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07/10/2018

What Trump's pick of Kavanaugh for Supreme Court means for tech

President Trump has made his Supreme Court justice pick: Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

The commander-in-chief announced on Twitter Wednesday morning that he would name a nominee to serve on the highest federal court in the United States at 6 p.m. PT Monday night. The choice comes about two weeks after Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced he would retire by July 31. (Check out out the full coverage at our sister site CBS here.)

Trump's choice, if confirmed by the Senate, will have a major voice on landmark cases for years to come. Supreme Court justices decide on cases every year that affect everything from education to marriage equality to free speech. Tech has increasingly been seen on the court's docket. In 2018, the justices ruled on cases that affected online shopping and phone location data history privacy.  

In October, the Supreme Court is expected to hear cases on tech issues again, including an antitrust argument over Apple's App Store.

Kavanaugh, 53, has served as a US Court of Appeals judge for the DC Circuit for 12 years, providing opinions on key tech issues like net neutrality and government surveillance.

The potential Supreme Court justice sided against net neutrality in a 2017 dissent, arguing that it was "one of the most consequential regulations ever issued by any executive or independent agency in the history of the United States."

Kavanaugh wrote that net neutrality was unlawful because it prevented internet service providers from controlling what type of content they provide to people, violating a company's First Amendment rights. He compared it to cable providers being able to control what customers could watch.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, called Kavanaugh out for his stance on net neutrality in a tweet on July 3.

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