Biden Judicial Nom Argued for Outlawing Offensive Speech, Suggested ‘Microaggressions’ Can ‘Kill You’ Meet Maria Araujo Kahn, Biden’s nominee for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals

Meet Maria Araujo Kahn, Biden’s nominee for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals

Joe Biden’s nominee to fill a vacancy on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals is a longtime diversity trainer who has argued for curtailing the First Amendment and conducted training sessions that say "microaggressions" can "kill you."

Now an associate justice on the Connecticut State Supreme Court, Maria Araujo Kahn flirted in a 2020 opinion with criminalizing speech that offends "oppressed groups." Since 2013, she has also delivered at least a dozen diversity trainings and presentations to lawyers across the country, with titles like "Cultural Competence, Implicit Association and Racial Anxiety," according to her Senate Judiciary Questionnaire.

To prepare for one of those trainings, offered to graduates of Fordham Law School, participants were instructed to watch an animated video, "How Microaggressions Are Like Mosquito Bites," that depicts a man-sized mosquito telling a dark-hued college student to "try a less challenging major" and then sucking him dry.

"Some mosquitoes carry truly threatening diseases that can mess up your life for years," a voice-over says. "And other mosquitos carry strains that can even kill you."

The video then cuts to a mosquito holding a gun next to a dead body. "I felt threatened," the insect tells officers at the scene of the crime. "It looked like he was up to trouble, ok?"

Another clip depicts a black woman murdering several mosquitos with a flamethrower after they ask to touch her hair.

The revelations could prove a last minute stumbling block for Kahn, who in September sailed through the Senate judiciary committee with little pushback. A final vote on her nomination could come as soon as next week.

As a Second Circuit judge, Kahn would have a say in some of the influential judicial cases in the county—and would bring to the court a controversial view of the First Amendment.

In a 2020 opinion, Kahn criticized the "fighting words" exception to the First Amendment—which bans speech likely to spark violence—on the grounds that some groups are unlikely or unable to physically retaliate against insults. That means they "must endure a higher level of offensive speech before being afforded legal remedies," she wrote. Though Kahn is vague on how exactly she would reform First Amendment law, the opinion laments that bigots can "verbally assault certain oppressed groups"—especially women and the disabled—"without fear of criminal prosecution."

Kahn did not respond to a request for comment.

The Second Circuit’s docket is unusually high-profile, in part because of its jurisdiction over New York state, and often includes prominent free speech cases. In 2022, for example, the Second Circuit upheld a New York state official’s right to discourage banks from doing business with...

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