Victory for Free Speech: On October 1, 2023, the Liberty Justice Center announced a victory for free speech as California conceded the inevitable and quietly repealed its physician-censorship law. The repeal took effect on January 1, 2024.
Case History: Regardless of their chosen profession, all Americans have the constitutional right to free speech—not just speech that falls into line with politically favored viewpoints.
Science is not static. By its very nature, science is constantly evolving and the subject of unending debate. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, however, politically motivated government officials and public health officials have named themselves the arbiters of “scientific consensus,” and threatened dire consequences for those who don’t fall into line.
In 2022, California gave bureaucrats unprecedented power to enforce “consensus” and police speech as Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2098 (AB 2098), a law authorizing the Medical Board of California to punish doctors with license revocation for sharing “misinformation” about COVID-19. The law defined “misinformation” as anything “contradicted by contemporary scientific consensus”—a vague, constantly shifting standard that chilled doctors’ free speech.
Two California doctors—Los Angeles psychiatrist Dr. Mark McDonald, MD, and Orange County primary care physician Dr. Jeff Barke, MD—stood up against this power grab, seeking to protect physicians’ free speech rights and their ability to give their patients their best honest advice. The Liberty Justice Center sued on their behalf, arguing that AB 2098’s censorship violated the First Amendment.
On October 1, 2023, after a year of litigation—and a hearing where the state faced an icy reception from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals—the Liberty Justice Center announced a victory for free speech as California conceded the inevitable and quietly repealed its physician-censorship law. AB 2098’s repeal took effect on January 1, 2024.
“It shouldn’t have taken a lawsuit and a year of litigation, but we’re thrilled to see California restore doctors’ ability to speak freely by repealing this censorship law,” said Liberty Justice Center President Jacob Huebert. “Doctors have the same right to free speech as everyone else, and patients deserve their doctors’ best honest advice. We’re glad California repealed this bill before it could spread to other states, and we’re proud to have defended our clients’ First Amendment rights.”
“We are proud to have been a part of the Liberty Justice Center’s work to defend free speech,” said plaintiff Dr. Mark McDonald. “Because of this repeal, California doctors no longer have to fear that giving patients their expert medical opinion could lead to punishment by bureaucrats—who have no medical training and are wholly unaccountable to the public they’re harming through such laws.”
The Liberty Justice Center continues to litigate in defense of Americans’ fundamental constitutional rights, including the right to free speech (online as well as offline), the right to keep and bear arms, parental rights, the right of public access, and more.