tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31846628455448849432024-03-27T01:35:17.388-05:00News from the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State UniversityThe First Amendment, journalism and America<br>___<br><br><a href="https://mtsu.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=7ee514ff234e7ed7769f76655&id=c7a609bd5d"><i>
[Subscribe for free]</i></a>Free Speech Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01852890480306379713noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-45889962429338989172024-03-25T12:32:00.004-05:002024-03-25T12:58:30.617-05:00Ban the 'ban' / Post marks / Kate restraint<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Ban the ‘ban.’</b> U.S. senators have publicly declared they are not calling for a <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/03/tiktok-ban-update-senate-house-bill-bytedance.html" target="_blank">ban on TikTok</a>, only a desire to disarm it.</span><br />■ If the question is ‘Can Congress ban TikTok?’ then Judge Andrew Napolitano offered <a href="https://www.creators.com/read/judge-napolitano" target="_blank">an answer</a> in a recent guest commentary.<br />■ Federal prosecutors are pursuing a deal to avoid a First Amendment showdown over <a href="https://reason.com/2024/03/21/biden-wants-to-avoid-a-first-amendment-showdown-over-wikileaks/" target="_blank">WikiLeaks</a>, reported <i>Reason’s </i>Matthew Petti.<br />■ Graphic warning labels on packs of cigarettes <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/graphic-warning-labels-cigarette-packs-dont-breach-first-amendment-us-court-rules" target="_blank">do not violate </a>the First Amendment, a judicial panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Under the influence.</b> A conservative social-media influencer and fervent Donald Trump supporter was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/18/us/politics/isabella-deluca-jan-6.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">arrested </a>for her involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection.</span><br />■ College students are <a href="https://www.thefire.org/news/college-students-defend-speech-and-incitement-when-it-benefits-them" target="_blank">not ardent supporters</a> of free speech, survey data collected by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression suggests.<br />■ Supreme Court justices refused to intervene in the dispute over a <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/high-court-wont-intervene-in-dispute-over-blocked-drag-show-at-texas-university/" target="_blank">blocked drag show </a>on a Texas university campus.<br />■ The women’s basketball coach at LSU has threatened to file a defamation lawsuit against <i>The Washington Post</i> over an unpublished story she labeled a<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/24/sport/lsu-kim-mulkey-washington-hit-piece-legal-action-spt-intl/index.html" target="_blank"> “hit piece.”</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Post marks.</b> The U.S. Supreme Court seemed to side with the Biden administration over <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/supreme-court-seems-favorable-to-biden-administration-over-efforts-to-combat-social-media-posts/" target="_blank">efforts to combat </a>questionable social media posts.</span><br />■ Supreme Court justices appeared receptive to the National Rifle Association’s <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nra-parkland-mass-shooting-aclu-supreme-court-be6e5177721656a71410b558ec216217" target="_blank">free-speech lawsuit</a> against a former New York state official.<br />■ A small-town Texas ex-council member has brought her First Amendment-related <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/texas-council-members-claim-retaliatory-arrest-criticizing-local-offic-rcna144118" target="_blank">retaliation claim</a> before the Supreme Court.<br /><div>■ A federal judge in California has rejected a lawsuit by Elon Musk’s X against a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/03/25/elon-musk-x-hate-speech-lawsuit" target="_blank">hate-speech</a> watchdog group.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Kate restraint.</b> British tabloids took a rare, reserved approach in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/24/business/media/british-media-princess-kate-royal-family.html?smid=nytcore-android-share&ugrp=c&pvid=14b0d073-ea38-404a-b53a-c1db499d9ae8" target="_blank">news frenzy</a> over the Princess of Wales’s health, but it did not slow the flow of wild speculation.</span><div>■ Chuck Todd of “Meet the Press” fame <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/03/24/chuck-todd-criticizes-nbc-ronna-mcdaniel/73085835007/" target="_blank">blasted NBC</a> for its decision to hire former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel as a political analyst.<br /><div>■ Gannett and McClatchy news chains announced they would <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/gannett-news-chain-says-it-will-stop-using-ap-content-for-first-time-in-a-century/ar-BB1kbdCG" target="_blank">cease using content</a> by The Associated Press, a service used for decades.<br />■ Jon Stewart has returned to <i>The Daily Show</i> to <a href="https://theconversation.com/jon-stewart-still-a-tiny-neurotic-man-back-to-remind-americans-whats-at-stake-224497" target="_blank">push professional journalists</a> to get Americans closer to the truth.</div></div>■ A new publisher has allowed <i>Sports Illustrated</i> <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/03/19/1239387627/sports-illustrated-will-continue-its-print-edition-under-a-new-publisher" target="_blank">operations to continue</a> print and digital products.</div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Devil in the details?</b> Satanic Temple representatives filed a lawsuit against Memphis-Shelby County Schools for blocking an afterschool club, labeling it a <a href="https://tennesseelookout.com/2024/03/22/satanic-temple-sues-shelby-county-schools-over-alleged-first-amendment-violation/" target="_blank">violation </a>of the organization’s First Amendment rights.</span><br />■ Lawmakers in mostly conservative states have called for greater efforts to place <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/03/22/chaplains-public-schools-culture-wars/" target="_blank">chaplains </a>in U.S. public schools.<br />■ Wendell Bird contends in a new book that most <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/wendell-bird-traces-how-religious-speech-underlies-origin-of-speech-press-freedom/" target="_blank">First Amendment freedoms </a>received greater impetus from religiously motivated individuals than from philosophical thinkers, according to a review by Middle Tennessee State University political science professor John R. Vile.<br />■ The board chair at Middle Tennessee State University has pushed legislation to <a href="https://tennesseelookout.com/2024/03/18/mtsu-board-chairman-wants-to-close-meetings-for-sensitive-topics/" target="_blank">close official meetings</a> for dealing with “sensitive” matters.<br /><br /><div><div><a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/encyclopedia/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="725" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeCa9Do8hX-Q2yZbbFOj2MEanEsNA_GoP0HKtUWtre3ghX_8q7p2gQCjp-ZfPmQQJ1dPE4ZhpQtLXviMFteoa3pcYvrl5i05XcZAkhLTBqhLt-eZQQ3m-jwfjSJV-uyuB5JPjpytF5o8VYQr7h3mWZVYHbPOJJZ1KsHmoJfTIMS0pwq9vjMpJcAEI7y54/w579-h363/FSC%20ency%20ad.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="579" /></a> </div></div></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-16488627910856867042024-03-11T12:29:00.006-05:002024-03-11T13:24:01.450-05:00Sin waggin' / Dangerous game / Walk, can't run<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Sin waggin.’</b> Florida’s ‘Stop WOKE Act’ restricting business diversity training infringes on <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/05/politics/florida-anti-woke-act-blocked-businesses/index.html" target="_blank">free-speech rights</a>, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.</span><br />■ Texas college students have asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency ruling to allow them to host a charity <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/03/06/drag-show-west-texas-am-university-supreme-court/72867262007/" target="_blank">drag show</a> on campus.<br />■ A Buffalo man who <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/he-cursed-at-a-police-officer-now-hes-caught-in-a-free-speech-fight/" target="_blank">cursed a police officer</a> in 2016 has continued his winding free-speech battle that has reached the upper echelons of federal courts.<div>■ Americans believe that free speech is heading “in the <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/survey-free-speech-heading-in-wrong-direction/" target="_blank">wrong direction</a>” when it comes to expressing views, a national survey has found.</div>■ Nashville’s Metro Council vowed to keep fighting a <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/davidson/2024/03/11/nashville-council-wont-settle-tracy-turner-lawsuit-george-floyd-comments/72892263007/" target="_blank">free-speech lawsuit</a> brought by a firefighter demoted over “racially inflammatory” social media posts.<div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Dangerous game. </b>Tech founders Elon Musk and Sam Altman are poised for an AI legal battle where <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/musk-vs-altman-is-battle-everyone-loses-2024-03-05/" target="_blank">everyone loses</a>, a <i>Reuters </i>commentary declared.</span><br />■ Lawmakers, with the support of House Speaker Mike Johnson, advance a bill that could make <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/bill-that-could-make-tiktok-unavailable-in-the-u-s-advances-quickly-in-the-house/" target="_blank">TikTok unavailable</a> in the United States.</div><div>■ The Princess of Wales has issued an apology for editing an official photograph of her and her children after <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/11/uk/kate-royal-photo-apology-gbr-intl/index.html" target="_blank">concerns were raised</a> by news agencies. <br />■ <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/sunshine-week-open-doors-open-minds-strengthen-america/" target="_blank">Sunshine Week</a> is an annual reminder of the importance of keeping public records and meetings open to the public, proclaimed Ken Paulson, director of the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University.</div><div>■ The Freedom of the Press Foundation has joined a legal brief filed in San Diego arguing that journalists must be able to cover this <a href="https://freedom.press/news/journalists-must-be-able-to-cover-americas-incarcerated/" target="_blank">country’s incarcerated</a>.</div><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Crushing change.</b> The challenges of top educators in <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/03/07/1234374134/news-industry-layoffs-education-journalism-school-syracuse-columbia-cuny" target="_blank">teaching journalism</a> during times of harsh economic realities plaguing news companies was examined in an NPR perspective piece.</span><br />■ With the belief that solving the country’s local-news crisis requires reinventing community journalism at the grassroots level, <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/community-based-entrepreneurs-lead-the-way-in-solving-the-local-news-crisis/" target="_blank">entrepreneurs will have to lead</a> the way.</div><div>■ A commitment to free speech makes the United States <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/02/29/us-news/msnbc-legal-analyst-says-first-amendment-makes-us-vulnerable-calls-for-common-sense-speech-restrictions/?jw_start=%7Bseek_to_second_number%7D" target="_blank">vulnerable to disinformation </a>campaigns, claimed MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade.</div><div>■ An Oklahoma law has teachers fearful of <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/educators-fear-oklahoma-law-restricts-teaching-killers-flower/story?id=107935470" target="_blank">teaching a book</a> that is the foundation of <i>“Killers of the Flower Moon,”</i> an Oscar-nominated film about the true story of white settlers who murdered members of the Osage tribe in the 1920s.</div>■ A Tennessee high schooler has launched a <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2024/03/11/hendersonville-high-school-senior-julia-garnett-launches-free-speech-club-after-book-bans/72603783007/" target="_blank">free-speech club</a> to fight back against library book bans.<div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Walk, can’t run.</b> The First Amendment does not protect Oregon lawmakers who <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2024/03/01/ninth-circuit-court-appeals-rules-oregon-senators-walked-out-consequences/" target="_blank">walked out in protest</a> and now cannot seek re-election, a judicial panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed.</span><br />■ Facing charges that he joined the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, a conservative media writer has <a href="https://apnews.com/article/steve-baker-blaze-news-capitol-riot-88004e2ce919d39cc84e1b2922840fc2" target="_blank">surrendered </a>to federal authorities.<br />■ A union of immigration judges that regularly advocates in interviews and public forums has now been ordered to get Department of Justice approval before <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/immigration-judges-union-a-frequent-critic-is-told-to-get-approval-before-speaking-publicly/" target="_blank">speaking publicly</a>.</div><div>■ New Jersey legislation that would represent the most significant change ever to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/nyregion/nj-opra-bill-public-records.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare" target="_blank">Open Public Records Act</a> may hinge on governor’s signature.</div><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Swift response.</b> Attorney Lynn Greenky in an analysis warned the college student tracking Taylor Swift’s flight information that the First Amendment protects free speech but <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/publishing-taylor-swifts-flight-info-stalking-or-protected-free-speech/" target="_blank">not stalking</a>.</span><br />■ A federal judge held veteran journalist Catherine Herridge in civil contempt for refusing to divulge a <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/judge-holds-veteran-journalist-catherine-herridge-in-civil-contempt-for-refusing-to-divulge-source/" target="_blank">confidential source</a>.</div><div>■ The publishing of an investigative story about Hamas’ use of sexual violence in the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/03/06/1236130609/new-york-times-hamas-attacks-israel-palestine" target="_blank">has divided</a> <i>The New York Times</i> newsroom.</div><div>■ The pivotal <i>Times v. Sullivan</i> libel case <a href="https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/celebrating-60-years-of-free-speech-thanks-to-this-one-pivotal-supreme-court-case/" target="_blank">turns 60</a> this month and News/Media Alliance has re-examined the watershed Supreme Court ruling.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/Ut0Mrg?vid=14b48m" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1254" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAmvDhJPSzXvd4DiRkkLbvrorgziGPXymV0WCChU9CzYxsvhd4yfJZDuLx_1pnlu91hn0oBT3v-nwWon_DyRBe9B2MaMMo-xOfgPUHf9-7bkt7pnOfH6xbJY4M0xJfu901C6dYo--XVMBQONlvXqcwu5n0idgeDFFI0OMQp3WbV4PAexwUKuNuDRoT1CF/w578-h369/FSC%20bill%20of%20rights%2025.jpg" style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="578" /></a></div></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-43003678990017137092024-02-26T12:36:00.001-06:002024-02-26T12:52:49.046-06:00Sturdy platforms? / Hack job / Jet fighter<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Sturdy platforms?</b> As it hears challenges to laws in Texas and Florida, the U.S. Supreme Court soon could yield a significant constitutional ruling on tech platforms’ <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/25/us/supreme-court-social-media-free-speech.html" target="_blank">free-speech rights</a>.</span><br style="font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-size: medium;">■ In hearing two NetChoice cases this week, Supreme Court justices could turn First Amendment law on its head when dealing with <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-netchoice-cases-will-the-supreme-court-turn-first-amendment-law-on-its-head/" target="_blank">social media restrictions</a>.</span><br style="font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-size: medium;">■ The firing of a fifth-grade teacher for <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/georgia-board-upholds-firing-teacher-reading-book-gender-identity-fift-rcna140084" target="_blank">reading a book</a> about gender identity in class was upheld by the Georgia Board of Education.</span><br style="font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-size: medium;">■ Activists must <a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/column/randall-l-kennedy/article/2024/2/15/kennedy-free-speech-racial-justice/" target="_blank">defend free speech</a> that aids racial justice, suggested law professor Randall L. Kennedy in a</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><i style="font-size: medium;">Harvard Crimson</i><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">commentary.</span></span><div> <br /><div><div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Hack job.</b> A former journalist has been indicted on 14 federal crimes over the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/22/media/timothy-burke-indicted-fox-news-tucker-carlson-footage/index.html" target="_blank">alleged hacking</a> and leaking of unaired interview clips by ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson.</span></div><div>■ When does investigative <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/23/24081656/tim-burke-journalism-hacking-cfaa" target="_blank">journalism become hacking</a>? <i>The Verge</i> sought to answer that question.<br />■ A CBS reporter’s dismissal has raised questions over whether it was part of company job cuts or tied to her First Amendment court battle over<a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/cbs-reporters-firing-raises-questions-with-source-case-hanging-over-her/" target="_blank"> confidential sources</a>.<br />■ The digital-media company <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/21/business/buzzfeed-complex-sale.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">BuzzFeed </a>sold off a pop culture start-up for nearly half of what it paid for it in 2021 as its value continues to plunge.<br /><br /><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Vice precedent?</b> Hopes of attracting millions of young people to its news company have been dashed as Vice Media <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68377742" target="_blank">stops publishing</a> online and cuts hundreds of jobs.</span></div><div>■ For an already <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/think-the-news-industry-was-struggling-already-2024-offers-few-good-tidings/" target="_blank">struggling news industry</a>, all signs for 2024 point to a continued free fall, contended Associated Press media writer David Bauder.<br />■ Read a personal letter to <i>Nevada Independent</i> employees from Editor and CEO Jon Ralston on his anguish over <a href="https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/change-and-hope" target="_blank">cutting staff</a> and his refusal to give up.<br /><div>■ Journalists who alleged harassment and injury by police during 2020 protests in a lawsuit were awarded a <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/minneapolis-settles-lawsuit-alleging-journalists-were-harassed-hurt-covering-floyd-protests/" target="_blank">$950,000 settlement</a> from the city of Minneapolis.</div><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Jet fighter. </b>Calling it an effort by rich and powerful people to silence free speech, legal representatives for the college student who tracks <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/lawyer-student-tracks-taylor-swifts-private-jet-client/story?id=107390249" target="_blank">Taylor Swift’s private plane</a> travel on social media have ignored the superstar’s cease-and-desist letter.</span><br />■ A “religious liberty” bill, previously viewed as <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/religious-rights-bill-introduced-georgia-senate/NZae9uA8TXPib2MOJaz4IJ/" target="_blank">discriminatory</a> and rejected, has been re-introduced in the Georgia state Senate.<br />■ There is no evidence that our nation was founded as a Christian nation, but some Americans want the government to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/american-founders-christian-nation-conservative-beliefs-4ea388e8d80c54016a6a4460cbef9b82" target="_blank">declare it </a>as one now.</div>■ On the heels of President’s Day, the Free Speech Center’s constitutional scholar John R. Vile documented how U.S. presidents engaged in <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/presidents-and-the-first-amendment/" target="_blank">First Amendment issues</a> during their time in office.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Heckler’s veto.</b> Jewish rapper Matisyahu’s concert cancellations by venue owners reflect a continued <a href="https://www.thefire.org/news/recent-concert-cancellations-jewish-rapper-matisyahu-reflect-continuing-threat-free-expression" target="_blank">threat to free expression</a>, contended the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.</span><br />■ A board of education in Maryland is being sued by three teachers who claim their First Amendment <a href="https://wtop.com/education/2024/02/3-montgomery-co-teachers-accused-of-antisemitic-social-media-posts-email-signature-sue-school-system/" target="_blank">rights were violated</a> when they were suspended for “supporting basic Palestinian human rights.”<br />■ Missouri educators who opposed a school district’s required <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-court-leery-free-speech-challenge-schools-anti-racism-training-2024-02-15/" target="_blank">anti-racism training</a> took their free-speech claims to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.<br />■ The punishment of a Black student in Texas over his hairstyle did not violate a state <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/texas-school-legally-punished-black-student-over-hairstyle-judge-rules/" target="_blank">discrimination law</a>, a judge has ruled.<br /><br /><a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/encyclopedia/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="725" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeCa9Do8hX-Q2yZbbFOj2MEanEsNA_GoP0HKtUWtre3ghX_8q7p2gQCjp-ZfPmQQJ1dPE4ZhpQtLXviMFteoa3pcYvrl5i05XcZAkhLTBqhLt-eZQQ3m-jwfjSJV-uyuB5JPjpytF5o8VYQr7h3mWZVYHbPOJJZ1KsHmoJfTIMS0pwq9vjMpJcAEI7y54/w579-h363/FSC%20ency%20ad.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="579" /></a> </div></div></div></div></div></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-74841472380666726152024-02-12T11:43:00.003-06:002024-02-12T12:07:02.743-06:00Disinformed / Spywarn / Putin it to him<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Disinformed.</b> Lawmakers and tech
