net neutrality rules ensure that all data traffic online is treated equally by internet service providers, no matter what the source of that data happens to be. The rules are especially important for the online adult industry, because adult sites could be subjected to traffic slowdowns or even blocking by ISPs without net neutrality rules in place. The federal lawsuit remains ongoing — even after a federal appeals court ruled in October of 2019 that states had the right to impose their own net neutrality rules, even if the federal rules were repealed. In September of last year, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a brief in federal court to counter the lawsuit, and allow California to move ahead with its net neutrality regulations. A group of 13 Democratic members of the state’s congressional delegation signed a letter to Garland dated January 12. The group was led by 18th District Rep Anna Eshoo, who represents the Silicon Valley cities of Redwood City, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and parts of San Jose. “We urge the new Department of Justice to withdraw from the U.S. federal government’s lawsuit against the State of California over its net neutrality law as one of the first actions after inauguration,” the letter to Garland reads. “A free and open internet is critical for innovation, free expression, and our economy, and net neutrality rules are exceedingly popular.” The letter notes that a hearing on the case is scheduled for January 26 in the Eastern District of California federal court, which, the lawmakers say, is why they are urging Garland to drop the lawsuit as soon after the inauguration as possible. At that hearing, if it proceeds, the federal government will ask the court to hit California with an injunction against enforcing its net neutrality law.  While it appears unlikely that Garland will have been confirmed by the Senate before January 26, Biden is expected to ask him to step in as acting attorney general prior to the confirmation process.  Photo By The White House / Wikimedia Commons Public Domain