EUGENE VOLOKH ON SpaceX’s First Amendment Claim Against California Coastal Commission. “The California Coastal Commission recently decided to block SpaceX’s increase in annual launches at Vandenberg Space Force Base from 36 to 50. SpaceX has just sued, claiming the decision was preempted by federal authority, violated state law, and also violated the First Amendment. I can’t speak to the preemption arguments and the statutory arguments, but I wanted to pass along some thoughts about the First Amendment question. SpaceX is arguing that the Commission’s 6-4 decision was influenced by the Commissioners’ disapproval of Elon Musk’s politics and speech.”

That’s not a hard argument to make, since the Commissioners basically said that.