American Association of Pediatrics v. Uthmeier

The American Academy of Pediatrics is a nonprofit professional association of pediatricians that conducts research, writes policy statements, and educates both physicians and the public about children’s health. It does not sell medical care, treatments, or any other product. 

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier didn’t like what the AAP had to say about transgender healthcare or their opposition to Florida’s health agency Medicaid rulemaking. So he sued them under state consumer protection, antitrust, and racketeering laws—despite the fact that the AAP’s speech wasn’t the kind of commercial speech those laws regulate.

In defense of its First Amendment rights, the AAP filed suit in the Northern District of Illinois, arguing that the federal court should step in and enjoin Florida’s retaliatory litigation against its protected speech. The federal judge agreed and enjoined the proceedings, finding Uthmeier’s claims “as weak as they come” and his timing and inflammatory public campaign against the AAP indicative of bad faith. Uthmeier then appealed, and a Seventh Circuit panel affirmed the district court opinion before the full Seventh Circuit vacated and granted a rehearing en banc.

FIRE filed a “friend of the court” brief explaining that state officials wielding government power to chill disfavored speech is a growing and bipartisan problem. Left unchecked, officials on the left and right will be emboldened to follow Uthmeier’s playbook, leaving Americans’ constitutional rights subject to the political majorities of their state. FIRE urged the Seventh Circuit to affirm the district court’s decision to enjoin Uthmeier’s bad faith litigation.