• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, June 29, 2018

President Trump continues to block critics on Twitter, despite a federal judge's recent ruling that it is unconstitutional for the government to block people based on their views, a watchdog says in a new letter to the Department of Justice.

In its letter, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University says it has been contacted by people who have expressed disapproval of Trump or his policies, and believe they have been blocked from accessing @realDonaldTrump as a result.

"We write now to ask that defendants unblock these individuals from the @realDonaldTrump account," lawyers with the Knight Institute write in a letter sent to the DOJ Thursday. They add that they could return to court, unless the users are unblocked.

"The action we propose here would obviate the need for litigation in the district court," the letter states.

Since taking office, Trump has blocked numerous Twitter users who expressed criticism, including horror writer Stephen King, celebrity Chrissy Teigen and the progressive veterans group VoteVets.

U.S. District Court Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald ruled last month that Trump violates free speech principles by blocking people based on their political views. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed last year by the Knight Institute on behalf of seven blocked users.

"The blocking of the individual plaintiffs as a result of the political views they have expressed is impermissible under the First Amendment," Buchwald wrote in May.

She suggested that Trump should "mute" critics instead, writing that muting "vindicates the President’s right to ignore certain speakers and to selectively amplify the voices of certain others but -- unlike blocking -- does so without restricting the right of the ignored to speak."

After the ruling came out, the White House unblocked the seven users who sued, but left other users blocked, according to the Knight Institute.

The White House has appealed Buchwald's ruling to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, and is expected to present its written arguments by August 7.