companies are scrambling to stop <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/02/08/1229641751/ai-deepfakes-election-risks-lawmakers-tech-companies-artificial-intelligence?utm_source=Nashville+Public+Radio&utm_campaign=e106d16ba3-nashvillager_020824&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-ffaa545e30-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=e106d16ba3&mc_eid=c85869b129" target="_blank">the AI-generated spread</a> of false election information.</span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/02/08/1229641751/ai-deepfakes-election-risks-lawmakers-tech-companies-artificial-intelligence?utm_source=Nashville+Public+Radio&utm_campaign=e106d16ba3-nashvillager_020824&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-ffaa545e30-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=e106d16ba3&mc_eid=c85869b129"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>Not wearing a mask during a COVID
emergency was <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/not-wearing-a-mask-during-covid-emergency-isnt-a-free-speech-right-appeals-court-says/" target="_blank">not a right</a> of free speech, an appeals court has ruled.<a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/not-wearing-a-mask-during-covid-emergency-isnt-a-free-speech-right-appeals-court-says/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>The <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/desantis-vs-palestinian-student-groups-free-speech-prevails/" target="_blank">real winner</a> in a lawsuit between
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Palestinian student groups was the First
Amendment, concluded Ken Paulson, executive director of the Free Speech Center
at Middle Tennessee State University.<a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/desantis-vs-palestinian-student-groups-free-speech-prevails/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>Elementary school students have decided
which freedom in the First Amendment is the <a href="https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/4th-and-5th-grade-students-debate-the-first-amendment-which-freedom-is-most-important/" target="_blank">most important</a>, and they tell us why
too.<a href="https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/4th-and-5th-grade-students-debate-the-first-amendment-which-freedom-is-most-important/"><br /></a><b><o:p> <br /></o:p></b><span style="font-size: large;"><b>A rich Mann.</b> A Washington,
D.C., jury has awarded $1 million to climate scientist Michael Mann after a
12-year <a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-defamation-michael-mann-penn-state-61289ee2d8d2143768d28995c83899ef" target="_blank">defamation lawsuit</a> battle.</span><a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-defamation-michael-mann-penn-state-61289ee2d8d2143768d28995c83899ef"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>A city and county in Ohio have agreed to
settle a lawsuit brought by <i>NewsNation</i> reporter Evan Lambert after his
<a href="https://www.rcfp.org/evan-lambert-judgment/" target="_blank">unlawful arrest</a> at a press conference.<a href="https://www.rcfp.org/evan-lambert-judgment/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>ACLU’s fight over one Tennessee town’s anti-drag ordinance ends with a <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/aclu-settles-for-500k-with-tenn-city-in-fight-over-anti-drag-ordinance/" target="_blank">$500,000 settlement</a>.<a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/aclu-settles-for-500k-with-tenn-city-in-fight-over-anti-drag-ordinance/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>An Alabama library board has banned the
<a href="https://www.al.com/news/2024/02/alabama-library-ordered-to-stop-buying-childrens-ya-books-with-adult-lgbtq-themes.html" target="_blank">purchase of books</a> with sexual or LGBTQ+ content for children 17 and younger.<a href="https://www.al.com/news/2024/02/alabama-library-ordered-to-stop-buying-childrens-ya-books-with-adult-lgbtq-themes.html"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>An upcoming election could create a majority
of <a href="https://wpln.org/post/book-ban-advocates-could-soon-take-over-sumner-countys-school-board-behind-the-movement-is-a-far-right-political-faction-with-a-decade-long-grudge/?utm_source=Nashville+Public+Radio&utm_campaign=65f1c0a3b5-nashvillager_020724&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-ffaa545e30-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=65f1c0a3b5&mc_eid=c85869b129" target="_blank">book-ban advocates</a> on a school board in a Tennessee county.<a href="https://wpln.org/post/book-ban-advocates-could-soon-take-over-sumner-countys-school-board-behind-the-movement-is-a-far-right-political-faction-with-a-decade-long-grudge/?utm_source=Nashville+Public+Radio&utm_campaign=65f1c0a3b5-nashvillager_020724&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-ffaa545e30-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=65f1c0a3b5&mc_eid=c85869b129"><br /></a><o:p> <br /></o:p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Spywarn.</b> The Biden
administration has vowed to restrict visas for foreign individuals who abuse
spyware to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-roll-visa-restrictions-people-misuse-spyware-target-106966219" target="_blank">target activists and journalists</a>.</span><a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-roll-visa-restrictions-people-misuse-spyware-target-106966219"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>A judge’s interpretation of the New
Jersey anti-SLAPP law may go a long way in preventing <a href="https://freedom.press/news/new-jersey-anti-slapp-law-faces-its-first-test/" target="_blank">malicious lawsuits</a> aimed
at journalists.<a href="https://freedom.press/news/new-jersey-anti-slapp-law-faces-its-first-test/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>An Arizona bill that targets <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/arizona-swatting-first-amendment/" target="_blank">“swatting”</a>
could raise a First Amendment concern, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of
the Press has concluded.<a href="https://www.rcfp.org/arizona-swatting-first-amendment/"><br /></a><o:p> <br /></o:p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Putin it to him.</b> Tucker
Carlson’s interview with the Russian president left the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/08/tucker-carlson-putin-interview-released/?utm_campaign=wp_the7&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_the7&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3caf74e%2F65c6117d8a2c755ea45bd61c%2F629d3b1c6f02666fddc80e64%2F32%2F79%2F65c6117d8a2c755ea45bd61c" target="_blank">former Fox News host</a> in
silence and looking confounded, reported <i>The Washington Post</i>.</span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/08/tucker-carlson-putin-interview-released/?utm_campaign=wp_the7&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_the7&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3caf74e%2F65c6117d8a2c755ea45bd61c%2F629d3b1c6f02666fddc80e64%2F32%2F79%2F65c6117d8a2c755ea45bd61c"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>Some CNN employees have said the network’s
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/feb/04/cnn-staff-pro-israel-bias?utm_source=ground.news&utm_medium=referral" target="_blank">pro-Israel news slant</a> is tantamount to “journalistic malpractice.”<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/feb/04/cnn-staff-pro-israel-bias?utm_source=ground.news&utm_medium=referral"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>The National Press Club offered
journalists who had <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/style/journalism-media-layoffs.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">lost jobs </a>the chance to commiserate over free tacos and drinks.<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/style/journalism-media-layoffs.html?smid=nytcore-android-share"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>NPR’s Linda Wertheimer penned a
bittersweet goodbye as she announced her retirement after a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/02/07/1229667318/npr-founding-mother-linda-wertheimer-retirement?utm_source=Nashville+Public+Radio&utm_campaign=65f1c0a3b5-nashvillager_020724&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-ffaa545e30-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=65f1c0a3b5&mc_eid=c85869b129" target="_blank">50-year career</a>.<a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/02/07/1229667318/npr-founding-mother-linda-wertheimer-retirement?utm_source=Nashville+Public+Radio&utm_campaign=65f1c0a3b5-nashvillager_020724&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-ffaa545e30-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=65f1c0a3b5&mc_eid=c85869b129"><br /></a><o:p> <br /></o:p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>A Wynn loss.</b> Casino mogul
Steve Wynn had his <a href="https://apnews.com/article/steve-wynn-associated-press-defamation-lawsuit-nevada-aae0cda55a4fb7dcf1f30d8d63aafd6f" target="_blank">defamation lawsuit</a> against the Associated Press dismissed by
the Nevada Supreme Court.</span><a href="https://apnews.com/article/steve-wynn-associated-press-defamation-lawsuit-nevada-aae0cda55a4fb7dcf1f30d8d63aafd6f"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>A jury verdict for a former high school coach
in a defamation case was <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/s-c-high-court-reinstates-jury-verdict-for-ex-coach-in-defamation-case/" target="_blank">reinstated </a>by the South Carolina Supreme Court.<a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/s-c-high-court-reinstates-jury-verdict-for-ex-coach-in-defamation-case/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>UC Berkeley cites students’ <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/uc-berkeley-cites-first-amendment-bid-end-antisemitism-lawsuit-2024-02-06/" target="_blank">free-speech rights</a>
in its bid to end an antisemitism lawsuit.<a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/uc-berkeley-cites-first-amendment-bid-end-antisemitism-lawsuit-2024-02-06/"><br /></a><o:p><br /></o:p></div><div><a href="https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/Ut0Mrg?vid=1047fa" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="500" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_n2wmxM6Y25iQaQmeHrhvmZsgpyw4E-_dAYk3xymQ3Y2oRN0H2EKqYwsjFBpJRmfQhdhOn2tcvLnOE1jGbjsBFpBytJsVglZguPNg7fPjoOabIEuOQzXKhxj1Hu_YdG6EZovmT9KPM85uDGKwvBn7yQb1GtmZqwelI0kcK83znDzaOPFRQ2KsKf7XvSk/w541-h291/one%20amend.jpg" width="541" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><o:p> <br /></o:p><o:p> </o:p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
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Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-59412275500818469602024-01-29T12:34:00.002-06:002024-01-29T12:52:55.573-06:00Puzzling / Shielded / Money pit<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Puzzling.</b> As Donald Trump moves closer to another Republican presidential nomination, how to cover his live appearances has posed an <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-speech-cnn-fox-msnbc-5e006fabe97af33f448d8a6d96de9f7c" target="_blank">unsolved riddle </a>for news outlets, says <i>Associated Press</i> reporter David Bauder.</span><br />■ Election misinformation is spreading on X after Elon Musk dismantled the platform’s system for flagging <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/25/us/politics/elon-musk-election-misinformation-x-twitter.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">false content</a>, <i>The New York Times</i> has reported.<br />■ Are <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/ballot-selfies/" target="_blank">ballot selfies</a> protected by the First Amendment? At the moment, there is no consensus among U.S. states.<br />■ Despite TikTok’s widespread popularity with Americans, government officials have worked to <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/tiktok-is-popular-with-americans-but-government-officials-are-not-done-trying-to-restrict-access/" target="_blank">restrict access </a>to it.<div>■ President Biden tries to balance Gaza protests and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-protests-gaza-israel-hamas-election-2024-24a0a74ea195f764aa09ab7167e81ace" target="_blank">free-speech rights</a> as his public events are disrupted by protesters.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Shielded.</b> The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a federal shield law (PRESS Act) that would <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/house-passes-federal-shield-law-senate-considers-next/" target="_blank">protect reporters</a> from disclosing confidential sources or having their digital records accessed by the government.</span><br />■ Seth Stern, a Freedom of the Press Foundation director, has answered the most frequently asked questions about the PRESS Act <a href="https://freedom.press/news/frequently-asked-questions-about-the-press-act/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />■ A Texas law that would require <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/us-appeals-court-blocks-texas-law-ban-restrict-library-books-rcna134426" target="_blank">sexual-content ratings</a> from booksellers who deal with school libraries has been blocked by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.<div>■ Despite a state policy prohibiting them, banned books fill a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/01/29/1222539335/banned-books-high-school" target="_blank">secret shelf </a>at a Texas school, NPR reported.<br />■ Georgia lawmakers have passed a bill that would <a href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-antisemitism-definition-israel-palestine-c1ce0f172a174769edeaca5c59af870c" target="_blank">define antisemitism</a> in state law despite opponents saying it could curtail free-speech rights.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Wrong side of the street.</b> Blocking traffic is not protected by the First Amendment even though the <a href="https://reason.com/2024/01/26/no-blocking-traffic-is-not-protected-by-the-first-amendment/" target="_blank">freedom to protest </a>is, argued <i>Reason </i>associate editor Billy Binion.</span><br />■ The arrest of an Ohio public official during a board meeting for comments critical of the local sheriff was a violation of her <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/18/us/ohio-niki-frenchko-arrest.html" target="_blank">constitutional rights</a>, a federal judge has ruled.<br />■ A parent did not have a First Amendment right to <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/no-first-amendment-right-to-record-online-iep-meetings-1st-circuit-rules/" target="_blank">record an online meeting</a> with school officials discussing his child’s individualized education plan, a three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.<br />■ A federal judge ruled that a Pennsylvania law making the release of information on teacher disciplinary complaints a crime <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/a-pennsylvania-law-shields-teacher-misconduct-complaints-a-judge-ruled-thats-unconstitutional/" target="_blank">is in violation</a> of the First Amendment.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Money pit.</b> The billionaires who said they wanted to save the news industry are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/18/business/media/billionaires-news-media-owners.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">losing a fortune</a>, according to a financial analysis in <i>The New York Times</i>.</span><br />■ Following significant layoffs and the resignation of its top editor, the <i>Los Angeles Times</i> announced its first female executive editor, who is now tasked with navigating <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/los-angeles-times-terry-tang-first-female-editor-layoffs-rcna135848" target="_blank">through the turbulence</a> at the 142-year-old newspaper.<br />■ A clash between the <i>Los Angeles Times</i> owner and its former editor over <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/26/business/media/los-angeles-times-owner-editor-clash.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">an unpublished article</a> reportedly led the latter to resign.<div>■ A vigil was held outside the U.S. Capitol to honor the more than 80 journalists and media workers who <a href="https://freedom.press/news/vigil-recognizes-journalists-killed-in-gaza/" target="_blank">have been killed </a>since the Israel-Gaza conflict began.</div><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Boxed out.</b> A Colorado man was cited after more than 200 local newspapers with a front-page story about an investigation into sexual assault at the home of a police chief <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/21/us/newspaper-stolen-ouray-colorado.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">went missing</a> from distribution boxes.</span><br />■ Donations have helped a weekly newspaper in Oregon <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/29/business/media/eugene-weekly-embezzlement-printing.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">publish again</a> weeks after an employee embezzled thousands of dollars and forced it to shut down.</div><div>■ Congress must help <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/congress-must-help-save-local-journalism-before-its-too-late/" target="_blank">save local journalism</a> before it is too late, urged the editor of <i>The Seattle Times</i> Save the Free Press Initiative.</div><div>■ An Oklahoma lawmaker has authored a bill that would require<a href="https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/politics/government/2024/01/18/oklahoma-bill-would-make-journalists-get-licenses-regular-drug-tests/72268519007/" target="_blank"> journalists to be licensed</a> by the state and to take quarterly drug tests.</div><div>■ A federal appeals court in Maryland has upheld a law requiring gun dealers to distribute information about suicide prevention, conflict resolution, and mental health resources <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/county-gun-safety-pamphlet-law-in-md-upheld-on-appeal/" target="_blank">when selling firearms</a>.<br /><div><br /></div><div><p><a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/encyclopedia/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="725" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeCa9Do8hX-Q2yZbbFOj2MEanEsNA_GoP0HKtUWtre3ghX_8q7p2gQCjp-ZfPmQQJ1dPE4ZhpQtLXviMFteoa3pcYvrl5i05XcZAkhLTBqhLt-eZQQ3m-jwfjSJV-uyuB5JPjpytF5o8VYQr7h3mWZVYHbPOJJZ1KsHmoJfTIMS0pwq9vjMpJcAEI7y54/w590-h370/FSC%20ency%20ad.jpg" style="color: #0000ee; text-align: center;" width="590" /></a></p></div></div></div></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-89894084490633491902024-01-15T12:28:00.002-06:002024-01-15T13:02:43.128-06:00Swearing out / Block party / Free advice(<b><i>Editor’s note:</i></b> On this holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., the Free Speech Center examines how the civil rights leader put <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/how-martin-luther-king-put-first-amendment-freedoms-into-practice/" target="_blank">First Amendment freedoms</a> into action.)<br /><br /> <div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Swearing out.</b> An Air Force veteran had no First Amendment <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/7th-circuit-upholds-veterans-conviction-for-cursing-hospital-staff-and-police/" target="_blank">right to cuss out</a> a therapist and police officers at a VA hospital, a federal appeals court has determined.</span></div>■ Florida <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/10/us/politics/ron-desantis-andrew-warren.html" target="_blank">Gov. Ron DeSantis</a> violated First Amendment protections when he suspended a state prosecutor for political gain, a federal court of appeals has ruled. <br />■ A New York judge has ordered Donald <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-ordered-to-pay-legal-fees-of-new-york-times-three-reporters/7438417.html" target="_blank">Trump to pay</a> nearly $400,000 in legal fees to reporters that he sued unsuccessfully over a 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning story.<br />■ Media expert Jack Greiner has examined whether the firing of a university chancellor who appeared in <a href="https://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/2024/01/03/joseph-gow-why-was-chancellor-at-wisconsin-lacross-fired/72087623007/" target="_blank">pornographic videos</a> was a violation of his First Amendment rights.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>‘Rare bug.’</b> OpenAI has been hit with a barrage of high-profile lawsuits, including one from <i>The New York Times</i>, which could test the <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/chatgpt-maker-braces-for-fight-with-new-york-times-and-authors-on-fair-use-of-copyrighted-works/ar-AA1mIeSD" target="_blank">future of ChatGPT</a> and other artificial intelligence products.</span><br />■ In a case involving Big Tech and being watched by several states, a federal appeals court has directed a lower court to consider the merits of a First Amendment challenge to Maryland’s <a href="https://apnews.com/article/digital-ad-tax-maryland-google-facebook-amazon-dc8f7abebe9186e151c4bfbd357a5ca0" target="_blank">digital advertising tax</a>.<br />■ Project Veritas’ First Amendment claim pertaining to the <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/first-amendment-claim-struck-down-in-project-veritas-case-focused-on-diary-of-bidens-daughter/" target="_blank">alleged theft of a diary</a> belonging to the daughter of President Biden was rejected by a U.S. district judge.