Musk takes SEC ‘Twitter sitter’ consent decree appeal to US Supreme Court – The Register

Elon Musk’s lawyers are again trying to get the world’s richest man out of his “Twitter sitter” consent decree with the US Securities and Exchange Commission via an appeal to the US Supreme Court. Filed yesterday [PDF], Musk’s legal team repeats the same general argument it has made since Musk and the SEC signed an agreement in 2019 that required a lawyer to vet tweets from the Tesla supremo that could have an material effect on the company or its investors.  Namely, that the consent decree amounts to prior restraint on Musk’s First Amendment free speech rights and is a violation of the unconstitutional conditions doctrine, which “forbids burdening the Constitution’s enumerated rights by coercively withholding benefits from those who exercise them,” or so Musk’s lawyers say in their petition, citing a prior Supreme Court decision.  Referring to Musk’s multiple attempts to get out of the consent decree, his lawyers note in their petition for a writ of certiorari that previous denials of the request have largely come down to the fact that Musk signed the consent decree of his own accord. Thus, or so multiple courts and the SEC itself have said, there is no infringement on Musk’s free
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