Ark. AG Opposes NetChoice Motion to Stay Discovery in Social Media Case

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin opposes NetChoice’s Oct. 27 motion for a “preemptive” discovery stay pending the resolution of NetChoice’s forthcoming dispositive motion in NetChoice’s constitutional challenge to SB-396, the Arkansas age-verification Social Media Safety Act (see 2310300008), said Griffin’s opposition Monday (docket 5:23-cv-05105) in U.S. District Court for Western Arkansas in Fayetteville. NetChoice won a preliminary injunction Aug. 31 blocking Griffin’s enforcement of SB-396 (see 2309010024). A “hypothetical, unfiled motion isn’t grounds for a discovery stay,” said Griffin’s opposition. It’s not clear how the court “could even assess the likelihood of success of an unseen motion and determine that’s grounds for a discovery stay,” it said. That’s unless, as NetChoice apparently believes, the issuance of a preliminary injunction “always warrants a stay of discovery,” it said. That’s an “odd position,” since a preliminary injunction “is supposed to freeze things in place while the parties proceed with the case,” it said. That’s why the court should reject NetChoice’s motion, it said.