<br />■ No matter where you stand regarding Project Veritas, <a href="https://freedom.press/news/the-government-needs-to-explain-itself-when-it-investigates-newsgathering/" target="_blank">transparency remains vital </a>when government investigates newsgathering, concluded Freedom of the Press Foundation’s Seth Stern.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Block party.</b> An Alaska judge has ruled against a state representative who <a href="https://www.frontiersman.com/news/alaska-superior-court-rules-in-facebook-free-speech-case/article_4ada6568-b297-11ee-a357-1b2f5de4e246.html" target="_blank">blocked a reporter</a> from his Facebook page.</span><br /><div>■ The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to consider whether school board members on their personal social media accounts can block someone and <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/school-board-members-could-soon-be-blocked-from-blocking-people-and-deleting-their-comments-on-social-media/" target="_blank">delete their comments</a>.<br />■ There may be no bigger <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/15/elon-musk-hypocrite-free-speech" target="_blank">hypocrite on free speech</a> than Elon Musk, declared the co-founder of the Freedom of the Press Foundation in an opinion piece for <i>The Guardian</i>.<br />■ Elon Musk said his decision to ban a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-says-banning-hamas-x-account-was-tough-call-2024-1" target="_blank">Hamas-linked account</a> from X “was a tough call” he made after deciding that Hamas was not a United Nations-recognized government.<br />■ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) means different things to different people but goes <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/13/opinions/dei-free-speech-campuses-nossel/index.html" target="_blank">hand-in-hand with free speech</a>, contended the CEO of PEN America in a CNN commentary.<br />■ An Indiana judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a University of Notre Dame professor who contended that a student newspaper <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/nation-world/story/2024-01-08/judge-dismisses-notre-dame-professors-defamation-lawsuit-against-student-newspaper?utm_source=ground.news&utm_medium=referral" target="_blank">defamed her</a> in its abortion-rights news coverage.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>No references?</b> Dictionaries and encyclopedias are among the nearly 2,000 <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/01/11/florida-book-ban-schools-lawsuit" target="_blank">books pulled </a>from the shelves of schools in Florida’s Escambia County as officials work to abide by a new state law.</span><br />■ After a tenure replete with prestigious awards and contentious contract negotiations and layoffs, <i>Los Angeles Times</i> executive editor Kevin Merida has <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/los-angeles-times-executive-editor-steps-down-after-fraught-tenure/" target="_blank">stepped down</a>.<br />■ A newspaper in the U.S. Virgin Islands that <a href="https://apnews.com/article/st-croix-newspaper-closing-virgin-islands-c91a26aadcf478bd14f50b800b8c368d" target="_blank">first published in 1844 </a>is closing, its owner has announced.<br />■ The Messenger, a start-up launched by longtime media executives with an aim to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/04/business/media/the-messenger-financial-strain.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">transform journalism</a>, is in dire financial straits, revenue disclosures showed.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Free advice.</b> A First Amendment victory for a North Carolina retiree is another reinforcement in the battle against occupational licensing boards that work to <a href="https://www.carolinajournal.com/opinion/north-carolina-retiree-strikes-blow-to-new-type-of-censorship/" target="_blank">silence opinions</a> of expert professionals.</span><br />■ Abortion-rights supporters have completed a successful <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/05/politics/abortion-rights-group-petition-florida-ballot/index.html" target="_blank">petition drive </a>to get a Florida state constitutional amendment on the 2024 ballot.<br />■ Gunmen with explosives <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/explosions-kidnapping-police-mark-ecuador-state-emergency-2024-01-09/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=Daily-Briefing&utm_term=011024&user_email=37c02a7651cf828756961d18b22bc97a2b351df514d75a8799c06a4252968822" target="_blank">stormed a television station</a> in Ecuador during a live broadcast before police rescued the staff and arrested the perpetrators.<br />■ The Freedom of the Press Foundation has received a $10 million donation from Internet <a href="https://freedom.press/news/a-transformative-donation-in-the-fight-for-transparency-and-press-freedom/" target="_blank">entrepreneur Jack Dorsey</a> to further its work protecting press freedoms.</div><div><br /><p><a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="1266" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQO1WRA7MVMSzif_Gz2V7B1N6-yukxOz_Su9AeF4KQsisWQg-Ydhun1kkSl-mvprGp6KUbEmUw0gpgKGtxMJ0AZc2HBKq9oi3bgK1od8e6Pcbkqn3IFaNu9GWzc_xRmdV-QPn6DuDXVyx6RYSazNQ6lxF23k-pZ5MDbEg5L9kgrXMaPwjxV4IKNctcQ3pS/w588-h381/FSC%20megaphone%202.jpg" width="588" /></a></p></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-6689990001203592842023-12-18T11:45:00.001-06:002023-12-18T11:57:46.771-06:00Necessary evil? / F-no / More ammo<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Necessary evil?</b> Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds defended the First Amendment rights of a group that put up a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesfarrell/2023/12/13/why-a-satanic-holiday-display-at-the-iowa-capitol-building-has-been-allowed-to-stay-up-despite-backlash/?sh=598752b55bac" target="_blank">satanic holiday display</a> at the state capitol, igniting outrage.</span><br />■ Donald Trump’s presidential-immunity argument in his <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-sexual-assault-defamation-trial-presidential-immunity-1794a1b9c32dbb83ec6de6f3342fca47" target="_blank">defamation lawsuit </a>was rejected by a federal appeals court.<br /><div>■ Elon Musk’s X is the target of the first EU probe over suspected failure to combat <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/18/eu-opens-infringement-proceedings-against-musks-x.html" target="_blank">content disinformation</a>.<br /><div><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Websites that host AI-created <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/12/17/ai-fake-news-misinformation/?utm_campaign=wp_the7&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_the7" target="_blank">false news articles</a> have grown by more than 1,000 percent, reported NewsGuard, an
organization that tracks misinformation.</div><div>■ A Texas <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/federal-judge-upholds-texas-tiktok-ban-on-state-owned-devices/" target="_blank">TikTok ban</a> on state-owned devices and networks has been upheld by a federal judge.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Threat assessment.</b> Concerns build as the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to clarify whether the use of <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article283018618.html" target="_blank">rap lyrics in criminal prosecutions</a> violates free-speech rights.</span><br />■ The Supreme Court refused to take up a case on whether state and local governments can enforce laws that <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/the-supreme-court-rejects-an-appeal-over-bans-on-conversion-therapy-for-lgbtq-children?utm_source=ground.news&utm_medium=referral" target="_blank">ban conversion therapy</a> for LGBTQ+ youth after a lower court ruled that such bans are unconstitutional restrictions on counselors’ speech.<br />■ A business reporter in Colorado has defied a court order to return suppressed records and delete electronic copies that he <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/briefs-comments/farb-v-spay-prior-restraint-letter/" target="_blank">lawfully obtained</a>.<br />■ In Cleveland, a settlement has removed restrictions and allowed the return of <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/cleveland-court-returns-first-amendment-access-to-court-records/" target="_blank">First Amendment access</a> to court records.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>F-no.</b> A Pennsylvania man said government officials infringed on his First Amendment rights when he was forced to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/pennsylvania-man-takes-local-officials-court-first-amendment-right-infringement-front-yard-sign" target="_blank">take down a sign </a>that included a profanity.</span><br />■ Neither a Texas student nor his high school has budged on his suspension over <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/black-texas-high-school-student-suspended-over-hair-likely-wont-return-to-his-class-anytime-soon/" target="_blank">his hairstyle</a>.<br />■ Prison <a href="https://lithub.com/censoring-imagination-why-prisons-ban-fantasy-and-science-fiction/" target="_blank">book bans </a>punish the incarcerated by closing off the means of escape through fantastical ideas, wrote Moira Marquis in a <i>Literary Hub </i>opinion piece.<br />■ When it comes to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/15/opinion/campus-free-speech-students.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">free speech</a>, her students can show us the way forward, contended a University of Pennsylvania history professor in a <i>New York Times</i> commentary.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>More ammo.</b> The ACLU is a surprising defender of the NRA in the gun-rights group’s <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/nra-surprising-defender-free-speech-case-supreme-court-105524477" target="_blank">First Amendment case</a>.</span><br />■ Fox News disputed a former reporter’s argument that he was dismissed for challenging <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/fox-news-pushes-back-against-reporters-lawsuit-claiming-he-was-fired-for-challenging-jan-6-coverage/" target="_blank">false claims</a> about the Jan. 6 insurrection.</div><div>■ A Washington, D.C., transit agency decision to reject <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2023/12/wmata-violated-1st-amendment-by-rejecting-metrobus-ads/" target="_blank">religious-themed ads</a> on its buses violates the First Amendment, a new lawsuit contends.<br />■ David French has examined what university presidents got right and wrong about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/opinion/antisemitism-university-presidents.html" target="_blank">antisemitic speech</a> in an opinion piece in <i>The New York Times</i>.<br /><br /><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>AleX-man.</b> Former Infowars host Alex Jones has had his X (formerly Twitter) <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/elon-musk-restores-x-account-of-conspiracy-theorist-alex-jones/ar-AA1lhoLj" target="_blank">account restored</a> by Elon Musk.</span><br />■ The First Amendment protects social media <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/netchoice-supreme-court-brief/" target="_blank">content moderation</a>, explained the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) in a recent post.<br />■ For the RCFP, 2023 was a successful year in protecting the <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/rcfps-2023-year-in-review/" target="_blank">newsgathering rights</a> of journalists.<br /><br /><a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/encyclopedia/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="725" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeCa9Do8hX-Q2yZbbFOj2MEanEsNA_GoP0HKtUWtre3ghX_8q7p2gQCjp-ZfPmQQJ1dPE4ZhpQtLXviMFteoa3pcYvrl5i05XcZAkhLTBqhLt-eZQQ3m-jwfjSJV-uyuB5JPjpytF5o8VYQr7h3mWZVYHbPOJJZ1KsHmoJfTIMS0pwq9vjMpJcAEI7y54/w570-h358/FSC%20ency%20ad.jpg" style="color: #0000ee; text-align: center;" width="570" /></a><br /><br /> </div></div></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-70244679472275700582023-12-04T12:14:00.003-06:002023-12-04T12:37:24.278-06:00Tok block / Next chapter / AI blues<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Tok block.</b> A U.S. district judge has blocked a Montana <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-blocks-montana-banning-tiktok-use-state-2023-11-30/" target="_blank">state ban</a> on using the video-sharing app TikTok that was set to take effect in January.</span><br />■ Elon Musk’s X Corp. has filed its <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/dallas/2023/11/29/elon-musk-sues-media-matters-lawsuit-fort-worth-texas" target="_blank">defamation suit</a> against Media Matters in Texas, apparently hoping to draw a sympathetic judge.<br />■ Another small-town newspaper has found itself on First Amendment <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2023/11/27/atmore-news-arrests-alabama/" target="_blank">front lines</a> after local authorities arrest a reporter and the publisher.<br />■ A California reporter’s unpublished notes were surrendered to avoid a contempt-of-court ruling in a setback for <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-11-23/court-order-reporter-jailhouse-interview-notes-bakersfield-californian" target="_blank">press freedoms</a>, advocates said.<br /><b><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Order form.</span></b><span style="font-size: large;"> Debating whether gag orders against Donald Trump violate the First Amendment is <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/who-cares-if-trumps-gag-orders-violate-the-first-amendment" target="_blank">pointless</a>, declared a former federal prosecutor in a recent commentary for <i>The Daily Beast</i>.</span><br />■ The on-again, off-again <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/30/politics/new-york-appeals-court-reinstates-gag-order-against-donald-trump-in-civil-fraud-trial/index.html" target="_blank">gag order</a> barring Trump from making public statements in his civil fraud was reinstated by a New York appellate court.<br />■ With few victories, the press has kept up the fight in its battle against <a href="https://freedom.press/news/press-battles-camera-bans-in-trump-trials-updated/" target="_blank">camera bans</a> in Trump courtroom trials.<br />■ A longtime journalist for <i>The New Yorker </i>has explained why Trump’s <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/12/04/why-trumps-trials-should-be-on-tv" target="_blank">trials should be on television</a> in a recent commentary.<br /><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Next chapter.</b> Librarians in several states who believe they were fired for opposing book bans have filed <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/librarians-turn-to-civil-rights-agency-to-oppose-book-bans-and-their-firings/" target="_blank">workplace-discrimination</a> claims with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.</span><br />■ Florida’s government has argued that the contents of a public library are <a href="https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/politics/2023/12/04/florida-says-school-libraries-have-right-to-remove-lgbtq-books/71742277007/" target="_blank">“government speech,”</a> giving it absolute control over what books are made available to students. First Amendment advocates, including Free Speech Center Director Ken Paulson, call the contention extreme and unfounded.</div><div>■ LGBTQ+ groups have sued the state of Iowa to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/lgbtq-groups-sue-iowa-law-banning-library-books-gender-identity-discus-rcna127075" target="_blank">stop a new law</a> that bans certain books and gender-identity discussions in schools.<br /><div>■ Parents can fight the release of a Tennessee school shooter’s writings, an appeals court ruled in a <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/parents-can-fight-release-of-tenn-school-shooters-writings-court-rules/" target="_blank">public-records</a> case.</div></div><div><br /></div><b><span style="font-size: large;">Moderation consideration.</span></b><span style="font-size: large;"> Messages on social media platforms are <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/supreme-court-to-consider-giving-first-amendment-protections-to-social-media-posts/" target="_blank">not protected</a> under the First Amendment, but the U.S. Supreme Court could alter that, suggested Lynn Greenky in <i>The Conversation</i>.</span><br />■ A California district attorney reversed course after she came under fire from journalism advocates for <a href="https://pleasantonweekly.com/news/2023/12/02/das-office-changes-course-after-excluding-some-journalists-from-briefings" target="_blank">barring a credentialed reporter</a> from entering a press conference.<br />■ An Arizona journalist with visible press credentials and a camera was <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4338681-arizona-journalist-arrested-covering-pro-palestine-protest/?utm_source=ground.news&utm_medium=referral" target="_blank">restrained and cited</a> for criminal trespassing while covering a pro-Palestine protest in Tucson.<div>■ A Fox News correspondent, <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/less-than-2-years-after-nearly-being-killed-by-russian-bomb-fox-news-benjamin-hall-returns-to-ukraine/" target="_blank">nearly killed</a> by Russian bombs last year reporting from Ukraine, returned to the country for an interview with its president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.<div>■ Dozens of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/03/opinion/journalists-killed-israel-gaza.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">journalists have been killed</a> covering the Gaza war. Her friend was one of them.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>AI blues.</b> <i>Sports Illustrated</i> became the latest media company to have its reputation tarnished by the discovery of <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/sports-illustrated-found-publishing-ai-generated-stories-photos-and-authors" target="_blank">artificially generated articles</a>, photos, and writers.</span><br />■ Josh Tyrangiel interpreted what SI’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/12/01/ai-sports-illustrated-bot-journalism/" target="_blank">AI controversy</a> really means for journalism in a commentary for <i>The Washington Post</i>.<br />■ Former CNN boss Jeff Zucker’s bid to buy British news outlets was halted over concerns that the <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/12/01/media/uk-government-halts-jeff-zucker-telegraph-deal-to-perform-probe/" target="_blank">proposed deal </a>constituted a “potential breach of media standards.”<br />■ Wisconsin lawmakers have introduced a bill that would <a href="https://www.wpr.org/bipartisan-bill-student-newspaper-free-speech-rights" target="_blank">protect student newspapers </a>from school administration censorship.<br /><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/Ut0Mrg?vid=12nnuo"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAmvDhJPSzXvd4DiRkkLbvrorgziGPXymV0WCChU9CzYxsvhd4yfJZDuLx_1pnlu91hn0oBT3v-nwWon_DyRBe9B2MaMMo-xOfgPUHf9-7bkt7pnOfH6xbJY4M0xJfu901C6dYo--XVMBQONlvXqcwu5n0idgeDFFI0OMQp3WbV4PAexwUKuNuDRoT1CF/w578-h369/FSC%20bill%20of%20rights%2025.jpg" /></a></div></div></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-17195167134215807712023-11-20T12:16:00.004-06:002023-11-20T13:00:54.454-06:00Drag on / Vanishing ink / Ctrl + shift<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Drag on.</b> The state of Florida cannot enforce its new law targeting <a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-drag-shows-florida-desantis-lgbtqhnmmwnsaz-88c6624e2e8a8be812e6eb63161a2631" target="_blank">drag shows</a> while its court case proceeds, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled.</span><br />■ Donald Trump tested the limits of the First Amendment during a gag-order hearing where a three-judge panel now will consider how to balance the former president’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/20/us/politics/trump-gag-order-election-court-case.html" target="_blank">free-speech rights</a> against the need to prevent intimidation tactics.<br />■ Prohibiting the display of an altered American flag with a single “thin blue line” stripe is <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/barring-thin-blue-line-flag-on-pa-township-property-is-unconstitutional-court-rules/" target="_blank">unconstitutional</a>, a federal court has declared.<br />■ A California woman has asked Supreme Court justices to sound off on whether her <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/11/17/supreme-court-first-amendment-car-horn/71441316007/" target="_blank">ticket for honking</a> her car horn violated her First Amendment rights.<br />■ The American Bar Association has moved forward with a proposal to establish <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/law-school-free-speech-proposal-moves-forward-after-aba-vote-2023-11-17/" target="_blank">free-speech policies</a> at its accredited law schools.<div><b><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Acts of war.</span></b><span style="font-size: large;"> Gaza war images that are difficult for news organizations to show become more troubling when some of them are <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/for-news-organizations-flood-of-gaza-war-video-is-illuminating-troubling/" target="_blank">found to be fake</a>.</span><br />■ Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis denied that shutting down pro-Palestinian groups on state campuses <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4305821-desantis-pro-palestinian-campus-groups-free-speech/" target="_blank">violated free speech</a>.<br />■ The ACLU declared that Gov. DeSantis is violating the <a href="https://www.wuwf.org/florida-news/2023-11-13/aclu-says-desantis-is-violating-students-first-amendment-rights" target="_blank">First Amendment rights</a> of Florida students.<br />■ The <i>Las Vegas Review-Journal </i>artist whose <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/i-was-canceled-cartoon-about-hamas-human-shields-i-stand-my-cartoon-its-critics-opinion-1843949" target="_blank">editorial cartoon </a>on Hamas was pulled from <i>The Washington Post</i> stands by both his work and his critics in a self-penned commentary.<br />■ U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin explained the importance of defending colleague Rashida Tlaib <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/rashida-tlaib-defense-censure-free-speech/" target="_blank">against censure </a>in an opinion piece for <i>The Nation</i>.