Another lawsuit against Trump

It's a bad sign for democracy when this even has to be done.

PEN America, an organization of writers that defends free expression, together with the nonprofit organization Protect Democracy and the Yale Law School Media Freedom and Information Clinic, is filing suit in federal court seeking an order directing the president not to use the force of his office to exact reprisals against the press.

[...]

President Trump’s tirades against the press are by now routine, and may seem to fit right in with our no-holds-barred culture of polarized punditry and bluster. But the president of the United States isn’t just another talking head. It is vital that courts weigh in to underscore that no matter what a given president may think and say, a free press is an essential pillar of our democracy. A court could affirm that by reminding President Trump that his freedom of speech does not extend to threatening to use the powers of his office against the press.

  Politico

Among the instances cited for the basis of this suit are threatening to target Jeff Bezos for what the Washington Post prints (and ultimately following through by ordering the Postal Service to review Amazon's shipping rates); threatening to withdraw press credentials of reporters who criticze him; barring a CNN reporter from a press conference; and inciting his followers to attack the press.

Those are all presidential violations of the First Amendment. He should be sanctioned, not "directed". Lord knows he won't take direction.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:  A lawyer's opinion: