Juror fined for premature Facebook posting that defendant guilty

A juror who had posted that a defendant was guilty before the jury announced a verdict will have to pay a $250 fine and write an essay on the right to a fair trial. -db
The Detroit News
September 2, 2010
By Candice Williams
MOUNT CLEMONS, Mich. — A woman who was removed from a jury for [...]

Supreme Court asked to decide whether White House has right to exclude critics from public speeches

The Supreme Court is being asked to decide whether all Americans, including the president’s critics, have a right to attend his public speeches, or whether the White House retains the right to screen out dissenters.
McClatchy-Tribune
September 1, 2010
By David G. Savage WASHINGTON – While the current administration says it does not [...]

Courts give photographers scant protection in shooting accident scenes

Journalists should not assume they are free to take photos at accident scenes on public roads as indicated by a recent federal court ruling on a case in Guam. -db
First Amendment Center
August 30, 2010
By David L. Hudson Jr.
If you travel to Guam, don’t take pictures of the police on public streets. Don’t assume that [...]

Editorial: Federal appeals court slights First Amendment in protecting president

The Los Angeles Times says in an editorial that the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals failed to consider whether the event was open to the public or a private political event in ruling that a couple with a political message on a bumper sticker could be excluded from a George W. Bush town hall [...]

Free speech: Federal court rules ex- police chef’s rights violated

The 10th Circuit Appeals Court ruled that the city manager in Laramie, Wyoming violated a police chief’s free speech rights since her motivation in firing him was to punish him for filing a defamation lawsuit. -db
Courthouse News Service
August 30, 2010
By Nick McCann
(CN) – The city manager in Laramie, Wyo., violated a police [...]

Man with impeach Obama sign arrested at Alaska State Fair

Police arrested at man at the Alaska State Fair carrying a sign calling for the impeachment of President Barack Obama. The fair allows political messages if citizens rent a booth and follow vendor guidelines but forbid political activities in common areas. -db
Anchorage Daily News
August 28, 2010
By Kyle Hopkins
Ten minutes of mayhem Thursday at [...]

Facebook criticized for censoring pot legalization ads

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is charging that Facebook is failing to uphold the First Amendment in banning content that some “overseers” find objectionable. -db
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Commentary
August 26, 2010
By Richard Esguerra
Facebook is facing down another embarrassing episode of censorship this week after refusing to show ads submitted by the Just Say Now marijuana legalization campaign. [...]

Attorneys general pressure Craigslist to remove adult service ad section

Attorneys general in seventeen states have asked Craigslist to disband its adult services section on its website since it cannot block illegal ads on the site promoting prostitution and child trafficking. -db
San Francisco Chronicle
August 25, 2010
By Everton Bailey Jr.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – San Francisco-based Craigslist should remove its adult services section because the website [...]

Federal court affirms greater speech freedom for college students

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a university’s strict speech codes, and in so doing made a distinction between university standards and standards limiting speech in high schools and elementary schools in recognition that adults in universities should enjoy the freedom to engage in unfettered debate and discourse. -db
FIRE
Commentary
August 20, 2010
Posted by Erica [...]

Free speech: Electronic Frontier Foundation warns against California law undermining parody

A new “E-Personation” bill now in the California legislature would make it a crime to personate someone online to “harm” that person. EFF claims that the law would severely restrict online parodies criticizing government and big corporations. -db
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Commentary
August 22, 2010
By Corynne McSherry
A bill that could undermine a new and important form [...]

Illinois: ACLU suit seeks to allow citizen recording of police in action

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois is filing a federal lawsuit challenging the Illinois Eavesdropping Act that criminalizes recording public conversations without the consent of all parties. The ACLU claims that  police routinely record encounters with drivers they pull over, but drivers are not allowed to record police conversations. -db
Chicago Tribune
August 19, 2010
By [...]

Free speech: Federal court upholds ethics rule limiting judges’ speech on right to life

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an Indiana anti-abortion group may not eliminate Illinois ethics rules prohibiting judges from speaking out on issues that might come up in court. -db
First Amendment Center
August 23, 2010
By The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana anti-abortion group has lost its latest attempt to block state ethics rules [...]

Porterville City Council rejects proposal to limit public comments

The Porterville City Council decided not to restrict public comments to those items on the agenda even though members of the community wanted to comment on the agenda would have to wait their turn.
California’s open meeting law says the public has a right to comment on issues before government agencies make decisions. -db
The Porterville Recorder
August [...]

Stolen Valor Act Violates Free Speech, Court Says

Non-defamatory lies are protected under the right to free speech, the 9th Circuit, overturning the conviction of a man who lied about having been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
The Courthouse News Service
August 20, 2010
By Elizabeth Banicki
(CN) -Xavier Alvarez was convicted of violating the Stolen Valor Act for telling fellow members of [...]