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Vanishing ink.</b> Local newspapers seem to be going the way of the pay phone and the <a href="https://www.thefire.org/news/blogs/ronald-kl-collins-first-amendment-news/perilous-times-plight-local-papers-first" target="_blank">fight for survival</a> is vital for maintaining an informed democracy, wrote Ronald Collins for the Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) newsletter.</span><br />■ In refusing to divulge sources, a former Fox News journalist could be <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/former-fox-news-reporter-refusing-to-divulge-sources-could-be-held-in-contempt-of-court/" target="_blank">held in contempt</a> of court. <br />■ Fox Sports reporter Charissa Thompson admitted to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/nov/17/fox-sports-reporter-fake-quotes-charissa-thompson-nfl" target="_blank">fabricating quotes</a> and in-game reports but has faced no reprimands to date.<br />■ Judge Andrew Napolitano explored the question, ‘What happened to <a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2023/11/16/judge-andrew-napolitano-what-happened-to-freedom-of-speech-in-america/" target="_blank">freedom of speech</a> in America?’ in a recent commentary.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Ctrl + shift.</b> OpenAI’s board of directors cited a “breakdown of communications” in its ouster of CEO Sam Altman, who is seen by many as the face of the tech industry’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/20/technology/openai-altman-ceo-not-returning.html" target="_blank">artificial intelligence</a> boom and who was quickly hired by Microsoft.</span><div>■ Atlanta rapper <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/lyrics-can-be-used-as-evidence-in-rapper-young-thugs-trial-on-gang-and-racketeering-charges/" target="_blank">Young Thug’s lyrics</a> can be used as evidence against him in a gang and racketeering trial, a Fulton County judge has ruled.<br />■ More than 100 Harvard faculty members expressed concerns over the state of free speech on campus in <a href="https://www.masslive.com/education/2023/11/harvard-faculty-sign-letter-defending-free-speech-in-face-of-israel-hamas-war.html" target="_blank">an open letter </a>to the university administration.</div><div>■ The ACLU has demanded that a Kansas school district’s dress-code policy that forced an 8-year-old Native American boy to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/kansas-school-forced-8-year-native-american-boy-105007080" target="_blank">cut his long hair </a>be rescinded.</div><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Assange alliance.</b> Rival lawmakers find common ground in urging President Biden to halt the extradition and prosecution of the besieged <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4304418-lawmakers-urge-biden-drop-assange-extradition-prosecution/" target="_blank">WikiLeaks founder</a>.</span><br />■ After a quiet first 150 years, the American Library Association now is embedded on the frontlines of <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/american-library-association-finds-itself-in-middle-of-woke-wars/" target="_blank">‘</a><a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/american-library-association-finds-itself-in-middle-of-woke-wars/" target="_blank">‘woke</a><a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/american-library-association-finds-itself-in-middle-of-woke-wars/" target="_blank">’</a><a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/american-library-association-finds-itself-in-middle-of-woke-wars/" target="_blank">’ wars</a> as it battles against censorship and book bans.</div><div>■ A <i>NewsNation</i> journalist has filed a lawsuit over <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/evan-lambert-arrest-lawsuit-ohio/" target="_blank">his arrest </a>at an Ohio train-derailment press conference.<br />■ A radio reporter arrested while covering a demonstration where two sheriff’s deputies were shot has received a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/josie-huang-reporter-arrested-settlement-43c83f7b9b44d18f9b0cc8f151b0f888" target="_blank">$700,000 settlement</a> from Los Angeles County.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="725" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeCa9Do8hX-Q2yZbbFOj2MEanEsNA_GoP0HKtUWtre3ghX_8q7p2gQCjp-ZfPmQQJ1dPE4ZhpQtLXviMFteoa3pcYvrl5i05XcZAkhLTBqhLt-eZQQ3m-jwfjSJV-uyuB5JPjpytF5o8VYQr7h3mWZVYHbPOJJZ1KsHmoJfTIMS0pwq9vjMpJcAEI7y54/w598-h376/FSC%20ency%20ad.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="598" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-29937915584267283272023-11-06T09:25:00.004-06:002023-11-06T21:01:22.409-06:00Harassed cats / Pro-tection / Snewsing<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Harassed cats.</b> U.S. Supreme Court justices leaned heavily on hypotheticals concerning whether government officials can block citizens from accessing or interacting with their social media accounts <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/justices-invoke-hypos-to-test-reach-of-first-amendment-online" target="_blank">during arguments</a> in a pair of First Amendment cases.</span><br />■ NPR’s Nina Totenberg wrote that the Court justices seemed to be “uncertainly groping their way” as they sought to craft a new rule in the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/10/31/1209755356/supreme-court-social-media-block">social-media age</a>.<br />■ The Supreme Court announced that it would hear an <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-hear-nra-free-speech-case-against-new-york-official-2023-11-03/" target="_blank">NRA free-speech case</a> over whether a New York government official violated the gun lobbyist’s constitutional rights.<br />■ Amid the acclaim or the vitriol surrounding free speech these days, <i>The Progressive</i>’s Bill Lueders pondered if there is <a href="https://progressive.org/magazine/a-massive-attack-against-free-speech-lueders-20231030/" target="_blank">such a thing</a> as taking the protections of the First Amendment too far.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>X-aggerate?</b> Although Elon Musk asserts that concerns are overblown, his former Twitter site has seen an increase in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/10/27/technology/twitter-x-elon-musk-anniversary.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">harmful content </a>during his tenure, <i>The New York Times </i>reported. </span><br />■ Gaza-related posts on X prompted<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/firing-science-journal-editor-gaza-post-sparks-free-speech-rift-rcna122128" target="_blank"> the firing</a> of a science journal editor and a series of resignations followed, <i>NBC News</i> reported.<div>■ Elon Musk announced that he will <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/musk-integrate-xai-with-social-media-platform-x-2023-11-05/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=Daily-Briefing&utm_term=110623&user_email=37c02a7651cf828756961d18b22bc97a2b351df514d75a8799c06a4252968822" target="_blank">integrate xAI</a>, which he described as “maximum truth-seeking AI,” with his X platform.<div>■ Most U.S. adults think artificial intelligence (AI) will help fuel the spread of 2024 <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/poll-shows-most-u-s-adults-think-ai-will-add-to-election-misinformation-in-2024/" target="_blank">election misinformation</a>, according to a new poll.<br />■ Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis directed state universities to ban a pro-Palestinian <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/fla-orders-state-universities-to-disband-pro-palestinian-group/" target="_blank">student organization</a> for supporting Hamas militants.<br />■ Silencing anti-Israel student speech is wrong and <a href="https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2023/10/28/silencing-anti-israel-student-speech-is-wrong-editorial/" target="_blank">censorship is deplorable</a>, declared the editorial board of the <i>South Florida Sun Sentinel</i>.<div><b><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Pro-tection. </b>All those folks yelling on those embrace-debate sports shows <a href="https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2023/brett-favre-shannon-sharpe-lawsuit-first-amendment/" target="_blank">are protected</a> by the First Amendment too.</span><br />■ The American Civil Liberties Union that has sued Donald Trump or his former administration hundreds of times now has sided with the former president over a judge’s <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/10/25/1208409526/trump-gag-order-first-amendment" target="_blank">gag order</a> it called “too broad and too vague.”<br />■ The Supreme Court appeared to be ready to rule against an activist who seeks to trademark “Trump Too Small’’ <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/01/politics/trump-too-small-supreme-court/index.html" target="_blank">slogan</a>.<br />■ Families of Tennessee transgender children have <a href="https://tennesseelookout.com/briefs/families-of-tennessee-transgender-children-petition-u-s-supreme-court-to-overturn-ruling-on-care/" target="_blank">petitioned </a>the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a new state ban on care.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Stealth care?</b> After a ruling reversal in a North Carolina “ag-gag” case, Seth Stern, a Freedom of the Press Foundation director, wondered whether it is time to revisit <a href="https://freedom.press/news/is-it-time-to-revisit-undercover-journalism/" target="_blank">undercover journalism</a>.</span><br />■ Two Alabama <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2023/11/01/atmore-alabama-journalists-arrested-grand-jury/" target="_blank">journalists were arrested</a> after county officials said that the pair revealed grand-jury testimony in a published story.<br />■ A local reporter was ticketed by Calumet City (Ill.) officials for “hampering” city employees when he apparently <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-calumet-city-tribune-reporter-citations-20231102-ts6ugr2t6vdahap72yw2s7gkoi-story.html" target="_blank">asked too many questions</a>.<br />■ Wyoming Republicans wrestled with differing views on <a href="https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/11/04/wyoming-republicans-stand-with-hageman-on-tlaib-free-speech-stance/" target="_blank">“unlawful speech”</a> in debating a recent effort to censure U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib over her participation in a pro-Palestinian protest.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Snewsing.</b> Fewer than four in 10 Americans said that they <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/pew-38-percent-of-americans-pay-close-attention-to-the-news/" target="_blank">pay close attention</a> to the news, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.</span><br />■ Book bans in U.S. prisons are now in the <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/new-report-from-pen-america-documents-vast-book-bans-in-u-s-prisons/" target="_blank">thousands</a>, PEN America has reported.<br />■ Is both the display of a poster in public and the subsequent tearing down of it examples of free expression? <i>The New York Times</i> examined the firestorm caused by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/31/nyregion/israel-gaza-kidnapped-poster-fight.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">fliers of hostages </a>from the Israeli-Hamas war.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="1266" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQO1WRA7MVMSzif_Gz2V7B1N6-yukxOz_Su9AeF4KQsisWQg-Ydhun1kkSl-mvprGp6KUbEmUw0gpgKGtxMJ0AZc2HBKq9oi3bgK1od8e6Pcbkqn3IFaNu9GWzc_xRmdV-QPn6DuDXVyx6RYSazNQ6lxF23k-pZ5MDbEg5L9kgrXMaPwjxV4IKNctcQ3pS/w588-h381/FSC%20megaphone%202.jpg" width="588" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div></div></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-68294455748076721162023-10-23T12:27:00.003-05:002023-10-23T12:59:39.057-05:00Conflicted / ParaDoxx / A bit busy<span style="font-size: large;"><b> Conflicted.</b> Universities<b>’</b> commitment to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4265290-no-credibility-critics-foul-colleges-free-speech-israel-hamas-conflict/" target="_blank">free speech</a> on campus is being tested by the Israeli-Hamas war.</span><br />■ Social media is inundated by a flood of misinformation about the Israeli-Hamas war, but the Associated Press has <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-gaza-misinformation-fact-check-e58f9ab8696309305c3ea2bfb269258e" target="_blank">the facts</a>.<br />■ The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to delve into the issue of how far government can go to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/20/us/supreme-court-social-media-biden.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">combat misinformation</a> on social media platforms.<br />■ New York’s new online <a href="https://reason.com/2023/10/18/new-yorks-online-hate-speech-law-raises-serious-first-amendment-concerns/" target="_blank">hate-speech legislation</a> has raised concerns that it violates the First Amendment.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>More harm than good?</b> It matters little if Julian Assange is a journalist or not, his prosecution <a href="https://freedom.press/news/is-julian-assange-a-journalist-heres-why-it-doesnt-matter/" target="_blank">endangers press freedom</a> and puts all journalists at risk, argued Seth Stern, advocacy director at Freedom of the Press Foundation.</span><br />■ Does U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s partial <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/federal-judge-imposes-narrow-gag-order-on-trump-in-election-subversion-case/" target="_blank">gag order</a> on Donald Trump violate his First Amendment rights? It could, explained Chandra Bozelko in a <i>USA Today</i> commentary.<div>■ A federal judge temporarily has blocked a Tennessee city from enforcing a <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/judge-temporarily-blocks-tenn-city-from-enforcing-ban-on-drag-performances-on-public-property/" target="_blank">ban on drag </a>performances.<br /><div>■ A proposed Kids Online Safety Act has press-freedom advocates warning that its passage will <a href="https://techpolicy.press/kids-online-safety-act-will-censor-the-news/" target="_blank">censor news</a> and make Americans less informed.<br />■ Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants to <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/yelp-paxton-pregnancy-centers/" target="_blank">punish Yelp</a> for providing online information about crisis-pregnancy centers.<br /><div><b><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>ParaDoxx.</b> PEN America has called a <a href="https://pen.org/press-release/doxxing-of-harvard-students-is-a-threat-to-free-expression-says-pen-america/" target="_blank">doxxing campaign </a>against Harvard University students who signed a statement blaming Israel for the Hamas attacks “an undeniable threat to freedom of expression.”</span><br />■ Conservatives are not campus <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/republicans-free-speech-israel-hamas-harvard-rcna121106" target="_blank">free-speech absolutists</a> when the message is pro-Palestinian, contended MSNBC’s Ja’han Jones.<br />■ New polling results show that most Americans believe state governments should not limit what <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/free-speech-rights-of-college-professors/" target="_blank">professors are teaching</a> in the classroom.<div>■ It is long overdue to shelve weighty and dated <a href="https://www.thefire.org/news/blogs/ronald-kl-collins-first-amendment-news/whats-wrong-first-amendment-casebooks-where-begin" target="_blank">First Amendment casebooks</a>, contended free-expression advocate Ronald K.L. Collins in a <i>First Amendment News</i> opinion piece.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Snapping ‘Turtleboy.’</b> A Massachusetts blogger facing criminal charges for his <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/10/15/massachusetts-shells-turtleboy-blogger-with-criminal-charges-in-first-amendment-fight/" target="_blank">outspoken defense</a> of a woman accused of murder is protected by the First Amendment, his attorney said.</span><br />■ A Tennessee state Appeals Court panel heard arguments in a lawsuit over <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/tenn-court-to-decide-if-school-shooting-families-can-keep-police-records-from-public-release/" target="_blank">releasing public records</a> about the Covenant School shooting.<br />■ A Nevada police officer’s First Amendment lawsuit has pitted employer rights against <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/tenn-court-to-decide-if-school-shooting-families-can-keep-police-records-from-public-release/" target="_blank">employee free speech</a>.<br />■ A federal judge in Nebraska has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a student journalist who claimed his First Amendment rights were violated when a <a href="https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/nebraska-high-school-graduates-first-amendment-violation-claims-dismissed-in-federal-court/" target="_blank">school newspaper was shut down</a> over Pride Month stories.<br />■ Jake Warner, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, expressed his take on how and where free speech and freedom of religion <a href="https://www.deseret.com/2023/10/12/23873093/jake-warner-legal-interview" target="_blank">cross legal paths</a> in a <i>Deseret News </i>interview.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>A bit busy.</b> The ceremony to honor war correspondent Lyse Doucet with a prestigious <a href="https://tucson.com/news/local/education/college/busy-covering-war-shell-pick-up-u-of-a-press-freedom-award-next-year-instead/article_7ff31afa-6a04-11ee-981c-af97d6ccfc54.html" target="_blank">journalism award</a> had to be postponed since she was covering the Israel-Hamas war.</span><br />■ Russia has <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/10/23/1207932428/court-extends-detention-of-russian-american-journalist-her-employer-says" target="_blank">detained a journalist</a> with dual citizenship for allegedly failing to register as a foreign agent when entering the country to deal with a family emergency.<br />■ An investigation started by Las Vegas reporter <a href="https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/review-journal-washington-post-honored-with-freedom-of-the-press-award-2922781/" target="_blank">Jeff German</a> before he was slain last year has earned a Freedom of the Press award.<br />■ Read its annual update to learn how the <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/free-speech-center-annual-update/" target="_blank">Free Speech Center </a>has expanded its efforts to build support for First Amendment freedoms in myriad ways. <div><br /></div><div><a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="725" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeCa9Do8hX-Q2yZbbFOj2MEanEsNA_GoP0HKtUWtre3ghX_8q7p2gQCjp-ZfPmQQJ1dPE4ZhpQtLXviMFteoa3pcYvrl5i05XcZAkhLTBqhLt-eZQQ3m-jwfjSJV-uyuB5JPjpytF5o8VYQr7h3mWZVYHbPOJJZ1KsHmoJfTIMS0pwq9vjMpJcAEI7y54/w532-h334/FSC%20ency%20ad.jpg" width="532" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-55028216299937672852023-10-09T12:30:00.005-05:002023-10-09T13:07:28.897-05:00True test / Known cure? / Too far<span style="font-size: large;"><b>True test.</b> A bipartisan U.S. Senate panel has sponsored a bill to prevent using artificial intelligence to create <a href="https://tennesseelookout.com/2023/09/28/u-s-senate-panel-weighs-free-speech-and-deep-fakes-in-ai-campaign-ads/" target="_blank">deceptive campaign materials</a>.</span><br />■ Study findings suggest that Americans are receptive to <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/report-public-receptive-to-ai-generated-news/" target="_blank">AI-generated news</a>, researchers at the University of Florida announced.<br /><div>■ Legislative bills requiring age verification to view <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2023/10/09/tennessee-age-verification-adult-websites-could-new-proposals-violate-the-first-amendment/71063847007/" target="_blank">adult content online</a> could violate the First Amendment, experts said.<br />■ Elon Musk has been sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to try to get him to testify as part of a probe into the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/elon-musks-twitter-stock-purchases-under-probe-by-sec-2023-10-05/" target="_blank">$44 billion takeover</a> of Twitter (now X).<br />■ Black Americans say they are <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/majority-of-black-americans-see-racist-or-negative-depictions-in-news-media-new-study-finds" target="_blank">negatively depicted</a> in news coverage, a new study from the Pew Research Center has revealed.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>‘Setting new rules.’</b> NPR reported on a <i>Florida Politics</i> publisher who may be letting politicians <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/10/06/1203271345/florida-politics-peter-schorsch-southeast" target="_blank">pay for news coverage</a> and he makes no apologies for his business model.</span><br />■ The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that a slain reporter’s personal devices should be protected from an <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/nevada-court-ruling-protects-slain-reporter-s-devices/7300248.html" target="_blank">unchecked police inquiry</a>.<br />■ The Kansas police chief who ordered the raid on a local newspaper office has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/us/marion-kansas-police-chief-resigns.html" target="_blank">resigned</a>.<br />■ New York’s platform-disclosure mandate for social media networks may pose significant <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/1-a-new-york-disclosure-law/" target="_blank">threats to a free press</a>.<br />■ Americans do <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/poll-americans-distinguish-between-news-media-social-media/" target="_blank">distinguish </a>between reporting from news media and from social media, according to a <i>RealClear Media </i>study.</div><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Known cure?</b> A free-speech culture is the <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/10/08/the-only-way-to-stop-cancel-culture-is-by-embracing-free-speech/" target="_blank">antidote to the cancel culture </a>that is tearing at the fabric of our society, authors have claimed in a new book, <i>“The Canceling of the American Mind.”