Federal appeals court upholds $37.6 million fine against infomercial pitchman

A federal appeals court found that a infomercial pitchman violated the terms of a 2004 Federal Trade Commission settlement over his ads, upholding a $37.6 million judgment. The court wrote that the government must protect consumers and could do so by imposing narrow restrictions on commercial speech without running afoul of the First Amendment. -db [...]

Village Voice says concerns over its adult ads overblown

Religious groups and law enforcement officials say that the Village Voice Media is abetting child sex trafficking by running adult ads on its website, backpage.com. But the Voice says the concerns are overblown. A university researcher lends some support to the Voice with the finding that a majority of minors selling sex do so without [...]

Pharmaceutical industry: Free speech rights run up against limits on product claims

Merck agreed to pay $950 million to settle a suit over its claims for the painkiller Vioxx withdrawn from sales for increasing the chance of heart attack. But companies are aggressively challenging the government in its attempts to held industries accountable for the truthfulness of their promotions. -db From the Philadelphia Inquirer, November 27, 2011, [...]

Federal judge puts hold on mandatory graphic images for cigarette packages

A federal judge iced attempts of the Food And Drug Administration to require graphic images of the horrific results of smoking on all cigarette packages. The judge granted a temporary injunction on enforcing the new rule until the case is heard in federal court. The tobacco companies argue that the rule requires speech they don’t [...]

A&A: Do trade publications have same speech protections as other journalists?

Q: My company owns a website and private news source for a trade Industry. We are having concerns about our First Amendment protections. The website and news company is a business operation of our parent company. I would like to inquire about whether our direct ownership of the site conflicts with any First Amendment or [...]

Tobacco industry tries again to block graphic labels on cigarette packs with First Amendment argument

The tobacco industry is chafing over the Food and Drug Administration’s mandate for graphic labels on cigarette packages, showing rotting teeth, gums, blackened lungs and the like. The industry is suing in federal court with the argument that the government is forcing them to present the government’s own anti-smoking message, a violation of the First [...]

Lohan sues for rap song she claims hurt her reputation

Lindsay Lohan is suing the rapper Pitbull and associates for mentioning her arrest record in his hit, “Give Me Everything.” The song goes “he’s got it locked up, like Lindsay Lohan.” Given her rap sheet, that seems like an innocuous reference, but Lohan claims the song released March 18 has injured her career and caused [...]

Federal Communicatons Commission kills fairness doctrine

The Federal Communications Commission officially ended the era of the fairness doctrine that has not been enforced since 1987. Companies with broadcasting license were required to present opposing viewpoints. In the 1960s stations ran public service spots about the risks of smoking to counter their cigarette ads. President Ronald Reagan vetoed a bill in 1987 [...]

Mandated graphic images on cigarette packs raise free speech issues

A number of tobacco firms are suing the Food and Drug Administration for forcing them to put images and warnings on cigarette packs warning consumers of the dangers of smoking. Writing for the First Amendment Center, Ken Paulson highlights the importance of the lawsuit, “Courts have long upheld mandated warnings in narrow areas of consumer [...]

First Amendment: Federal appeals court blocks Texas disclosure rules for charitable solicitations

A Texas federal appeals court struck down part of a Texas law that requires for-profit companies making solicitations for charitable causes to disclose how they disburse the donations. Citing Supreme Court rulings, the court ruled that the fee-arrangement disclosure as applied to collection bins violated the First Amendment. The court reasoned that the solicitations involved [...]

Parody not funny to conglomerate Koch Industries

The conglomerate Koch Industries is suing Youth for Climate Truth for publishing a fake press release in their name which stated that the company was supporting climate change advocacy. Koch enterprises are minerals, oil and fertilizers. Koch is seeking damages including the cost of correcting the record created by the fake release. Public Citizen, which [...]

Supreme Court to hear two cases on scope of First Amendment

The Supreme Court has consented to hear two cases on the reach of the First Amendment, one on whether a vote cast by a public official is protected and another on whether information on physicians’ prescriptions is protected. -db First Amendment Center January 11, 2011 By Tony Mauro WASHINGTON — As well-developed as First Amendment [...]