Court says lying about Medal of Honor no crime

A federal law making it a crime to lie about receiving the Medal of Honor or other military decorations violates freedom of speech, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
San Francisco Chronicle
August 18, 2010
By Bob Egelko
SAN FRANCISCO –Although a Southern California water board member convicted of violating the Stolen Valor Act made [...]

Federal judge rules against Kansas law prohibiting nonresident petitioning

Citing the First Amendment, a federal district judge struck down a Kansas law that prohibited nonresidents from circulating petitions in Kansas. -db
The Winfield Daily Courier
August 14, 2010
By Roxana Hegeman
Associated Press Writer
WICHITA (AP) — A federal judge struck down as unconstitutional on Friday a part of a Kansas law that prohibits nonresidents from circulating petitions [...]

Free speech: Federal judge strikes down laws restricting protests near funerals

A federal district judge ruled that two 2006 laws regulating protests near funerals violated the First Amendment. -db
Kansas City Star
Aug. 16, 2010
By Mark Morris
Missouri’s laws restricting protests near funerals are unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Monday.
The ruling from Chief U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan found that two 2006 laws that sought to regulate such [...]

Free speech: Blogger convicted of threatening judges with violence

A federal court jury found a blogger had overreached in urging his readers to kill three judges of a federal appeals court for upholding a Chicago handgun ban. -db
Wired
August 16, 2010
By David Kravets
Three trials later, authorities have finally won a criminal conviction against Hal Turner, the New Jersey hate blogger charged with [...]

Free speech: California court rules mall’s restrictions on conversations with strangers unconstitutional

A state appeals court ruled that a Roseville, California shopping mall could not prevent a Christian pastor from talking about religion with three young women. -db
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
August 13, 2010
By Steven M. Ellis
The Third District Court of Appeal has revived a Christian youth pastor’s suit against a Placer County shopping mall that had him arrested when he [...]

Judgment Vindicates Calif. Student Punished for Pro-Life T-Shirt

Tiffany Amador won a free speech case in Federal Court after officials barred her from wearing her American Life League pro-life T-shirt, featuring the word “ABORTION,” at McSwain Union Elementary School in Merced, California.
Christian Newswire
August 13, 2010
By Katie Walker
kwalker@all.org
WASHINGTON – American Life League celebrated a free speech victory after a federal court entered a judgment [...]

State court declares Roseville Galleria’s speech rules unconstitutional

A state appellate court has declared that rules regulating talk among strangers at the Galleria at Roseville violate California Constitution free speech guarantees.
The Sacramento Bee
August 13, 2010
By Denny Walsh
A Placer County judge earlier had thrown out the case, finding that the owner’s rules of conduct pass constitutional muster.
But, in stark contrast, a three-judge panel of [...]

Mass. curriculum can exclude questioners of Armenian genocide

A federal appeals court has ruled that Massachusetts public school guidelines for teaching history can exclude viewpoints that dispute the mass slaying of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in the early part of the 20th century.
August 13, 2010
By The Associated Press

BOSTON —The Aug. 11 decision by the [...]

Federal appeals court tosses libel suit by cat breeders against Internet service provider

The 8th Circuit dismissed a libel suit by Cozy Kittens Cattery against an Internet service provider that ran what they said were defamatory comments about their cat breeding business. -db
Online Media Daily
August 11, 2010
By Wendy Davis
A federal appellate court has upheld a ruling dismissing a libel lawsuit by cat breeders against the Internet service [...]

Free-speech right covers national parks

People wishing to hand out leaflets or loudly speak their mind on religion, immigration or the death penalty at Independence National Historical Park or any other national-park site will have an easier time doing so based on a recent court decision.
Philadelphia Daily News
August 9, 2010
By Julie Shaw
shawj@phillynews.com

The ruling would [...]

Gag order eased for man fighting FBI over warrantless investigation

A president of an Internet service provider can for the first time speak about a gag on his telling anyone he had received an national security letter demanding private customer records. The ACLU argues that without a court order the FBI should at least show individual suspicion before invading the privacy and free speech rights [...]

Lawyer: Finance firms’ suit not free-speech attack

A ruling forcing a website to delay releasing the research findings of financial firms is not an attack on free speech and would not lead to widespread attacks on the media, a lawyer for financial companies that sued the website told federal appeals court judges Friday.
AP
August 9, 2010
By  [...]

