Government watchdog alleges FBI stonewalling on WikiLeaks surveillance

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has sued the Justice Department and the FBI claiming that they refuse to release information on the FBI’s surveillance of citizens who have shown support for or interest in WikiLeaks. EPIC made the Freedom of Information Act complaint in federal court. -db From the Courthouse News Service, January 31, [...]

Gay police officer loses right to make First Amendment case after he was hounded out of the department

A gay police officer who alleged that St. Cloud Police Department refused to allow him his First Amendment rights to work in the Twin Cities Pride Festival even if he used his vacation time lost a bid in federal court on the First Amendment claim. The court did say there was sufficient evidence to pursue [...]

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul loses bid for identities of those posting online spoof

A federal judge ruled that Republican presidential contender Ron Paul could not force YouTube and Twitter to provide the identities of whoever uploaded videos with a spoof of Ron Paul bashing former candidate Jon Huntsman for being a Chinese agent. It is unusual for a candidate to sue in these matters given the courts’ tolerance [...]

Doctors uneasy about online complaints attempt to stifle criticism

Writing critical reviews of doctors and dentists online could make you the target of a defamation lawsuit as medical professionals try to stifle negative comments. Some doctors are asking patients to sign gag orders to prevent online comments while the sites are publishing the names of doctors using gag order forms and providing patients with [...]

Justice Department cites threat of violence in U.S. in keeping bin Laden photos secret

The Justice Department wants a federal judge to allow them to withhold photos of the death of Osama bin Laden on the grounds that releasing the photos could incite violence against the U.S. The DOJ disputed the arguments of Judicial Watch that making the photos public would cause harm to national security by revealing intelligence [...]

Federal appeals court upholds Stolen Valor Act

After the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Stolen Valor Act unconstitutional in a separate case, the 10th Circuit upheld the law which prohibits lying about military awards. The opinion of the 10th Circuit judges cited a statement from a Supreme Court ruling that false statements do not get constitutional protection, “except to [...]

Opinion: NBC TV station obliged to run Romney ad the network objects to

After NBC TV station continued to air a Mitt Romney ad that the network wants pulled, they were charged with hypocrisy, but says Josh Gerstein in Politico, it’s not that the stations would sell out principles to make a buck, FCC rules say that stations have to take ads on a comparable basis from all [...]

Federal appeals court hands censorship tool to public colleges

The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals extended the Supreme Court ruling known as Hazelwood to public colleges and universities while ruling on a case over the expulsion of a student in a counseling program at Eastern Michigan University. Hazelwood allows school administrators to censor student expression on the grounds of “legitimate pedagogical concerns.” -db [...]

Public has options in dealing with Twitter’s new country-specific censorship

After Twitter announced last week they would engage in country-specific censorship, EFF’s Eva Galperin says there are ways to fight the plan including checking to see if Twitter makes use of the Chilling Effects Project which publishes a country’s censorship orders and puts it in an archive. Galperin also says that a user can circumvent [...]

Supreme Court police arrest man for ‘Occupy Everything’ words on jacket

In an incident reminiscent of  Cohen v. California, the Supreme Court police arrested a man in a corridor wearing a jacket with the words “Occupy Everything.” For the Citizen Media Law Project, Andrew F. Sellars analyzes the case finding little basis for the arrest. “Here, in the halls of the very building that brought us [...]

Senate majority leader stalls Internet piracy legislation

In a victory for the technology industry, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid postponed a vote on the Protect IP Act, the online piracy bill before the Senate. In effect, Congress is going back to the drawing board to balance intellectual property rights with openness and innovation on the Internet. -db From Wired, January 20, 2012, [...]

Appeal in the works in Twitter/WikiLeaks case

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are set to file an appeal concerning the U.S. government’s attempts to obtain Twitter records in their investigation of WikiLeaks. The ACLU and EFF are seeking to prevent the government from sealing records of their efforts to obtain private information of Internet users without a [...]

The Powerful anti-SOPA protests show why corporations, too, need First Amendment rights

BY PETER SCHEER—Some thoughts on the dramatic and remarkably effective demonstrations by Google, Wikipedia, et al. against federal anti-piracy legislation (the Stop Online Piracy Act, “SOPA,” and companion legislation in the Senate): Successful technology firms pride themselves on their capacity to disrupt the established order. The reference is usually to a technological advance that poses [...]

