What Sotomayor Could Mean for Network Neutrality and the First Amendment

[Commentary] The nomination hearings of US Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor began Monday and during opening remarks, Sen Al Franken noted that the Supreme Court is "the last place a person can go to protect the free flow of information on the Internet." Most people would wonder what the Supreme Court has to do with Network Neutrality. There are two main legal issues: 1) can Congress adopt a network neutrality law without the Supreme Court overturning it, and 2) can the Federal Communications Commission adopt a network neutrality rule without a specific law passed by congress first? Judge Sotomayor's history is a blank slate on this, with very few hints. Ammori writes: "Here's the question I'd ask: Please tell us about the free speech rights of media, telephone, and cable companies. That is, do their rights trump the rights of citizens and users of media?"