</i> </span><br />■ The Walt Disney Co. and Gov. Ron DeSantis continue to <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/disney-desantis-legal-fights-ratchet-up-as-company-demands-documents-from-fla-governor/" target="_blank">flood Florida courts </a>with more legal filings.<br />■ In its new term, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether state laws to limit social media platforms <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/supreme-court-to-decide-if-state-laws-limiting-social-media-platforms-violate-constitution/" target="_blank">violate the Constitution</a>.<br />■ A panel of federal appeals judges will not revive a lawsuit against Tennessee’s <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/appeals-panel-wont-revive-lawsuit-against-tenn-ban-on-giving-out-mail-voting-form/" target="_blank">vote-by-mail</a> restrictions.</div><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Lordy, lordy.</b> A New Jersey nontheist and congressional hopeful has sued his state over a “so help me God” affirmation on his nominating petition, claiming he cannot sign a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nj-congressional-hopeful-sues-so-help-me-god-petition-pledge" target="_blank">religious oath</a>.</span><br />■ Supreme Court justices upended the <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/supreme-court-puts-christians-first-amendment-rights-ahead-of-others-dignity-rights-to-equal-protection/ar-AA1hMXIB" target="_blank">standard of human dignity</a> with its <i>303 Creative</i> ruling, contend University of Michigan political-science professors in a guest commentary for The Conversation.<br />■ A University of Wisconsin law professor has written an analysis of just where the U.S. Supreme Court stands on <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/where-the-supreme-court-stands-on-banning-books/ar-AA1hAVkR" target="_blank">banning books</a>.</div><div>■ The city of Murfreesboro, Tenn., has been sued over a potentially <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/murfreesboro-sued-over-ordinance-boropride-221817788.html" target="_blank">discriminatory ordinance</a> that targeted a pride festival.<br />■ Slain Philadelphia journalist <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/philadelphia-police-identify-suspect-journalist-josh-krugers-death-rcna119259" target="_blank">Josh Kruger</a> was “trying to help” the teen suspected in his killing.</div><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Too far.</b> Indiana media outlets have filed a lawsuit against the state over a law that <a href="https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/indiana-media-outlets-sue-state-marion-county-over-new-25-foot-law-enforcement-law" target="_blank">keeps reporters</a> from getting within 25 feet of a police investigation.</span><br />■ Rights organizations and media groups have demanded information on why the FBI <a href="https://freedom.press/news/rights-orgs-broadcasters-demand-info-on-fbi-raid-of-journalists-home/" target="_blank">raided the home newsroom</a> of a Florida journalist.<br /><div>■ New editor Emma Tucker is quickly remaking <i>The Wall Street Journal</i>, but the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/05/business/media/emma-tucker-wall-street-journal.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">speed of change</a> has unnerved many staff members. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/05/business/media/emma-tucker-wall-street-journal.html?smid=nytcore-android-share">The Remaking of The Wall Street Journal - The New York Times (nytimes.com)</a> <br />■ A group of senators have introduced a resolution demanding that Russia free detained <i>Wall Street Journal</i> reporter <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/international/4229819-senators-unveil-resolution-calling-for-release-of-evan-gershkovich-from-russia/" target="_blank">Evan Gershkovich</a>.</div><div><br /><br /> </div><div><a href="https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/Ut0Mrg?vid=1047fa" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1254" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAmvDhJPSzXvd4DiRkkLbvrorgziGPXymV0WCChU9CzYxsvhd4yfJZDuLx_1pnlu91hn0oBT3v-nwWon_DyRBe9B2MaMMo-xOfgPUHf9-7bkt7pnOfH6xbJY4M0xJfu901C6dYo--XVMBQONlvXqcwu5n0idgeDFFI0OMQp3WbV4PAexwUKuNuDRoT1CF/w578-h369/FSC%20bill%20of%20rights%2025.jpg" style="color: #0000ee;" width="578" /></a></div></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-921210650088142682023-09-25T12:25:00.006-05:002023-09-25T12:55:13.836-05:00Son rise / Bigly dispute? / Sturm and drag<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Son rise.</b> Media magnate Rupert Murdoch’s retirement has cleared the way for his elder son, Lachlan, to run both Fox Corp. and News Corp. but the question of controlling the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/22/business/media/rupert-murdoch-lachlan-murdoch-fox-news-corp.html" target="_blank">family trust </a>has not been answered.</span><br />■ Even though he is 92, Murdoch’s retirement announcement was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/murdoch-fox-quit-emeritus-30286a4a3107b7bde612adbfc7891958" target="_blank">a surprise</a> to some observers.<br />■ An order restricting the Biden administration from asking social media companies to remove content it deemed misinformation was put <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-supreme-court-extends-pause-order-curbing-biden-social-media-contacts-2023-09-22/" target="_blank">on hold again</a> by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.<br />■ Disinformation retains the basic characteristics of speech, making it <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/4214044-theres-no-disinformation-exception-to-the-first-amendment/" target="_blank">protected from censorship</a> under the First Amendment, contended <i>The Hill</i>’s opinion contributor, Lynn Greenky.<br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><b>Challenging works.</b> Book bans have continued at a record pace, the American Library Association announced, as it has tracked nearly 700 <a href="https://apnews.com/article/books-bans-american-library-association-42b34a284a6363439de20bbb65bb43b4" target="_blank">challenges to materials</a> and services.</span><br />■ For those curious about banned titles, PEN America shared the list of the <a href="https://pen.org/banned-book-list-2023/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social-pug" target="_blank">most-banned books</a> from the last school year.<br />■ Public notices, critical funding sources for small newspapers, are becoming <a href="https://freedom.press/news/freeze-out-politicians-retaliate-against-the-press-using-public-notices/" target="_blank">targets for retaliation</a> by government officials.<br />■ Minority journalists have urged philanthropists who are trying to boost community news organizations to explicitly <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/groups-say-philanthropists-trying-to-boost-local-news-shouldnt-leave-minorities-behind/" target="_blank">commit to funding</a> minority-run outlets.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Bigly dispute?</b> The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a federal decision to grant a trademark for the phrase “Trump Too Small,” a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-takes-up-dispute-over-trump-too-small-trademark-2023-06-05/" target="_blank">cheeky criticism</a> of the former president.</span><br />■ Any <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/22/us/politics/trump-gag-order-free-speech.html" target="_blank">push to gag</a> Donald Trump may pit free speech against the risk of violence, contended national-security expert Charlie Savage in a <i>New York Times</i> analysis.<br />■ Nine out of 10 U.S. voters think First Amendment protections for freedom of speech is a good thing, according to a new RealClear Opinion Research <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/real_clear_opinion_research/poll_is_censorship_a_partisan_issue_149790.html" target="_blank">poll</a>.<div>■ Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has backed away from imposing <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/ark-governor-seeks-exemption-on-travel-and-security-records-backs-off-other-changes/" target="_blank">widespread restrictions</a> on the public’s access to government records.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Truck flag flies.</b> A Louisiana town has repealed an <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/la-island-town-to-repeal-ordinance-let-driver-fly-vulgar-anti-biden-flag/" target="_blank">anti-obscenity ordinance</a>, allowing a driver to fly a vulgar flag aimed at President Biden.</span><br />■ Quietly holding up signs is <a href="https://tennesseelookout.com/2023/09/14/silently-holding-signs-at-legislative-hearings-is-protected-political-speech/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=5e8e772e-1a03-4e44-b92e-53045ec3b860" target="_blank">protected free speech</a>, reasoned a Nashville communications professional in a <i>Tennessee Lookout</i> commentary.<br />■ Arrests of “Cop City” protesters are <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/free-speech-under-assault-georgia-cop-city-protests-1234827603/" target="_blank">chilling assaults</a> on free speech, opined Atlanta civil rights attorney Nora Benavidez in <i>Rolling Stone</i>.<br />■ Big Oil is using friendly judges to suppress free speech, especially <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/climate-week-protests-conservatives-free-speech-rcna105345" target="_blank">climate protests</a>, suggested investigative journalist Amy Westervelt in a MSNBC commentary.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Sturm and drag.</b> The cancellation of a drag show planned at a Texas university did not violate <a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-drag-show-ban-f78d60eed0a55fb81ec924f78ad0b6d4" target="_blank">free-speech rights</a>, a U.S. district judge has ruled.</span><br />■ The landmark civil rights-era libel case <i>New York Times v. Sullivan</i> is explored in a new <a href="https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/new-annenberg-classroom-film-explores-freedom-of-the-press/" target="_blank">video documentary</a> from Annenberg Classroom.<br />■ A California law that bans <a href="https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/post/federal-appeals-court-opens-way-to-block-calif-law-on-marketing-guns-to-children/" target="_blank">gun ads aimed at minors</a> likely violates the First Amendment, a federal appeals court has ruled.<br />■ James Hoge, who led big-city tabloid <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/19/obituaries/james-hoge-dead.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">newspapers </a>in Chicago and New York, has passed away.<br /><div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/Ut0Mrg?vid=1047fa" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="500" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_n2wmxM6Y25iQaQmeHrhvmZsgpyw4E-_dAYk3xymQ3Y2oRN0H2EKqYwsjFBpJRmfQhdhOn2tcvLnOE1jGbjsBFpBytJsVglZguPNg7fPjoOabIEuOQzXKhxj1Hu_YdG6EZovmT9KPM85uDGKwvBn7yQb1GtmZqwelI0kcK83znDzaOPFRQ2KsKf7XvSk/w510-h274/one%20amend.jpg" width="510" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-67325945881510641492023-09-11T12:34:00.003-05:002023-09-11T13:05:05.182-05:00Highly toXic / Long reach / Rough seize<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Highly ToXic.</b> Elon Musk’s hypocrisy about free speech has reached <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/07/elon-musks-hypocrisy-about-free-speech-hits-a-new-low" target="_blank">a new low</a>, declared Margaret Sullivan in her column for <i>The Guardian</i>.</span><br />■ Musk’s X Corp. has sued the state of California over a recently passed <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4195131-musks-x-sues-california-over-content-moderation-law-claiming-it-violates-free-speech/" target="_blank">content moderation</a> law, challenging its constitutionality.<br />■ A new Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) survey of 55,000 students revealed that the majority think their colleges do not value <a href="https://www.thefire.org/news/new-2024-college-free-speech-rankings-show-alarming-81-success-rate-deplatforming-attempts" target="_blank">free expression </a>on campus.<br />■ University of Tennessee students surveyed by FIRE believe their <a href="https://tennesseelookout.com/2023/09/08/university-of-tennessee-students-positive-about-campus-free-speech/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=0bf03320-dc15-4c8d-b6d1-77134374eae4" target="_blank">campuses are committed</a> to free expression in contrast to conservative rhetoric among state elected officials.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Radiating harm.</b> Biden administration efforts to flag what it considered harmful COVID-related social media content <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/09/08/1197971952/biden-administration-fifth-circuit-ruling-social-media-injunction" target="_blank">violated the First Amendment</a>, a panel of judges has ruled.</span><br />■ Rudy Giuliani sealed his own fate in losing a <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/rudy-giuliani-trump-defamation-lawsuit-georgia-rcna103015" target="_blank">defamation lawsuit</a>, and a constitutional law attorney has explained how that happened.<br />■ Orders from judges that restrict former president Donald Trump’s speech can be <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4562/judicial-orders-restricting-trump-s-speech-seek-to-balance-his-own-constitutional-rights" target="_blank">used to protect</a> his First Amendment rights, explained Lynn Greenky, author of <i>When Freedom Speaks</i>.<br />■ Pressured by parents, a Wyoming library board not only pulled books from shelves, but it also withdrew from the American Library Association, which has <a href="https://apnews.com/article/library-book-ban-association-withdraw-7f5743a9e464433a745697f9111d7f6b" target="_blank">fought against book bans</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Mouse droppings.</b> Disney has amended its federal lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis but pushed ahead with its <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/07/disney-drops-all-but-free-speech-claim-in-political-retaliation-suit-against-desantis.html" target="_blank">First Amendment claim</a> of retaliation.</span><br />■ The Texas law requiring <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/09/01/1197380455/a-texas-law-requiring-age-verification-on-porn-sites-is-unconstitutional-judge-r" target="_blank">age verification</a> on porn sites is unconstitutional and raises privacy concerns, a U.S. district judge has ruled.<br />■ Arguing that commenting on diversity is protected speech, a North Carolina Supreme Court justice has filed a federal lawsuit after the state opened an investigation into <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/04/us/anita-earls-lawsuit-diversity-statements-reaj/index.html" target="_blank">remarks she made</a> to an online legal journal.<br />■ A SUNY adjunct professor who claimed fellow professors prevented him from attaining higher positions at the school <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4578/2nd-circuit-rules-against-suny-professor-but-also-limits-garcetti" target="_blank">lost his latest appeal</a> that his First Amendment rights were violated.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Long reach.</b> CNN stretched across the Atlantic Ocean to hire its <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-66656093" target="_blank">new chairman</a> and CEO, Mark Thompson, a former BBC director general.</span><br />■ META is developing an <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/meta-is-developing-new-more-powerful-ai-system-wsj-2023-09-10/?utm_source=ground.news&utm_medium=referral" target="_blank">advanced AI</a> system that produces sophisticated text and analyses, <i>The Wall Street Journal </i>reported.<div>■ The Carnegie Corporation of New York has joined a coalition of philanthropic donors determined to strengthen and <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4584/carnegie-joins-coalition-to-bolster-struggling-local-news-outlets" target="_blank">preserve community news</a> organizations in America.<br />■ A complaint was filed against the judge who signed off on the<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/08/us/marion-county-record-newspaper-judge-conduct-complaint/index.html" target="_blank"> search warrant</a> used in the raid on the Marion, Kan., newspaper office last month.<br />■ The police chief who led the raid on the <i>Marion County Record</i> has been sued by one of its reporters, who claimed his officers violated her <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4570/kan-reporter-files-federal-lawsuit-against-police-chief-who-raided-her-newspaper-s-office" target="_blank">constitutional rights</a>.<div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>One-game season?</b> The Washington state high school football coach who successfully waged a seven-year <a href="https://apnews.com/article/praying-high-school-football-coach-supreme-court-461b92b19ea395677657518914825573" target="_blank">religious-freedom</a> legal battle to get his job back, resigned after the team’s first game.</span><br />■ When it comes to sidewalk counseling there is no <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/there-s-no-abortion-exception-in-the-first-amendment" target="_blank">abortion exception</a> in the First Amendment, reasoned the publisher of the <i>National Catholic Register</i>.<br />■ A conservative Florida state legislator has introduced a “Right to Rock Act” to prohibit music venues from <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/rock-florida-legislator-seeks-ensure-214839804.html" target="_blank">canceling artists</a> over political views or social media behavior.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Rough seize.</b> When police take equipment from journalists and refuse to return it, they likely have violated federal law and <a href="https://freedom.press/news/finders-keepers-police-illegally-seize-and-refuse-to-return-journalists-equipment/" target="_blank">chilled reporting</a>, according to the Freedom of the Press Foundation.</span><br />■ A court in Myanmar, a country that ranks near the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index, sentenced a photojournalist to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-press-freedom-cyclone-photojournalist-203230805b85e6fcef056a178bed23e2" target="_blank">20 years in prison</a> for reporting on the aftermath of May’s deadly cyclone there.<br />■ A Delaware man who gave a middle-finger gesture to police that blocked his attempts to warn motorists of <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/delaware-man-police-blocked-warning-speed-trap-wins-50k-judgment-rcna103118" target="_blank">a speed trap</a> was awarded $50,000 in federal court.<br />■ Artifacts that depict the “Five Freedoms” highlight the National Constitution Center’s new <a href="https://www.phillytrib.com/lifestyle/national-constitution-center-opens-first-amendment-gallery/article_f64e4d88-969d-5bf6-bd1f-ecbc7b8b1f16.html" target="_blank">First Amendment Gallery</a>, which opened Sept. 6 in Philadelphia.<br /></div><div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/Ut0Mrg?vid=zsu9l" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="1266" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQO1WRA7MVMSzif_Gz2V7B1N6-yukxOz_Su9AeF4KQsisWQg-Ydhun1kkSl-mvprGp6KUbEmUw0gpgKGtxMJ0AZc2HBKq9oi3bgK1od8e6Pcbkqn3IFaNu9GWzc_xRmdV-QPn6DuDXVyx6RYSazNQ6lxF23k-pZ5MDbEg5L9kgrXMaPwjxV4IKNctcQ3pS/w588-h381/FSC%20megaphone%202.jpg" width="588" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div></div></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-14607964343331784682023-08-28T13:01:00.004-05:002023-08-28T14:03:19.811-05:00Sign language / Ways and memes / Site unseen<p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Sign language.</b> A battle over small protest signs in the Tennessee legislature has pitted government power on its own premises against the rights of petition and <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4539/what-s-at-stake-in-hearing-on-tennessee-house-s-ban-on-signs" target="_blank">free speech</a>.</span><br /><div><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Tennessee House leadership held a private meeting with no public notice and adopted the controversial <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2023/08/28/tennessee-house-sign-rules-private-meeting-led-to-changes/70663995007/" target="_blank">sign ruling</a>, <i>The Tennessean</i> reported.</div><div>■ A panel of federal appellate judges was skeptical that Florida’s <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/judges-skeptical-florida-woke-ban-can-dodge-free-speech-claims" target="_blank">Stop WOKE Act </a>could dodge free-speech protections.<br />■ Citing dire threats to democracy, the presidents of 13 universities have launched a partnership to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/free-speech-on-college-campuses-84ffdc68e191fcfa5185954402fdb677" target="_blank">elevate free speech</a> on their campuses.<br />■ California’s community college system is facing a lawsuit that alleges its diversity, equity, and <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/california-community-colleges-sued-for-violating-first-amendment-with-dei-mandates/" target="_blank">inclusion rules</a> are in violation of teachers’ First Amendment rights.<br /><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Ways and memes.</b> A Tullahoma, Tenn., student who posted <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/08/16/tenn-students-suspension-for-memes-rescinded-after-first-amendment-suit/" target="_blank">satirical memes</a> of his principal will have his suspension rescinded while his First Amendment lawsuit is being heard.</span><br />■ A Brad Pitt zombie movie-inspired text during the COVID-19 lockdown was <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2023/08/25/joke-we-need-you-brad-pitt-post-at-start-of-covid-pandemic-protected-by-first-amendment/" target="_blank">protected speech</a>, not a terrorism threat, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.<br />■ Efforts by law schools to protect campus free speech could become a factor in <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/new-aba-president-smith-backs-free-speech-at-law-schools" target="_blank">their accreditation</a>, declared the new American Bar Association president.