U.S. Supreme Court backs 1994 law granting copyright protection to foreign works

Rejecting arguments that a 1994 law complying with an international treaty violated U.S. copyright law and free speech rights, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-2 to extend copyright protection to foreign works. Google was among those against the law, but the government said that foreign works should receive the same treatment as domestic works under [...]

Citizen Media Law Project offers resources on online piracy laws

The Citizen Media Law Project is providing access to information on the SOPA and PIPA, the online piracy bills before Congress, and also to links for summaries and commentaries on the laws. -db From the Citizen Media Law Project,  January 18, 2012, by CMLP Staff. Full story

D.C. appellate court rules for whistelblower’s anonymity

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled that a software trade association did not have to disclose the name of an anonymous tipster. Solers, a software company, had sued the trade association to determine the identity of the tipster who they claimed made a false accusation that the company used unlicensed software. -db From [...]

Balance sought in fight over bills to stop Internet piracy

With copyright protection established in the U.S. Constitution and free speech in the Bill of Rights, it is vital to honor each in the fight over the new online piracy bills currently before Congress says Ken Paulson of the First Amendment Center. It will be a difficult task to craft a law that intercepts pirated [...]

Federal appeals court rejects lawsuit claiming police violated rights of protestors during 2008 Republican Convention

The 8th U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals found that police had not violated protestors ‘ First And Fourth Amendments rights when they arrested 400 people at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. The court cited widespread violence and vandalism in saying police were justified in conducting mass arrests to restore order. [...]

Supreme Court declines to rule on student free speech on Internet

Despite split rulings in two federal appellate courts, the U.S. Supreme Court will not hear arguments on whether school officials can regulate the off-campus speech of students on the Internet. Two of the three cases under consideration concerned parodies directed at principals while the third involved cruel words directed at another student. -db From the [...]

California: Teacher retirement fund wins round in suit against credit rating firms

Spurning arguments that their lawsuit attacked free speech rights, a San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled that CalPERS could continue their legal battle against credit-rating firms, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. The public pension system accused the firms of negligence in making careless investment ratings. -db From the San Francisco Chronicle,  January 14, 2012, by Bob [...]

California appeals court backs College of Marin whistleblower

A California appellate court ruled for a whistleblower at the College of Marin who said she was demoted for questioning what she thought were illegal activities of her superiors. The court said the motives behind whistleblower reports of wrongdoing were not germane. -db From the Marin Independent Journal, January 13, 2012, by Rob Rogers. Full [...]

Arizona students win right to contest ban on ethnic studies program

Just as the Tucson Unified School District board voted the end the Mexican-American studies program, a federal judge ruled that students could sue to reinstate the program. The judge said teachers had no standing to contest the ruling to end the program and that teachers “have failed to demonstrate that they have a protected First [...]

Los Angeles: Fight on to stop limits on speaking before Board of Supervisors

A group of citizens has been able to forestall a move by the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors to restrict the public in addressing the board. A proposal before the board would limit speakers to three minutes for  various items on the agenda and two minutes for items not on the agenda. The board has [...]

Case over alleged defamation by Oregon blogger heats up

A couple of legal heavyweights are joining the appeal of a $2.5 million judgment against an Oregon blogger accused of defaming the Obsidian Finance Group. An Oregon federal judge had ruled that the blogger was not a member of the media and not protected by Oregon’s shield law. -db From a commentary for the Citizens [...]

Federal appeals court allows challenge to hiring decision allegedly based on politics

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed an applicant for a college teaching job to sue a law school dean for allegedly discriminating against her for her political beliefs. The applicant said the then dean of the University of Iowa College of Law rejected her application for legal-writing positions based on her socially [...]

Study disputes Supreme Court’s reputation as First Amendment advocate

A study for the Brennan Center for Justice found that notwithstanding its reputation, the Roberts Supreme Court is ruling for free speech at a lower rate than the courts led by three previous chief justices. In responding to the study, some point out that numbers don’t tell the entire story that the court had made [...]

Government forces clamp on Twitter demanding censorship

The U.S. government has stepped up efforts to pressure Twitter to censor posts by a militant Somali group and the Taliban according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The Israeli government and U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman are also pressuring Twitter. -db From a commentary for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, January 6, 2012, byy Jillian C. York [...]