Californai judge rules that ratings by bond-rating companies are protected speech

A California judge ruled that what was alleged to be “wildly inaccurate” ratings by Moody’s, Fitch, S&P were protected speech and insulated by the state’s anti-SLAPP law. -db Bloomberg BusinessWeek December 11, 2010 By Karen Gullo Ratings by Moody’s Investors Service Inc., Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings Ltd. described as “wildly inaccurate” in a [...]

Through inaction U.S. Supreme Court allows gimmicky marketing of lawyers

The Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling overturning a portion of a New York law prohibiting the use of nicknames, trade names and other marketing slogans and gimmicks that might imply a lawyer’s unverifiable invincibility. -db The Christian Science Monitor December 13, 2010 By Warren Richey The US Supreme Court on Monday declined [...]

Food industry wants free speech protection for false health claims

Food companies are now saying the First Amendment shields them from regulation when making false health claims about their products. -db The Atlantic Commentary December 8, 2010 By Marion Nestle Food companies insist that they can make health claims for their products, whether backed by science or not, because commercial speech is protected by the [...]

Arizona: Questions arise over city liability for employees’ online posts

Police employees in Surprise, Arizona are asking the city to stop other police officers from posting anonymous comments on private websites that they say are potentially defamatory. -db The Arizona Republic October 9, 2010 By D.S. Woodfill and Lisa Halverstadt A controversy brewing in Surprise is raising questions about a city’s liability when its employees [...]

Minnesota: Federal court rules against city’s ban on billboard extensions

A federal court ruled that St. Paul’s ban on billboard extensions could not be enforced because the city offered no rational reasons for the ban. -db Courthouse News Service August 27, 2010 (CN) – A St. Paul ordinance barring signs from having protruding words or graphics is unenforceable, the 8th Circuit ruled, because the city [...]

Ninth circuit weighs in on internet anonymity, consumer griping at risk

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision last Monday in Inre:Anonymous Online Speakers, a case that could be influential for future courts decisions on whether to order the identification of anonymous or pseudonymous Internet speakers. Citizen Media Law Project July 20, 2010 By Citizen Media Law Project Staff The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals [...]

Craigslist critics run ad charging service provides venue for selling sex with underage girls

Human rights advocates claimed that Craigslist  is the choice for selling sex with underage girls and in a newspaper ad called for the company to close down its adult services section that generated $36 million last year. -db San Francisco Chronicle May 20, 2010 By Benny Evangelista Critics of Craigslist’s adult advertisements have taken their [...]

State high court narrows ‘commercial speech’ to uphold free speech rights on published notice for class action suit

A California Supreme Court decision, in a case over the posting of an appeal for clients in a class action lawsuit, is expected to reaffirm the state’s anti-SLAPP law in protecting free speech in commercial settings. -db Davis Wright Tremaine LLP May 18, 2010 By Thomas R. Burke and Rochelle L. Wilcox The California Supreme [...]

First Amendment: Employment screener may pass on info from database of sex offenders

A California appeals court ruled that, under the First Amendment, an employment-screening service could access the state’s database of registered sex offenders and pass that information on to its clients. The law establishing the website prohibits the use of the posted information for purposes related to employment. -db Metropolitan News-Enterprise March 25, 2010 By Sherri [...]

First Amendment: Federal court allows Nevada to ban brothel ads

A federal appeals court ruled that the state of Nevada could regulate brothel ads under the First Amendment owing to the unique social and legal characteristics of prostitution. -db Courthouse News Service March 10, 2010 By Elizabeth Banicki (CN) – Legal brothels in Nevada cannot publicly advertise under the protection of the First Amendment because [...]

Kentucky federal judge rules for and against tobacco companies

U.S. District Judge Joseph McKinley, Jr. ruled that the government could not ban tobacco companies’  use of color in text and illustration on labels and in advertising. The judge also found unconstitutional restrictions on statements about the safety of tobacco products but upheld the ban on certain marketing tactics aimed at youth. -DB First Amendment [...]