<br />■ The Stanford law dean who navigated a recent <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/stanford-law-dean-named-provost-after-managing-free-speech-controversy-2023-08-24/" target="_blank">free-speech controversy</a> has been appointed the university’s new provost.</div><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Integrity deleted.</b> After publishing a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/26/business/fox-news-gold-star-family-apology/index.html" target="_blank">false story</a> about a fallen soldier that a U.S. Marine sergeant said was a disgusting attempt “to score cheap clickbait points,” Fox News apologized to the Gold Star family.</span></div><div>■ In court, Fox News argued that its Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/23/media/fox-news-first-amendment-january-6/index.html" target="_blank">coverage was protected </a>by the First Amendment.<br />■ Jack Smith’s Trump indictment is where free speech led to criminal <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/4147827-trumps-indictment-goes-where-free-speech-ends-and-criminal-conspiracy-begins/" target="_blank">conspiracy</a>, posited First Amendment scholar Lynn Greenky in <i>The Hill</i>.<br />■ Salman Rushdie is scheduled to speak via livestream at a national First Amendment summit on the <a href="https://www.timesherald.com/2023/08/24/salman-rushdie-to-speak-at-national-constitution-centers-national-first-amendment-summit/?utm_source=ground.news&utm_medium=referral" target="_blank">importance of free speech</a> and the forces of censorship that threaten it.</div><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Raid charade?</b> Unsealed court records provided some insight into why law enforcement officers raided a Marion, Kan., newspaper office but <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/23/us/marion-county-record-newspaper-search-warrant/index.html" target="_blank">criticisms continued</a>.</span><br />■ “It was like a heartbeat,” was how one West Virginia reader lamented the death of <i>The Welch News</i>, one of the latest in a string of <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4528/residents-at-a-loss-after-newspaper-that-bound-w-va-community-together-shuts-in-declining-coal-county" target="_blank">shuttered community newspapers</a>.<br />■ News organizations have begun <a href="https://apnews.com/article/artificial-intelligence-guidelines-ap-news-532b417395df6a9e2aed57fd63ad416a" target="_blank">setting guidelines</a> on using and integrating AI tech tools in their newsrooms.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Site unseen.</b> Panels concealing <a href="https://apnews.com/article/vermont-law-school-murals-slavery-underground-railroad-209783452530fd48d98715f8bdbba1c5" target="_blank">anti-slavery murals</a> at a Vermont law school may remain after the artist loses his appeal to have them removed.</span><br />■ Prohibiting certain themes or language on interior bulletin boards at a small California community college <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4515/calif-community-college-s-bulletin-board-policy-ruled-overbroad-vague" target="_blank">violates the First Amendment</a>, ruled a federal appeals court.<br />■ A public library in California shut down a private event about <a href="https://www.thefire.org/news/california-library-violates-first-amendment-boots-speakers-referring-transgender-women" target="_blank">transgender athletes </a>in violation of the First Amendment, claimed the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.</div><div>■ An anti-abortion group chalked up a <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4522/appeals-court-sides-with-anti-abortion-group-in-free-speech-case" target="_blank">free-speech win</a> after an appellate court ruling allowed its lawsuit over 2020 Washington, D.C., protest arrests to continue.<br /><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/Ut0Mrg?vid=10fhd7" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1254" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAmvDhJPSzXvd4DiRkkLbvrorgziGPXymV0WCChU9CzYxsvhd4yfJZDuLx_1pnlu91hn0oBT3v-nwWon_DyRBe9B2MaMMo-xOfgPUHf9-7bkt7pnOfH6xbJY4M0xJfu901C6dYo--XVMBQONlvXqcwu5n0idgeDFFI0OMQp3WbV4PAexwUKuNuDRoT1CF/w578-h369/FSC%20bill%20of%20rights%2025.jpg" width="578" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-81004475668015010162023-08-14T12:00:00.001-05:002023-08-14T12:39:41.645-05:00Unwarranted? / Stifling / Nonessential<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Unwarranted?</b> Police in Kansas raided a community newspaper office and its publisher’s home, raising <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/13/business/media/kansas-marion-newspaper-police-raid.html" target="_blank">constitutional questions</a> about search and seizure practices against journalists.</span><br />■ Did the stress of the questionable raid on the <i>Marion County Record</i> lead to the <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4480/after-central-kan-police-force-raids-newspaper-co-owner-98-dies" target="_blank">death of its 98-year-old co-owner?</a> <br /><div>■ A rare court decision that ordered a CBS News senior correspondent to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/02/media/catherine-herridge-deposition-reliable-sources/index.html" target="_blank">reveal a source</a> could have major implications for the American free press.<br />■ CNN again is overhauling its news programming in an attempt to reverse a <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/cnn-unveils-lineup-overhaul-abby-115236341.html" target="_blank">ratings slide</a>.</div><div>■ In an effort to slow shrinking advertising and circulation, Maine’s largest newspaper group has shifted to a <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/maines-biggest-newspaper-group-is-now-a-nonprofit-under-the-national-trust-for-local-news/ar-AA1eEAjh" target="_blank">nonprofit business model </a>backed by a national trust.<br />■ Newspaper editor <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2023/08/07/bob-giles-former-detroit-news-editor-and-publisher-dies/70525805007/" target="_blank">Bob Giles</a> had left a lasting impact on daily journalism long before he passed away Aug. 7 at age 90.<div><br /><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Speech pattern.</b> Former President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-says-protective-order-violates-first-amendment-rights-will-talk-rcna98881" target="_blank">vowed to ignore</a> a protective order restricting comments about criminal charges against him, saying, “They’re not taking away my First Amendment rights.”</span><br />■ A First Amendment case that Trump’s legal team has cited in his defense <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4468/the-irrelevancy-of-hammerschmidt-v-u-s-to-trump-s-defense" target="_blank">would be irrelevant</a> in this one, explained constitutional history expert John R. Vile.<br />■ CNN’s Jim Acosta used the former president’s own words in a video report to show how Trump for years has<a href="https://www.mediaite.com/news/cnns-jim-acosta-roasts-trump-and-his-defenders-with-brutal-clip-mashup-of-first-amendment-attacks/" target="_blank"> trampled on the Bill of Rights</a>.<br />■ Someone should write a book about Trump and his <a href="https://www.thefire.org/news/blogs/ronald-kl-collins-first-amendment-news/new-cultural-and-constitutional-paradigm-unending" target="_blank">unending battles </a>with the First Amendment. Oh, wait, someone already has.<br />■ Sam Bankman-Fried was jailed after his bail was revoked by a Manhattan federal court judge who ruled that the FTX founder committed <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/11/us-judge-sends-sam-bankman-fried-to-jail-over-witness-tampering.html" target="_blank">witness tampering</a> via media interviews.</div><div>■ A process to regulate <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fec-artificial-intelligence-deepfakes-election-2024-95399e640bd1e41182f6c631717cc826" target="_blank">AI-generated deepfakes</a> in political ads ahead of the 2024 election has been launched by the Federal Election Commission.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Stifling.</b> University educators have filed a lawsuit against the state of Idaho over an abortion act that they claim <a href="https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/politics-government/2023-08-09/idaho-abortion-lawsuit-aclu-attorney-general" target="_blank">suppresses free speech</a>.</span><br />■ An Illinois law that targeted crisis-pregnancy centers <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/judge-blocks-illinois-law-targeting-crisis-pregnancy-centers-calling-violation-first-amendment" target="_blank">infringed on free-speech rights</a>, a U.S. district judge has declared. <br />■ Already faced with violating Colorado’s open-meetings law, the state has been urged to ban public officials from using <a href="https://www.denver7.com/news/politics/report-recommends-co-ban-public-officials-use-of-encrypted-disappearing-messaging-apps-for-official-business" target="_blank">encrypted temporary message apps</a> for official business.</div><div>■ The New York City Police Department is the latest law-enforcement agency to encrypt its <a href="https://freedom.press/news/police-dodge-journalists-by-encrypting-radio/" target="_blank">police radio channels</a> that were once open to the public, including reporters.<br />■ A potential 2024 California ballot initiative would force lawmakers to reveal lobbyist ties while remaking the state’s <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/02/california-lawmakers-lobbyist-meetings-ballot-proposal-00109316" target="_blank">open-records law</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>A difficult read.</b> Converting libraries at troubled schools into ‘team centers’ that focus on discipline has <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4475/converting-houston-school-libraries-into-team-centers-brings-pushback" target="_blank">prompted protests</a> and pushback in Houston.</span><br />■ Texas bookstore owners have asked a federal judge to keep Gov. Greg Abbott's new <a href="https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2023/08/14/new-book-rating-law-violates-first-amendment-texas-bookstores-claim-in-lawsuit/" target="_blank">book-rating law</a> off the books, citing First Amendment violations.</div><div>■ Parents have filed a lawsuit against a Maryland school board that recently announced that there would be no prior notification when students are assigned <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4447/parents-in-md-school-district-sue-to-opt-kids-out-of-reading-pro-lgbtq-books" target="_blank">LGBTQ+ storybooks</a> as part of the curriculum.<br />■ A 2021 Connecticut law that eliminated <a href="https://apnews.com/article/connecticut-religious-exemption-school-vaccinations-ab9258436372abee7e415e186caf55a4" target="_blank">religious exemptions</a> from immunization requirements for schools, colleges, and day-care centers was upheld by a federal appeals court.<br />■ New Hampshire’s <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4478/n-h-supreme-court-upholds-anti-harassment-law-in-juvenile-case" target="_blank">anti-harassment law</a> does not violate the First Amendment, the state Supreme Court ruled in a case involving a juvenile and an adult on a public sidewalk.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Nonessential.</b> An Ohio high school student did not have a First Amendment right to wear a sweatshirt at school with the image of an AR-15 rifle and the word <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4453/federal-judge-rejects-ohio-student-s-right-to-wear-ar-15-sweatshirt" target="_blank">‘</a></span><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4453/federal-judge-rejects-ohio-student-s-right-to-wear-ar-15-sweatshirt" style="font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">‘</a><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4453/federal-judge-rejects-ohio-student-s-right-to-wear-ar-15-sweatshirt" style="font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">essential</a><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4453/federal-judge-rejects-ohio-student-s-right-to-wear-ar-15-sweatshirt" style="font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">’</a><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4453/federal-judge-rejects-ohio-student-s-right-to-wear-ar-15-sweatshirt" style="font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">’</a><span style="font-size: x-large;"> on it, a federal district court ruled.</span></div><div>■ More than 20 years after a rapper’s wrongful conviction, changes to a Louisiana law now prohibit prosecutors from using an artist’s <a href="https://www.nola.com/gambit/music/louisiana-prosecutors-won-t-be-able-to-use-lyrics-as-evidence-of-character-under-new/article_40e7ec90-388c-11ee-a290-e361b7e09f7d.html" target="_blank">lyrics as evidence</a> of character.<br />■ A former interim police chief’s criticism of department leadership was <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4433/former-interim-police-chief-is-garcettized-loses-free-speech-appeal" target="_blank">unprotected employee speech</a>, not protected citizen speech, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.<br />■ A New York state supreme court judge has allowed a <a href="https://buffalonews.com/news/local/niagara-county-new-york-cow-dispute/article_180151be-36d8-11ee-b22f-cb943e5adfdb.html?" target="_blank">gag order</a> against an animal-sanctuary owner and accused cattle thief to stand.<br />■ Southwest Airlines landed in hot water with a U.S. district judge who said the company disregarded his orders after <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/judge-rules-that-southwest-failed-to-follow-his-order-in-a-flight-attendants-free-speech-case/ar-AA1eXGzF" target="_blank">losing a free-speech case</a> brought by a fired flight attendant.<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/Ut0Mrg?vid=1047fa" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="500" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_n2wmxM6Y25iQaQmeHrhvmZsgpyw4E-_dAYk3xymQ3Y2oRN0H2EKqYwsjFBpJRmfQhdhOn2tcvLnOE1jGbjsBFpBytJsVglZguPNg7fPjoOabIEuOQzXKhxj1Hu_YdG6EZovmT9KPM85uDGKwvBn7yQb1GtmZqwelI0kcK83znDzaOPFRQ2KsKf7XvSk/w497-h264/one%20amend.jpg" width="497" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-6150272289112617822023-07-31T12:31:00.005-05:002023-07-31T13:16:39.112-05:00X man / All talk / Get closer<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>X man. </b>Elon Musk explained
why he dropped Twitter’s iconic blue bird for the 24<sup>th</sup> letter of the
alphabet, but <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/25/musk-explains-why-hes-rebranding-twitter-to-x.html" target="_blank">did it make sense?</a></span><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/25/musk-explains-why-hes-rebranding-twitter-to-x.html"><br /></a>■ Twitter has threatened an anti-hate group with legal action over its <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/twitter-threatens-to-sue-anti-hate-group-over-its-research-125645342.html">research and claims</a> against the social media giant.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>If passed in the U.S. Senate, the ‘Daniel’s
Law’ security and privacy act that allows deletion of personal data online <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/daniels-law-for-congress/" target="_blank">could prove burdensome </a>to newsgatherers.<a href="https://www.rcfp.org/daniels-law-for-congress/"><br /></a>■ Citing First Amendment concerns, a national reporters’ group filed court documents in support of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts in <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/reporters-group-cites-first-amendment-143149511.html" target="_blank">its lawsuit</a> against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>An attorney for the Foundation for
Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has challenged a Pennsylvania law that
requires lawyers to abide by specific <a href="https://www.thefire.org/news/attorneys-have-free-speech-rights-im-suing-prove-it" target="_blank">conduct rules </a>or face the threat of disbarment.<br /><b> <br /></b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Lie down. </b>A federal judge in Florida dismissed Donald Trump’s $475 million defamation lawsuit over CNN for its use of the phrase <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/29/politics/trump-cnn-big-lie-defamation-lawsuit/index.html" target="_blank">“the big lie”</a> and an apparent comparison to Adolf Hitler.</span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/29/politics/trump-cnn-big-lie-defamation-lawsuit/index.html" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">■ </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Rudy Giuliani acknowledged his lies concerning Georgia election workers but claimed the First Amendment </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/26/us/politics/giuliani-georgia-election-workers.html" style="font-size: medium;" target="_blank">let him make them</a><span style="font-size: medium;">.</span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/26/us/politics/giuliani-georgia-election-workers.html" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">■ </span><span style="font-size: medium;">While a new survey revealed Americans consider the First Amendment vital, </span><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4385/good-news-and-bad-news-in-how-americans-view-the-first-amendment" style="font-size: medium;" target="_blank">many have misunderstandings</a><span style="font-size: medium;"> about how it works and whom it protects.</span><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4385/good-news-and-bad-news-in-how-americans-view-the-first-amendment" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">■ </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Self-censorship is </span><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/former-aclu-president-cautions-americans-self-censoring-out-fear-eroding-free-speech" style="font-size: medium;" target="_blank">eroding free speech</a><span style="font-size: medium;">, warned Nadine Strossen, a former ACLU president.</span><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/former-aclu-president-cautions-americans-self-censoring-out-fear-eroding-free-speech" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></a><o:p style="font-size: medium;"> <br /></o:p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>All talk. </b>Despite all the chatter about restricting drag performances in front of children, no state has a law on the books <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/29/1190306861/drag-bans-fail-lgbtq-first-amendment-prurient-arkansas-florida-tennessee-montana" target="_blank">to ban such shows</a>.</span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/29/1190306861/drag-bans-fail-lgbtq-first-amendment-prurient-arkansas-florida-tennessee-montana" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">■ </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Tennessee teachers caught up in the legalities of bans on lessons of race, gender, and bias concepts have </span><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4410/tenn-educators-file-lawsuit-challenging-law-limiting-school-lessons-on-race-sex-bias" style="font-size: medium;" target="_blank">filed a federal lawsuit</a><span style="font-size: medium;"> challenging the restrictions.</span><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4410/tenn-educators-file-lawsuit-challenging-law-limiting-school-lessons-on-race-sex-bias" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">■ </span><span style="font-size: medium;">A conservative parents group’s effort to change an Ohio school district’s policies related to harassment and LGBTQ+ youth </span><a href="https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/state/2023/07/28/court-deals-blow-to-conservative-group-in-olentangy-schools-case/70488558007/" style="font-size: medium;" target="_blank">was rejected </a><span style="font-size: medium;">by a U.S. district chief judge.</span><a href="https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/state/2023/07/28/court-deals-blow-to-conservative-group-in-olentangy-schools-case/70488558007/" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">■ </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Americans may be divided on core </span><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4388/religious-liberty-in-a-polarized-age-toward-civil-peace" style="font-size: medium;" target="_blank">beliefs about faith and justice</a><span style="font-size: medium;"> but can still share the country, thanks to the First Amendment, reasoned author Thomas C. Berg in his book, </span><i style="font-size: medium;">“Religious Liberty in a Polarized Age.”</i><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4388/religious-liberty-in-a-polarized-age-toward-civil-peace" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">■ </span><span style="font-size: medium;">An </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/21/state-cant-force-atheist-inmate-to-complete-substance-abuse-program-judge-rules" style="font-size: medium;" target="_blank">incarcerated atheist</a><span style="font-size: medium;"> cannot be forced into a religiously affiliated substance-abuse program, a federal judge in West Virginia has ruled.</span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/21/state-cant-force-atheist-inmate-to-complete-substance-abuse-program-judge-rules" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></a><o:p style="font-size: medium;"> <br /></o:p><b>Nonbinding. </b>An Arkansas law
that would criminally charge librarians and booksellers for providing ‘harmful’
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/libraries-books-bans-arkansas-758f28c04c573d03b869ad2738e2b06d" target="_blank">materials to minors</a> was temporarily blocked by a U.S. district judge.</span><a href="https://apnews.com/article/libraries-books-bans-arkansas-758f28c04c573d03b869ad2738e2b06d"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>New York City has agreed to pay <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4371/new-york-city-to-pay-13-million-to-2020-racial-injustice-protesters-in-historic-class-action" target="_blank">$13 million to settle</a> a civil rights lawsuit involving more than 1,000 protesters
arrested or beaten during the summer of 2020.<a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4371/new-york-city-to-pay-13-million-to-2020-racial-injustice-protesters-in-historic-class-action"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>The suspension, investigation, and
subsequent reinstatement of a university professor over criticism of Texas Lt.