U.S. Supreme Court upholds law forbidding foreigners from contributing to U.S. political campaigns

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act forbidding foreign citizens from making campaign contributions in the U.S. The case had been brought by two Canadian citizens. -db From the Courthouse News Service, January 9, 2012, by Barbara Leonard. Full story    

Group sues over ban of anti-abortion display in Wyoming state legislature

An anti-abortion group is asking for a injunction in federal court to prevent the state from blocking an anti-abortion display in a corridor linking the Capitol Building to a parking garage. The group, WyWatch Family Action, said other groups had put up displays, and they were only asking for equal treatment. -db From the Casper [...]

Federal appeals court throws out conviction in Super Bowl threats

In a 9-2 vote, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned a conviction of a man who sent letters to the media threatening a massacre at the 2008 Super Bowl in Arizona. The court said the law covers threats to people, not corporations. The man served a year and a day in prison. -db [...]

Free speech: Supreme Court refuses to hear commercial speech case brought by interior decorators

The U.S. Supreme Court declined last week to hear a case on commercial speech brought by interior decorators who claim that Florida is denying their free speech rights by requiring years of school, apprenticeship and an exam before a person can take clients in interior design. Lawyers for the plaintiffs argue that Florida’s law is [...]

Frederal courts reject challenges to prison pen-pal limits

Another federal court approved restrictions on prison pen-pals by ruling that the Missouri Department of Corrections could prevent inmates from soliciting pen pals online. The court said the policy protected security and rehabilitation and still allowed inmates other avenues to exercise their  First Amendment rights. From the First Amendment Center, January 8, 2012, by David [...]

Brooklyn: Police arrest Occupy Wall Street livestream operators

Police entered the offices of Global Revolution that runs livestream on Occupy Wall Street and arrested six of its operators on Monday effectively shutting down the site which had aggregated livestreaming of Occupy Wall Street worldwide. The arrests were made because the six were living in the offices and refused to honor an order to [...]

New software protects anonymous speakers on Internet

Graduate students are developing software that could be used to protect whistleblowers, human rights advocates, and hackers. -db From The New York Times, January 3, 2012, by Nicole Perlroth. Full story  

Indiana governor rescinds new Statehouse security rules limiting protests

In the face of protests over a “right to work” law, allowing workers to opt out of paying union dues, state authorities imposed a 3,00 person crowd cap to entering the Statehouse. The governor lifted the restrictions after input from the public and media. -db From the Evansville Courier & Press, January 4, 2012, by [...]

First Amendment Center protests Indiana lawmaker’s attempt to censor ‘non-traditional’ versions of national anthem

The First Amendment guarantees that the government not regulate the expression of those who sing “off tune” argues Gene Policinski, executive director of the First Amendment Center. That someone might offend someone else by doing a non-traditional rendition of the national anthem should not be grounds for censorship writes Policinski. -db From a commentary for [...]

Federal appeals court rules restrictions on PACs unconstitutional

The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled unconstitutional a Washington state law restricting political action committees from taking in donations of $5000 or more in the last three weeks of an election. The state argued that the law was intended to protect voters allowed to mail their ballots 18 days before the election. -db [...]

Montana ruling challenges U.S. Supreme Court Citizens United decision

The Montana Supreme Court fired a cannon shot across the bow of the U.S Supreme Court decision Citizens United that gave political speech rights to corporations. The Montana court upheld a 1912 law passed by initiative that at the time put  restraints on copper mining interests that were dominating state politics. From the Great Falls [...]

Chicago: Teacher claims he was fired for content of memoir

A public school teacher is suing the Chicago Public Schools for firing him in 2009 for a memoir published in 2000. The firing grew out of a parent’s concern that a relationship twenty years ago described in the memoir signaled that the teacher could engage in an inappropriate relationship with his daughter. -db From the [...]

Free speech: School district struggle to regulate student-teacher contact on social media

As the social media becomes a useful tool for teachers to contact students about work or to help reluctant or shy students, abuses have surfaced with teachers making inappropriate contact leading in some cases to sexual abuse. Citing free speech issues, a Missouri judge recently threw out a new law banning contact on the social [...]

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