Monday, July 18, 2022

At close range / SLAPP happy / Two thumbs up?

At close range. First Amendment advocates are angered by an “unworkable” new Arizona law that limits the recording of police officers from fewer than eight feet away.
■ The Free Speech Center’s Ken Paulson writes that the distance limitations for shooting video are “unneeded and inflammatory.”
■ The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the public right in six states to record police as they do their jobs.
■ After her arrest at an abortion-rights protest, a 13-year-old girl says she will not be deterred from exercising her First Amendment rights.
 
Objective truth vs. subjective belief. New York Times columnist Pamela Paul writes that the current Christian-branded Supreme Court is choosing faith over fact in its decisions. 
■ The Indiana ACLU declares that the lines of separation between church and state have become “hopelessly blurred” by the Supreme Court.
■ Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who calls the World War I-era Espionage Act an abuse of the legal system, is fighting an uphill battle to reform it.

‘Common sense doesn’t go viral.’ Free Speech Center director Ken Paulson has a “trillion” reasons why a 10-year-old Florida boy should not be prosecuted over perceived school threats.
■ College professor calls school’s disciplinary action over his Native American land acknowledgment statement a violation of free speech.
■ Jury awards $5.1 million to Southwest Airlines flight attendant who was fired after expressing a pro-life stance online.
■ Health-care workers, fearing harm, cannot use pseudonyms in COVID-19 vaccine-mandate lawsuit.

SLAPP happy. A Des Moines Register editor pushes state to protect public’s right to free expression amid a slew of meritless defamation suits aimed at silencing critics.
■ Free-speech groups fight back against obscenity claims over books deemed “inappropriate” for young readers.
■ “I’m not breaking any laws,” says Virginia woman whose right to free speech is being questioned after displaying profane signs in her yard.
 
Heinz patrons play catch-up. Angry Steelers fans look to petition drive to help restore old name of Pittsburgh’s football field after Acrisure Stadium choice upsets the faithful.
■ Reproductive Freedom for All, a state constitutional amendment proposal on abortion rights, may go before Michigan voters after successful petition drive.      
■ Only one Supreme Court justice has ever been impeached, but more than 1.2 million people have signed a petition hoping Clarence Thomas will be the second.
 
Two thumbs up? Journalist, film critic, and podcaster Christian Toto remembers a time when Hollywood celebrated free speech with award-winning productions set inside the Beltway. 
■ Did the suspension of a retired three-star general over his snarky tweet to first lady Jill Biden unveil a U.S. Army free-speech double standard? 
■ Arizona prison ban of explicit content is upheld by appellate court panel.