Crisis of the Dissents Divided? — Disagreement among the Obergefell Four
In the various news feeds and pundit commentaries concerning the recent same-sex marriage case, the focus has been on the divide between the majority and dissenting opinions. Some side with the...
View ArticleFAN 65.1 (First Amendment News) Court vacates & remands three 1-A cases
When it issued its orders list today, the Supreme Court did the following: In Berger v. American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina it granted the petition for certiorari; the judgment is vacated,...
View ArticleFAN 66.1 (First Amendment News) The Indecency Wars Continue — WDBJ TV opposes...
The enormous fine proposed by the FCC is also an extraordinary burden on protected speech. The FCC’s largest base fine for other types of violations by broadcasters is $10,000. — Jeffrey A. Marks,...
View ArticleFAN 67 (First Amendment News) En Banc Unanimous Ruling from DC Circuit...
→ This is quite a big deal, especially in its unanimity. — Richard Hasen, Election Law Blog → Most difficult of all to accept is that the court of appeals saw nothing amiss with the law that allows...
View ArticleFAN 68 (First Amendment News) Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces to hear...
The Court’s disposition of this case is certain to cause confusion and serious problems. Attorneys and judges need to know which mental state is required for conviction under 18 U. S. C. §875(c), an...
View ArticleFAN 68.1 (First Amendment News) Wisconsin high court strikes down campaign...
As reported in the New York Times: “The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a criminal investigation into coordination between conservative groups and Gov. Scott Walker’s 2012 campaign...
View ArticleFAN 69 (First Amendment News) Justice Alito discusses four First Amendment...
“[I]f we lose focus on what is at the core of the free-speech protection by concentrating on . . . peripheral issues, I think, there’s a real danger that our free-speech cases will go off in a bad...
View ArticleFAN 121 (First Amendment News) New York law to combat Citizens United is...
The headline on the official website of New York State reads: “Governor Cuomo Signs First-in-the-Nation Legislation to Combat Citizens United.” The news story begins by noting: “Governor Andrew M....
View ArticleFAN 122 (First Amendment News) Alito’s prophesy? Cert. petition in Gov....
The Supreme Court’s government speech doctrine offers a constitutional escape hatch — a means by which government and courts may disregard the boundaries that the Free Speech Clause of the First...
View ArticleFAN 123 (First Amendment News) When you think of free speech, think of “45”—...
It is said that the dead live on the lips of the living. And so it was at the Floyd Abrams Institute for Freedom of Expression at Yale Law School last Friday when it co-hosted the tenth First...
View ArticleFAN 124 (First Amendment News) Ellen DeGeneres raises First Amendment defense...
Under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and under well-established Georgia law, courts have consistently recognized that humor, parody, name-calling and other forms of ‘rhetorical...
View ArticleFAN 125 (First Amendment News) Forthcoming book spotlights First Amendment...
It comes out this March: The First Amendment and LGBT Equality: A Contentious History (Harvard University Press, 320 pp.). The author is Carlos A. Ball, the Distinguished Professor of Law and Judge...
View ArticleFAN 125.1 (First Amendment News) 11 First Amendment experts comment on...
→ “[A] lawyer for Mr. Trump, Marc E. Kasowitz, emailed a letter to The Times arguing that publication of the records is illegal because Mr. Trump has not authorized the disclosure of any of his tax...
View ArticleFAN 126 (First Amendment News) Geoffrey Stone: “Free Speech on Campus: A...
This issue of First Amendment News reproduces the text of a speech (The Aims of Education Address) Professor Geoffrey Stone delivered at the University of Chicago on September 22nd. The Aims Address is...
View ArticleFAN 126.1 (First Amendment News) Court denies cert in “public official”...
The question presented in Armstrong v. Thompson was “whether all (or nearly all) law enforcement offic- ers are “public officials” under New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964).” Today the...
View ArticleFAN 127 (First Amendment News) Cert Petition Raises Question of Standard of...
The case is Bennie v. Munn. A cert. petition was filed recently in the Supreme Court with Damien Schiff listed as counsel of record. Before proceeding to the First Amendment issue raised, consider the...
View ArticleFAN 127.1 (First Amendment News) Trump lawyer to NYT: We will “pursue all...
Given all the talk in the news about the election and the prospect of lawsuits against the press, I have collected several items to help shed additional light on the matter. * * * * → Alan...
View ArticleFAN 128 (First Amendment News) Ten States Buttress High School Students’...
The majority opinion written by Justice White . . . announced a new category of speech — “school sponsored” — and a new [and] highly deferential standard for evaluating censorship of that kind of...
View ArticleFAN 129 (First Amendment News) A 10-year chronology: Trump’s lawsuits &...
In light of Donald Trump’s continued threats of lawsuits implicating First Amendment rights, I thought it might be useful to begin to collect news stories and other information related to such matters....
View ArticleFAN 130 (First Amendment News) “Porn Panic” Prompts Pushback
There is nothing new about the assault on sexual content. What is new is the rubric of public health concerns over sex trafficking and child safety to justify broad restrictions on sexual content,...
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