No Case Or Controversy

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered the dismissal of an action 

brought by doctors who challenged California’s now repealed Assembly Bill 2098, which made it “unprofessional conduct” for a doctor to provide COVID-19-related “disinformation” or “misinformation” to patients.

The repealed legislation

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, California enacted Assembly Bill 2098 (AB 2098). AB 2098 made it “unprofessional conduct” for a doctor to provide COVID19-related “disinformation” or “misinformation” to patients. Several doctors challenged the law as an unconstitutional restriction of speech and unconstitutionally vague, including the plaintiffs in these consolidated appeals.

Conclusion

Because there is no indication that California is reasonably likely to reenact AB 2098 or anything substantially similar to it, and because the possibility of California enforcing AB 2098 following its repeal is at best “remote,” Decker v. Nw. Envt’l Def. Ctr., 568 U.S. 597, 610 (2013), there is no longer an ongoing case or controversy for us to resolve. See City & County of San Francisco v. Garland, 42 F.4th 1078, 1087 (9th Cir. 2022); see also Pitts v. Terrible Herbst, Inc., 653 F.3d 1081, 1086–87 (9th Cir. 2011). Accordingly, we vacate the district court’s judgment and remand with instructions for the district court to dismiss Case Nos. 8:22-cv-01085 FWS-ADS and 3:22-cv-01922 RSH-JLB as moot. Munsingwear, 340 U.S. at 39.

(Mike Frisch)