Judge: President can’t block critics on Twitter

NEW YORK (AP) – A federal judge in New York says President Donald Trump violates the First Amendment by blocking critics on Twitter for political speech.
  
Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald (rees BUHK’-wahld) in Manhattan issued the written decision Wednesday.
  
In ruling, she said no government official – including the president – is above the law.
  
The case was brought last July by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and seven individuals blocked by Trump after criticizing the Republican president.
  
After a hearing this year, the judge had suggested that Trump mute rather than block some of his critics. At the time, a Justice Department attorney agreed that muting would enable Trump to avoid a tweet he doesn’t want to read.