Great Britain: Oil firms may sue for false rumors on websites

Two small British oil firms say they are not after legitimate anonymous postings but want to rein in postings on private investor websites that contain “calculated lies”  that manipulate share prices. -db
Yahoo! News
August 9, 2010
By Myles Neligan and Rhys Jones
(Reuters) Two small British oil firms on Monday said they were considering legal action against [...]

California state senator proposes law to outlaw malicious online impersonation

In the wake of a disturbing e-mail falsely attributed to a Silicon Valley leader, A California state senator is introducing a law to make malicious e-mail impersonations a misdemeanor. -db
San Francisco Chronicle
August 9, 2010
By Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera
Two months ago, a San Jose Mercury News reporter received a profanity-laced e-mail critical of one of her stories. More [...]

California appeals court rules suit blocks legitimate free speech activity

A California state appeals court dismissed a suit against a filmmaker on the grounds that the suit was a SLAPP or strategic lawsuit against public participation. The court said the documentary film in question was a matter of public interest and an “activity in furtherance of the right to free speech.” -db
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
August 9, 2010
[...]

Texas cities blocked from joining suit against state’s open meetings law

A federal judge ruled that a group of Texas cities cannot join in the suit to overturn the state’s open meetings law because the cities have no guarantee of free speech. Seventeen public officials are challenging the constitutionality of the law that forbids a quorum deliberting behind closed doors. -db
Reporters Committee for Freedom of [...]

Federal judge dismisses lawsuit over profane ballot wording

A federal district judge dismissed a suit brought by  a candidate for state assembly who wanted to use a racially charged phrase in describing her candidacy. The judge said her suit was brought as a habeas corpus action which required a person to be in custody. -db
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
August 5, 2010
By Jason Stein and Patrick [...]

Free speech: Federal court rules woman obstructed police through profanities

The 8th Circuit appeals court ruled that a woman’s profanities obstructed officers in their quest to arrest her son when her words distracted police dogs searching the son’s truck. -db
Courthouse News Service
August 5, 2010
By Matthew Reynolds
(CN) – The 8th Circuit has reinstated a Springfield, Mo., ordinance allowing police officers to jail a mother for [...]

Political yard signs should enjoy First Amendment protection

First Amendment scholar David Hudson argues that local governments should not attempt to ban political campaign signs on aesthetic grounds or to promote safety. Ordinances banning signs on private ground take away a venerable and crucial avenue of expression in our democracy. -db
First Amendment Center
Commentary
August 2, 2010
By David L. Hudson Jr.
When elections near, [...]

Franken: Net neutrality is foremost free speech issue of our time

Commentary from Sen. Al Franken, elected to the Senate as a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party from Minnesota.
CNN Opinion
August 5, 2010
CNN Editor’s note: He was sworn in July 2009 after a statewide hand recount. Before he joined the Senate, he spent 37 years as a comedy writer, author and radio talk show [...]

Electronic Frontier Foundation sees BlackBerry ban as serious threat to privacy

The EFF staff technologist says that Middle East countries’ plans to block BlackBerry
smart phones is a renewed and scary attempt by government to limit privacy tools afforded to the public. -db
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Commentary
August 4, 2010
By Seth Schoen
Recent news reports have presented somewhat contradictory analysis of government plans in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, [...]

Group to challenge vote that cleared way for NYC mosque

Plans for an Islamic community center and mosque near ground zero moved forward as a city panel opened the way for developers to tear down a building that was struck by airplane debris on Sept. 11, 2001.
News
August 4, 2010
By The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Even as the project’s [...]

U. of Ill. offers to reinstate Catholic instructor

The University of Illinois says it has offered a teaching job to an instructor who was fired over a complaint that he engaged in hate speech in his explanation of Catholic Church doctrine on homosexuality.
News
August 2, 2010
By The Associated Press
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —The university also said July 29 [...]

Appeals court says posting of personal data is free speech

A Virginia woman who protested the government’s perceived mismanagement of sensitive personal data by posting unredacted information from government documents online can continue her crusade, a federal appeals court has ruled.
The Reporters Committee from Freedom of the Press
July 30, 2010
By Cristina Abello
Betty “B.J.” Ostergren, a self-proclaimed privacy rights advocate, created a [...]

School boards ask federal judges to block employee free speech

School boards are trying to reverse a federal court ruling banning administrators from controlling the free-speech rights of teachers and other school employees.
California Watch
July 30, 2010
By Corey G. Johnson

According to a brief filed yesterday in 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) and the California [...]

Video game group spent $1.1M lobbying in 2Q

The Entertainment Software Association, a trade group for video game companies, spent $1.1 million during the second quarter to lobby on the regulation of video game content, First Amendment protection, parental control technology and other issues, according to a recent disclosure report.
July 29, 2010
By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON —This is down 5 [...]

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