Gov. Dan Patrick during a lecture has <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/26/1190245518/texas-professor-joy-alonzo-investigation-freedom-speech" target="_blank">free-speech advocates</a> concerned.<a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/26/1190245518/texas-professor-joy-alonzo-investigation-freedom-speech"><br /></a>■ A debate has resumed over whether the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/covenant-nashville-shooting-manifesto-efb8c1d737bb24a88d6c91e6809af7d1" target="_blank">writings of mass killers</a> should be released to the public.<br /><o:p> <br /></o:p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Get closer. </b>An eight-foot distance
restriction for <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4392/federal-court-strikes-down-limits-on-filming-of-police-in-ariz" target="_blank">filming police</a> doing their jobs is unconstitutional, ruled a federal
judge in Arizona.</span><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4392/federal-court-strikes-down-limits-on-filming-of-police-in-ariz"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Google announced that its rapidly
evolving <a href="https://apnews.com/article/google-reporting-artificial-intelligence-news-automation-fe35e9bc2c9fdb4de27c28fba8d42099" target="_blank">AI technology will help journalists</a> write stories and headlines.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/google-reporting-artificial-intelligence-news-automation-fe35e9bc2c9fdb4de27c28fba8d42099"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>A drone bill in the U.S. Senate that bypasses current FAA regulation could eliminate a <a href="https://freedom.press/news/bill-to-counter-drone-misuse-threatens-journalism/" target="_blank">unique reporting tool</a> for journalists.<a href="https://freedom.press/news/bill-to-counter-drone-misuse-threatens-journalism/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span><i>Courthouse News</i> filed a First Amendment
complaint against Minnesota legal administrators who have refused or ignored <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/minnesota-hit-with-first-amendment-action-over-blackout-on-new-court-pleadings/" target="_blank">journalists’ requests</a> for access to civil pleadings.<a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/minnesota-hit-with-first-amendment-action-over-blackout-on-new-court-pleadings/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>After 150 years, the Santa Barbara,
Calif., <i>News-Press</i> has ceased operations after its <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4396/santa-barbara-s-newspaper-one-of-california-s-oldest-stops-publishing-after-owner-declares-bankruptcy" target="_blank">publisher filed for bankruptcy</a>.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/Ut0Mrg?vid=zsu9l" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="1266" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQO1WRA7MVMSzif_Gz2V7B1N6-yukxOz_Su9AeF4KQsisWQg-Ydhun1kkSl-mvprGp6KUbEmUw0gpgKGtxMJ0AZc2HBKq9oi3bgK1od8e6Pcbkqn3IFaNu9GWzc_xRmdV-QPn6DuDXVyx6RYSazNQ6lxF23k-pZ5MDbEg5L9kgrXMaPwjxV4IKNctcQ3pS/w588-h381/FSC%20megaphone%202.jpg" width="588" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.com312 S Church St, Murfreesboro, TN 37130, USA35.8434785 -86.392150734.954423880437176 -87.4907835125 36.732533119562831 -85.2935178875tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-55299287004332823782023-07-17T12:17:00.004-05:002023-07-17T13:56:31.170-05:00Hard knocks / Loose ends / Power tool?<span style="font-size: large;"><span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>Hard knocks.</b> Outrage over reporters who visited a police officer’s home for comment showed the LAPD’s <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/news-analysis-outrage-over-times-journalism-exposes-lapds-ignorance-of-a-free-press-experts-say/ar-AA1dSdyH" target="_blank">ignorance of a free press</a>, declared First Amendment experts, including Ken Paulson, director of The Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University, in a <i>Los Angeles Times</i> news analysis.</p></span></span><div style="text-align: left;">■ The White House has threatened to revoke a reporter’s press pass if he <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4093999-white-house-warns-reporter-he-may-lose-press-pass-over-continued-interruptions/">does not refrain</a> from loud interruptions during briefings.</div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;">■ Community donations have helped South Carolina newspapers boost statewide </span><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4353/s-c-collaborations-support-local-journalism" style="font-size: medium;" target="_blank">investigative reporting</a><span style="font-size: medium;">.</span><div style="font-size: medium;">■ BBC News is aggressively working to popularize open-source <a href="https://apnews.com/article/bbc-open-source-disinformation-video-06fa24ee92af75e8b98887abb6c4efa2" target="_blank">reporting methods</a>, signaling a potential shift in journalism’s embrace of new technology.<br /></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><br /></div></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Loose ends.</b> Owner and CEO Elon Musk tweeted about a 50 percent <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/07/15/musk-says-twitter-ads-plummet-as-battle-with-threads-heats-up/?sh=505dc33464ee" target="_blank">drop in ad revenue</a> as new competitor Threads loops in 100 million users.</span></div><div>■ Meta has banked on <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/12/1187140775/metas-threads-wants-to-become-a-friendly-place-by-downgrading-news-and-politics" target="_blank">minimizing news and politics</a> with Threads to draw app users away from Twitter.<br />■ George Santos has been sued by a Montana man who said his free-speech rights were violated when he was <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/george-santos-sued-blocked-twitter-212133380.html" target="_blank">blocked from posting comments</a> on the besieged GOP congressman’s Twitter account.<br />■ Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and others have been sued by a First Amendment group over the state’s <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4346/first-amendment-group-sues-over-texas-tiktok-ban-on-official-devices" target="_blank">TikTok ban </a>on official devices.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Social cues.</b> The ruling to have the federal government refrain from <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4330/4-takeaways-from-federal-judge-s-injunction-concerning-social-media-companies" target="_blank">contacting social media companies</a> is unusual for several reasons, explained the director of The Free Speech Center.</span><br />■ An appeals court has temporarily <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/appeals-court-halts-order-barring-biden-administration-communications-social-media-companies/" target="_blank">paused the ruling</a> that barred the Biden administration from pressuring communications with social media companies.<br />■ Suzanne Nossel, chief executive of PEN America, argued in a <i>Los Angeles Times</i> commentary that banning government officials from talking to Big Tech is <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-07-09/government-social-media-censorship-free-speech" target="_blank">not a win </a>for free speech.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Power tool?</b> Former federal prosecutor Ben Clements has contended that the U.S. Supreme Court has turned the First Amendment into a <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/4086495-the-roberts-court-twisted-the-first-amendment-into-a-tool-of-discrimination/" target="_blank">tool of discrimination</a>.</span><br />■ The Supreme Court is “an institution of law, not of politics,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh told a judicial conference audience, working to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-brett-kavanaugh-afe5d80d845a737ba80706275790d507" target="_blank">dispel notions</a> that it is partisan.<br />■ A Colorado web designer’s free-speech victory in the Supreme Court is <a href="https://www.thefire.org/news/web-designers-free-speech-supreme-court-victory-win-all" target="_blank">a win for everyone</a>, wrote a pair of individual-rights professionals in a <i>Bloomberg News</i> essay.<br />■ Supreme Court justices reaffirmed key protections against <a href="https://freedom.press/news/scotus-reaffirms-vital-protections-against-retaliatory-defamation-claims/" target="_blank">retaliatory defamation</a> claims in the <i>Counterman v. Colorado</i> case.</div><div><br /><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Ben & Justice. </b>The 72-year-old co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream got a chilly reception from police in Washington, D.C., where he was </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ben-jerry-ben-cohen-arrested-assange-b2371488.html" target="_blank">arrested during a protest</a> in support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.</span><br />■ Associated Press reporters have detailed the court ruling that sided with Amish families who balked at Minnesota septic-tank rules, effectively ending the long-running <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4343/ap-explains-court-ruling-siding-with-amish-families-who-balked-at-minn-septic-tank-rules" target="_blank">religious-freedom case</a>.</div><div>■ A defamation case that sought to disclose the identity of an <a href="https://www.aclunc.org/news/free-speech-win-millionaire-withdraws-attempt-identify-anonymous-online-critic" target="_blank">anonymous online critic</a> of pharmaceutical magnate Fredric Eshelman was dismissed in a California district court.</div><div>■ Prostitution law does not violate the First Amendment, a U.S. court of appeals ruled in examining the <a href="https://reason.com/2023/07/10/court-says-prostitution-law-doesnt-violate-first-amendment-but-language-should-be-interpreted-narrowly/" target="_blank">online sex-trafficking</a> act.</div><div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/Ut0Mrg?vid=zlm3v" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="638" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJsRtD7kV5dl-U0I9Efo9RRXBTzw9mqQEJI5JbnfRakqY49bakwgUBaI0lAu2mdY4eXuMtA_05zJwOLBOjst6fTHNxQhP9vaIVov4HQlMLUV_C3zJhTQFgwGXQipAFdTN7xw97jqvg7lG2jHRPfcU6WwdBsyYVR3Cu_ahf2i-ScnWErv1qfpFSzGTqWJy/w595-h312/image.png" width="595" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p></div></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-12633609886184152752023-07-03T11:55:00.003-05:002023-07-03T12:24:20.814-05:00Site cited / Sunday driver / Lying around<p style="text-align: left;"></p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Site cited.</b> The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a website designer who refused to work with <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4290/supreme-court-rules-for-designer-who-won-t-make-wedding-websites-for-gay-couples" target="_blank">same-sex couples</a> on a wedding site.</span><br />■ Justice Sonia Sotomayor penned a <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/sotomayor-blasts-court-scathing-dissent-143502141.html" target="_blank">scathing dissent</a> following the high court’s 303 Creative ruling. <div>■ The web designer ruling is a <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2023/07/01/supreme-court-303-creative-decision-win-first-amendment/70369160007/" target="_blank">victory for free-speech rights</a>, opined <i>USA Today </i>columnist Ingrid Jacques.<br />■ Supreme Court justices upheld a federal law that criminalizes encouraging <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-upholds-law-bars-encouraging-illegal-immigration-rcna86060" target="_blank">illegal immigration</a>. <br /><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Posts man.</b> Elon Musk, citing data-scraping concerns, adjusted <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/01/business/twitter-rate-limit-elon-musk.html?smid=nytcore-android-share">Twitter rules</a> by limiting the daily number of posts users can read.</span><br />■ Twitter CEO Elon Musk is the <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/elon-musk-worst-free-speech-010133362.html">worst free-speech hero</a> ever, declared journalist Brad Polumbo in a <i>Daily Beast</i> commentary.<br />■ Believe it or not, a cage-match battle between <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/01/technology/elon-musk-mark-zuckerberg-cage-match.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">tech billionaires</a> Musk and Zuckerberg is starting to take shape.<br />■ After employees complained of <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/google-distances-company-sponsored-drag-show-employee-petition-rcna91597">religious discrimination</a>, Google distanced itself from a company-sponsored drag performance at a Pride event.<br />■ A Florida law <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/us-court-blocks-florida-law-restricting-drag-performances-rcna90900">restricting drag</a> performances is blocked by a District judge.</div><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Sunday driver.</b> The U.S. Supreme Court granted protections for workers who seek <a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2023/06/29/supreme-court-solidifies-protections-for-workers-who-ask-for-religious-accommodations/?utm_source=ground.news&utm_medium=referral" target="_blank">religious accommodations</a>, such as taking the Sabbath off.</span><br />■ In ruling on a “true threats” case, Supreme Court justices have made it harder to convict someone of <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/supreme-court-ruling-makes-it-harder-to-convict-someone-of-making-a-threat" target="_blank">making threats</a> of violence.<br />■ Justice Clarence Thomas renewed his attacks on a 1964 <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/27/politics/clarence-thomas-first-amendment-libel-new-york-times-supreme-court/index.html" target="_blank">landmark libel decision </a>in his threats-case dissent.<br />■ Margaret Gilleo, who took her <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/23/us/margaret-gilleo-dead.html" target="_blank">antiwar yard-sign battle</a> all the way to the Supreme Court, has died.<br /><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>“I’m just not going to quit,” a school librarian told 100 others about <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4301/librarians-train-to-defend-intellectual-freedom-fight-book-bans" target="_blank">fighting book bans </a>during the American Library Association’s annual meeting.</div><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Agents of shield.</b> Bipartisan lawmakers have made another attempt to pass a federal “shield law” that <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4273/congress-to-try-again-to-pass-federal-shield-law-to-protect-journalists" target="_blank">protects reporters</a> from having to disclose confidential sources.</span><br />■ A <a href="https://time.com/6289979/idaho-murder-case-gag-order/" target="_blank">gag order </a>in the University of Idaho slayings case has been narrowed but not lifted by a District judge.<br />■ A ban on <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4269/court-rules-ariz-ban-on-per-signature-pay-for-ballot-initiatives-constitutional" target="_blank">per-signature payment</a> for ballot initiatives is constitutional, the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled.</div><div><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Fox News ushered out <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fox-news-rivera-fired-tribute-affirmative-action-ee06985dd55f8fa103eb1863b529fa7d?" target="_blank">Geraldo Rivera </a>with
a tribute while the longtime journalist claimed he was fired.</div>■ South Carolina’s <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-uncovered-project-and-the-survival-of-south-carolina-newspapers/" target="_blank">oldest newspaper </a>has explored new ways for newspapers to survive.<div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Lying around.</b> In a current climate of disinformation, nobody needs to ask the government to <a href="https://www.thefire.org/news/why-most-lies-are-protected-speech-and-why-they-should-stay-way" target="_blank">enforce the truth</a>, explained Angel Eduardo in a Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) essay.</span><br /><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>A new generation of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/02/technology/ai-chatbots-misinformation-free-speech.html?smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">Chatbots </a>may break
through the guardrails of free speech.</div><div><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Donald Trump’s Faith and Freedom
Coalition speech was <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/trump-speech-socialists-downright-un-123000263.html" target="_blank">un-American</a>, but this country’s freedoms allowed it, declared
Fresno State University professor Andrew Fiala.</div><div>■ The White House condemned the <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/white-house-reporters-condemn-harassment-of-journalist-over-questions-to-indian-pm-/7159183.html" target="_blank">online harassment</a> campaign that targeted a <i>Wall Street Journal</i> reporter after she asked India’s prime minister about his human-rights record.</div><div>■ In light of recent <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4286/salman-rushdie-cheryl-strayed-among-endorsers-of-anti-censorship-effort" target="_blank">book banning</a>, well-known authors have joined an anti-censorship effort to bring attention to the McCarthy-era Freedom to Read Statement.<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b> </b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/Ut0Mrg?vid=zfqlb" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="638" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7D82k-WC64AvuMKefi-fMUeCpzzIyT5YnsWDzA20zweaXYvoS-Q-nxur7XLRwkPbV0HrpGXQ__hfddhXBDa1-lbpTYoJBy88PjWfQxHxvqd6izF_t5WQv-xuYPWk8vV6k8vy2Nv0Qdud5bdRSOeLi-7fcdelzR32gr0d7ReOeZcXMz0AB4sOBFBOsygFX/w613-h339/image.png" width="613" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-73766058049564627282023-06-19T12:28:00.012-05:002023-07-30T16:33:30.336-05:00Reshape shift? / Intervention / Wannabe seen<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><b>Reshape shift? </b>The U.S. Supreme
Court </span>has tackled several free-speech cases this term but there are more on the current docket that could <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/scotus-first-amendment-cases/" target="_blank">reshape First Amendment law</a>.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Court justices ruled in favor of Tennessee whisky maker Jack Daniel’s in a trademark dispute with the makers of a <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4229/ruff-day-in-court-supreme-court-sides-with-jack-daniel-s-in-dispute-with-makers-of-dog-toy" target="_blank">dog toy</a>.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>The American Civil Liberties Union has asked the high court to help
define <a href="https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/core-first-amendment-rights-are-implicated-in-this-supreme-court-case-about-true-threats" target="_blank">“true threats,”</a> which are not protected under the First Amendment.<a href="https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/core-first-amendment-rights-are-implicated-in-this-supreme-court-case-about-true-threats"><br /></a>■ The GOP is targeting companies that do research on the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/19/business/gop-disinformation-researchers-2024-election.html?smid=nytcore-android-share">spread of disinformation</a>, <i>The New York Times </i>reported.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>North Carolina’s 2021 law to halt the
issuing of <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4234/supreme-court-won-t-review-n-c-decision-to-nix-license-plates-with-confederate-flag" target="_blank">Confederate-flag license plates</a> will stand following an unsuccessful
legal challenge.<a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4234/supreme-court-won-t-review-n-c-decision-to-nix-license-plates-with-confederate-flag"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>The New York Court of Appeals has made
it harder for music producer Dr. Luke to win his defamation suit against Tennessee
<a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/ny-top-court-hands-win-kesha-dr-luke-defamation-case-2023-06-13/" target="_blank">pop singer Kesha</a>.<a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/ny-top-court-hands-win-kesha-dr-luke-defamation-case-2023-06-13/"><br /></a><o:p> <br /></o:p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Expressed right. </b>A federal
judge has declared that the city of St. George, Utah, violated the First
Amendment when it refused to issue an event permit for an <a href="https://kslnewsradio.com/2013646/st-george-must-allow-drag-show/" target="_blank">all-ages drag show </a>in
a public park.</span><a href="https://kslnewsradio.com/2013646/st-george-must-allow-drag-show/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>A Pride Month protest led to violent
<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/california-pride-month-brawl-1.6868276" target="_blank">skirmishes </a>outside a school board meeting in Southern California.<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/california-pride-month-brawl-1.6868276"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>When LGBTQ+ customers are denied
services over religious beliefs, a majority of Americans side with the business
owners, according to a Pew Research Center <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/06/14/freedom-of-speech-and-lgbt-rights-americans-views-of-issues-in-supreme-court-case/" target="_blank">survey</a>.<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/06/14/freedom-of-speech-and-lgbt-rights-americans-views-of-issues-in-supreme-court-case/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>While its annual scorecard declared that
all social media platforms do a poor job protecting LGBTQ+ users from hate
speech, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-lgbtq-social-media-twitter-glaad-aab0b650c858c177f34155ae3f5390c6" target="_blank">Twitter is the worst</a>, reported advocacy group GLAAD.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-lgbtq-social-media-twitter-glaad-aab0b650c858c177f34155ae3f5390c6"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>A middle school soccer coach was
reinstated by the Vermont school district that suspended him over a Facebook
comment about a <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4228/vt-school-district-settles-lawsuit-over-coach-s-suspension-related-to-transgender-athlete" target="_blank">transgender athlete</a>.<a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4228/vt-school-district-settles-lawsuit-over-coach-s-suspension-related-to-transgender-athlete"><br /></a><o:p> <br /></o:p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Intervention. </b>Ownership of
