NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - Harry Cherry, a New York journalist, has dropped his lawsuit against U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who he claims violated his First Amendment rights when she blocked him on Twitter.
The case, which was filed July 15, had no activity for two months, beginning Sept. 24, 2019. On Dec. 26, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York mailed a electronic status report copy to the plaintiff.
Cherry, who was representing himself, was given until Jan. 15 to file a reply, understanding that the case would be dismissed for failure to prosecute if he did not. Judge Frederic Block dismissed the case after receiving no reply.
Similar lawsuits have been filed against Ocasio-Cortez.
Dov Hikind, a former New York politician, filed a lawsuit that was settled in November. He contended that his rights to free speech were violated when he was blocked. She issued an apology as part of a settlement that said, “In retrospect, it was wrong and improper and does not reflect the values I cherish. I sincerely apologize for blocking Mr. Hikind. Now and in the future, however, I reserve the right to block users who engage in actual harassment or exploit my personal/campaign account, @AOC, for commercial or other improper purposes.”
His court filing read that it was unconstitutional for Ocasio-Cortez to block him because she uses the Twitter account as a public forum that comments on the news cycles and advocates her position. The suit said that she blocked other users, such as student group Students for Trump and The Daily Wire writer Ryan Saavedra. The congresswoman said that she blocked less than 20 accounts on the social media platform.
The lawsuit of Joseph Saladino remains pending.