Judge Andrew Carter
Southern New York U.S. District Court
Andrew Lamar Carter, Jr. was born in January 1969 in Albany, Georgia. He earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin and received his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.
He was a program assistant at the Ford Foundation for two years, then worked as an attorney at the Legal Aid Society before working for the Federal Defenders of New York.
Carter was appointed as a U.S. magistrate judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, serving two years, until his nomination by President Barack Obama to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. He was confirmed by a voice vote of the Senate and received his commission in December 2011.
In the News…
A law passed by the New York legislature in 2022 required social media companies to censor “hateful conduct” on their platforms.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Andrew Carter said that, despite the “well-intentioned goal,” the First Amendment protects speech “that may be deemed hateful” from state regulation.
“The Hateful Conduct Law both compels social media networks to speak about the contours of hate speech and chills the constitutionally protected speech of social media users, without articulating a compelling governmental interest or ensuring that the law is narrowly tailored to that goal,” Judge Carter wrote in the decision. “In the face of our national commitment to the free expression of speech, even where that speech is offensive or repugnant, Plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction, prohibiting enforcement of the law, is GRANTED.”
The judge also noted that the law was poorly written, vague, overbroad, and coercive.
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Carter today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Andrew L. Carter, Jr.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse
40 Foley Square
New York, NY 10007