the writings of the <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4232/attorney-ownership-of-nashville-shooter-s-writings-will-go-to-students-parents" target="_blank">Covenant School</a> shooter, sought after by journalists and others,
will go to the school’s parents instead, a Nashville attorney announced.</span><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4232/attorney-ownership-of-nashville-shooter-s-writings-will-go-to-students-parents"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>The 1995 decision to publish a ‘<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/11/business/media/unabomber-manifesto-ethics-journalism.html" target="_blank">manifesto</a>’
by Ted Kaczynski, the so-called “Unabomber,” remains fiercely debated today.<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/11/business/media/unabomber-manifesto-ethics-journalism.html"><br /></a>■ When coverage angered them, local officials <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/18/business/newspapers-public-notices.html?smid=nytcore-android-share">sought revenge</a> on their hometown newspapers.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Litigation is likely to follow an
Oklahoma decision to allow the nation’s first publicly funded <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4251/okla-clears-nation-s-first-religious-charter-school-but-litigation-likely-to-follow" target="_blank">religious charter school</a>.<a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4251/okla-clears-nation-s-first-religious-charter-school-but-litigation-likely-to-follow"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Pharmaceutical company Merck has sued
the U.S. government over a drug-price negotiation law, claiming it is
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/06/politics/merck-lawsuit-medicare-drug-price-negotiation/index.html" target="_blank">unconstitutional</a>.<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/06/politics/merck-lawsuit-medicare-drug-price-negotiation/index.html"><br /></a><o:p> <br /></o:p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>March madness?</b><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span>Protesting
without permission could lead to arrest under a new <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4224/new-miss-law-requires-permits-before-statehouse-protests" target="_blank">Mississippi law</a> that
restricts free speech.</span><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4224/new-miss-law-requires-permits-before-statehouse-protests"><br /></a>■ A jury has convicted two Asheville, N.C., journalists for trespassing based on their involvement in <a href="https://ncnewsline.com/2023/06/19/asheville-journalists-convicted-of-trespassing-again-this-time-by-jury/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=994248dc-b577-4a4f-ad11-9954f99546a0">videotaping police</a> activity in 2021.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">■ Access to police misconduct records may be difficult to attain under a new <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4254/calif-gov-newsom-proposes-rolling-back-access-to-police-misconduct-records" target="_blank">California proposal</a> from the governor’s office.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>New York’s Department of Correction has rescinded a directive to clamp down on writing
and creative <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/06/10/new-york-prisons-first-amendment" target="_blank">work by prisoners</a>.<a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/06/10/new-york-prisons-first-amendment"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Elizabeth Gilbert, “<i>Eat, Pray, Love</i>”
author, faced backlash from free-speech advocates for <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/willskipworth/2023/06/15/free-speech-advocates-blast-elizabeth-gilbert-for-pulling-book-set-in-russia/?sh=6d7b484d28f6" target="_blank">delaying the release</a> of
her new novel, which is set in Russia.<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/willskipworth/2023/06/15/free-speech-advocates-blast-elizabeth-gilbert-for-pulling-book-set-in-russia/?sh=6d7b484d28f6"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is wrong to
label book bans <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2023/06/12/book-ban-school-libraries-threat-students-education-freedom/70305740007/" target="_blank">a “hoax,”</a> explained PEN America director Jonathan Friedman in a
<i>USA Today</i> commentary.<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2023/06/12/book-ban-school-libraries-threat-students-education-freedom/70305740007/"><br /></a><o:p> <br /></o:p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Wannabe seen. </b>Fox News
expressed both regret and surprise for labeling <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4243/fox-news-says-it-addressed-onscreen-message-calling-biden-a-wannabe-dictator" target="_blank">President Biden a ‘wannabe dictator’ </a>in
an onscreen chyron message.</span><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4243/fox-news-says-it-addressed-onscreen-message-calling-biden-a-wannabe-dictator"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Three men were arrested and charged for
<a href="https://abc11.com/3-men-charged-after-allegedly-vandalizing-homes-of-new-hampshire-jo/13395718/" target="_blank">vandalizing the homes</a> of New Hampshire journalists in apparent retaliation for reporting
on sexual harassment allegations.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is a
step closer to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/09/uk/julian-assange-extradition-appeal-intl-gbr/index.html" target="_blank">extradition </a>to the United States after a London high court denied
his latest appeal.<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/09/uk/julian-assange-extradition-appeal-intl-gbr/index.html"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Influential whistleblower <a href="https://freedom.press/news/daniel-ellsberg-an-american-hero-for-the-ages-1931-2023/" target="_blank">Daniel Ellsberg</a>, who in 1971 leaked the Pentagon Papers to <i>The New York Times</i>,
is remembered as a freedom of the press hero.<a href="https://freedom.press/news/daniel-ellsberg-an-american-hero-for-the-ages-1931-2023/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Longtime First Amendment law expert
<a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2023/06/steve-shiffrin-expert-first-amendment-law-dies-82" target="_blank">Steve Shiffrin</a> has died.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2023/06/steve-shiffrin-expert-first-amendment-law-dies-82"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2023/06/steve-shiffrin-expert-first-amendment-law-dies-82"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-QqOi4vj5BjscMxLSPX0JJeNVs9YxoCxjxMbkRhUMjddgzPtzJ6iw-8zNgfaDukw8diWcG0Ew4YhygiVckun1CCkaN3ijjTAPp7JzS9OoJC2F1NMphydWlJx_zXwwIFND0VjCbO93XyTpHEuBQUv1kxT6Z4XuFK23fJGbL70nGxjoDJNUWefhy4XUyiL-/s1266/FSC%20megaphone%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="1266" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-QqOi4vj5BjscMxLSPX0JJeNVs9YxoCxjxMbkRhUMjddgzPtzJ6iw-8zNgfaDukw8diWcG0Ew4YhygiVckun1CCkaN3ijjTAPp7JzS9OoJC2F1NMphydWlJx_zXwwIFND0VjCbO93XyTpHEuBQUv1kxT6Z4XuFK23fJGbL70nGxjoDJNUWefhy4XUyiL-/w579-h380/FSC%20megaphone%202.jpg" width="579" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
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Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-48642667985066907162023-06-05T12:24:00.001-05:002023-06-05T12:58:33.546-05:00Dress down / Telltale sign / Chucked it<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Dress down. </b>Tennessee’s
<a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/06/03/1179990709/tennessee-drag-show-law-ruling" target="_blank">drag-show law</a> is “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad,” U.S.
District Judge Thomas Parker has declared.</span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/06/03/1179990709/tennessee-drag-show-law-ruling"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>PEN America has joined the fight against
<a href="https://pen.org/press-release/pen-america-sweeping-ban-on-drag-performances-in-montana-in-effect-criminalizes-a-wide-range-of-artistic-choices/" target="_blank">bills banning drag</a> performances in other parts of the country.<a href="https://pen.org/press-release/pen-america-sweeping-ban-on-drag-performances-in-montana-in-effect-criminalizes-a-wide-range-of-artistic-choices/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>In what First Amendment experts called a
recognition of free speech, Franklin, Tenn., leaders have withdrawn a
controversial “<a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/williamson/2023/05/25/franklin-community-decency-policy-withdrawn-first-amendment-legal-concerns/70252559007/" target="_blank">community decency policy</a>.”<a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/williamson/2023/05/25/franklin-community-decency-policy-withdrawn-first-amendment-legal-concerns/70252559007/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>Leaders of the Church of Scientology told
Fox News that involving its religion in actor Danny Masterson’s rape trial was
an “<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/danny-mastersons-guilty-verdict-church-of-scientology-adamant-rape-retrial-violated-first-amendment" target="_blank">unprecedented violation</a> of the First Amendment.” <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/danny-mastersons-guilty-verdict-church-of-scientology-adamant-rape-retrial-violated-first-amendment"><br /></a><o:p> <br /></o:p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Societal ills. </b>A Harvard
law professor has advanced the argument that even if the U.S. Surgeon General
is correct that social media is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/05/28/surgeon-general-s-social-media-warning-doesn-t-make-regulation-easier/15805ae4-fd52-11ed-9eb0-6c94dcb16fcf_story.html" target="_blank">hurting kids</a>, there is no easy way to remedy
that.</span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/05/28/surgeon-general-s-social-media-warning-doesn-t-make-regulation-easier/15805ae4-fd52-11ed-9eb0-6c94dcb16fcf_story.html"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>The judge who ruled against Ron DeSantis
in a First Amendment case last year has <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/ron-desantis-wins-bid-disqualify-000504190.html" target="_blank">recused himself</a> from the Florida
governor’s current suit with the Walt Disney Co.<a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/ron-desantis-wins-bid-disqualify-000504190.html"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>“The government cannot punish you for
speaking your mind,” declared ESPN’s Sage Steele, whose <a href="https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/sage-steele-free-speech-battle-disney-espn-ron-desantis-florida-1235626329/" target="_blank">free-speech lawsuit </a>over off-the-clock podcast comments has
heated up again with a judge-imposed 90-day negotiation window between her and the network ending soon.<a href="https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/sage-steele-free-speech-battle-disney-espn-ron-desantis-florida-1235626329/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>A federal jury has awarded $63.5 million
to Miami businessmen who sued City Commissioner Joe Carollo for violating their <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/63-million-awarded-in-trial-against-miami-commissioner-accused-of-political-retaliation" target="_blank">First Amendment rights</a> by using political retaliation.<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/63-million-awarded-in-trial-against-miami-commissioner-accused-of-political-retaliation"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt was lauded by
free-speech advocates for knocking down legislation that would have weakened
the state’s ability to fight off frivolous lawsuits intending to <a href="https://www.city-sentinel.com/news/coalition-thanks-stitt-for-free-speech-stand/article_a408c962-fc9a-11ed-8973-d3f8443d9df2.html" target="_blank">chill free speech</a>.<a href="https://www.city-sentinel.com/news/coalition-thanks-stitt-for-free-speech-stand/article_a408c962-fc9a-11ed-8973-d3f8443d9df2.html"><br /></a><o:p> <br /></o:p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Telltale sign. </b>A Vietnam
veteran with crude ‘blue’ views in a ‘red’ Arizona town has not succumbed to
intimidation tactics to take down his anti-Trump <a href="https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/political-sign-lands-veteran-in-free-speech-debate-with-police" target="_blank">political sign</a> on his property. Free Speech Center Director Ken Paulson explained the homeowner’s First Amendment protection. </span><a href="https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/political-sign-lands-veteran-in-free-speech-debate-with-police"><br /></a><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>In a <i>Truthout</i> commentary, journalist
and filmmaker Eleanor Goldfield is angered that the news media has been
largely silent about the arrests and <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/if-the-police-can-decide-who-qualifies-as-a-journalist-there-is-no-free-press/" target="_blank">convictions of reporters</a> in North Carolina.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>Twitter CEO Elon Musk said he has “no actual
choice” over complying with governments’ <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/29/tech/elon-musk-twitter-government-takedown/index.html" target="_blank">censorship requests</a>. </div>■ The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a trademark dispute over a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/05/politics/trump-too-small-trademark-supreme-court-lanham-act/index.html">‘Trump Too Small’</a> slogan to be used on shirts and hats.<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>Supreme Court justices’ decision in the
<a href="https://www.rcfp.org/scotus-twitter-taamneh-decision/" target="_blank">Twitter terrorist liability</a> case affects journalists more than the internet, reasoned
Reporters Committee attorney Gabe Rottman.</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><o:p><br /></o:p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Pulled prose. </b>Elementary
school students in Fort Lauderdale are now restricted from reading Amanda Gorman’s
2021 <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4180/amanda-gorman-s-poem-for-biden-s-inauguration-banned-by-fla-school" target="_blank">inauguration poem</a> after one parent complained.</span><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4180/amanda-gorman-s-poem-for-biden-s-inauguration-banned-by-fla-school"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>A Colorado judge sided with school
district officials in denying a high school senior’s request to wear an
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/first-amendment-student-mexican-flag-sash-graduation-colorado-0920df2dd331aed5792b9e0acf6dca5d" target="_blank">American and Mexican sash</a> at graduation.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/first-amendment-student-mexican-flag-sash-graduation-colorado-0920df2dd331aed5792b9e0acf6dca5d"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>Claiming both her freedom of speech and
religion rights were violated, a Tulsa graduate has sued her former school
district that prevented her from wearing a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/26/us/tulsa-native-american-girl-feather-graduation/index.html" target="_blank">sacred eagle plume</a> on her cap. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>In Utah, the Book of Mormon has entered the national debates over <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/04/us/utah-bible-book-ban.html" target="_blank">banning books</a> in public schools.<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/26/us/tulsa-native-american-girl-feather-graduation/index.html"><br /></a><o:p> <br /></o:p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Chucked it. </b>After nearly a
decade of hosting NBC News’ <i>Meet the Press</i>, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/chuck-todd-will-depart-nbcs-meet-press-kristen-welker-become-host-rcna87618" target="_blank">Chuck Todd</a> has announced he will
be leaving the show and journalist Kristen Welker will succeed him.</span><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/chuck-todd-will-depart-nbcs-meet-press-kristen-welker-become-host-rcna87618"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>California legislation to get tech
companies such as Google and Meta to <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4208/calif-bill-requiring-big-tech-to-pay-for-news-gains-momentum" target="_blank">pay media outlets</a> for online news content
and posts cleared a major hurdle and is headed to the state Senate.<a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4208/calif-bill-requiring-big-tech-to-pay-for-news-gains-momentum"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>While accepting a First Amendment award, former <i>Boston Globe</i> editor <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/06/02/metro/accepting-first-amendment-award-mcgrory-urges-journalists-be-bold/" target="_blank">Brian McGrory </a>urged journalists to “be bold” and
“not settle for convention.” <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/06/02/metro/accepting-first-amendment-award-mcgrory-urges-journalists-be-bold/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>Bob Zimmer, the University of Chicago
president who created the Committee on Freedom of Expression, was eulogized in
the <i>New York Daily News</i> as a tireless <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/rest-free-speech-bob-zimmer-080000250.html" target="_blank">free-speech champion</a>. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Vital video. </b>An exclusive
new video guide spells out First Amendment rights to citizen journalists
recording police actions with cellphones. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7teq3nFDCYY" target="_blank">Watch the presentation</a> that was made
possible through the joint efforts of the Free Speech Center and First
Amendment Watch.</span><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4142/new-video-guide-helps-you-know-your-first-amendment-rights-in-recording-police"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><o:p><br /></o:p></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><o:p><a href="https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/Ut0Mrg?vid=tgrdo" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1200" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCbldZMs-nZchiDDejEUt1IA1Z0gnqbSGiOH4AJjq6m5fVezslNdg7ejQ30MZG-bG-Zt9GQRAK2_jqG33FGESDxhcH6kVZebd9YOlTeIkNcCvRXVw_KRvP669hfmmvetqkl-tGO4LJDYQ3WnpdZX-gm1M8E9Pf2zPHT8nSb4kGFiG9WpSb7x1MoUi-/w640-h334/FSC%20Rights.001.png" style="text-align: center;" width="640" /></a></o:p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><o:p></o:p></p>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-19863889667988632592023-05-22T12:23:00.004-05:002023-05-22T13:43:47.590-05:00Tik season / Fair game / Sloganeering<b>EXCLUSIVE: Vital video for citizens and journalists.<br /></b><i>A new video guide spells out First Amendment rights to those recording police actions with cellphones. The presentation is made possible through the joint efforts of The Free Speech Center and First Amendment Watch, and can be viewed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD_WEpslJX0" target="_blank">here </a>or on the partners’ websites</i>.<div><br /><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Tik season.</b> Does the Montana state <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-montana-325a33578a2bbfbe53e9c251d528c5fb" target="_blank">ban on TikTok</a>, the nation’s first, protect its people or violate their First Amendment rights?</span><br />■ A CNN analysis has looked at how a TikTok ban could work, as well as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/18/politics/tiktok-ban-twitter-free-speech-what-matters/index.html" target="_blank">other concerns</a> about social media.<br />■ Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has pushed to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/desantis-asks-judge-disqualified-disneys-free-speech-lawsuit-99479476" target="_blank">disqualify the judge</a> in Disney’s First Amendment lawsuit against his state.<br />■ The Middleboro, Mass., middle-schooler who gained attention last month for wearing an “only two genders” shirt alters the style and is <a href="https://www.enterprisenews.com/story/news/education/2023/05/17/only-two-genders-t-shirt-lawsuit-middleboro-massachusetts-school-district/70229437007/" target="_blank">sent home again</a> by school officials.</div><div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Both sides now.</b> When it comes to free speech, the right and the left need to rediscover it as a unifying, <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4128/free-speech-used-to-be-honored-by-both-left-and-right-now-shouting-down-opponents-and-banning-disliked-speech-is-a-bipartisan-cause" target="_blank">nonpartisan principle</a>, a constitutional law professor explained.</span></div><div>■ PEN America, a nonprofit organization committed to protecting free speech, has teamed with parents and a publishing company to sue a Florida school district for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/17/florida-school-book-ban-lawsuit" target="_blank">implementing book bans</a>.<br />■ If you care about book bans, you should be following the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/19/opinion/book-ban-escambia-florida-lawsuit.html" target="_blank">Escambia County</a> lawsuit, Michelle Goldberg opined in <i>The New York Times</i>.<br />■ Student civil rights in Georgia may have been violated by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/05/22/book-bans-georgia-hostile-environment/" target="_blank">book removals</a>, the U.S. Education Department contends following its investigation.</div><div>■ Wisconsin college campuses have become <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4135/free-speech-racial-equity-battles-are-playing-out-on-wis-campuses" target="_blank">staging grounds</a> for free-speech and racial-equity battles.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Fair game.</b> An award-winning journalist has some strong ideas for how journalists should cover candidate <a href="https://tennesseelookout.com/2023/05/11/heres-how-reporters-should-cover-trumps-campaign/" target="_blank">Donald Trump’s campaign</a> and shares them in a recent commentary.</span></div><div>■ Freedom of the Press Foundation advocacy director has examined why he sounds like “a sore winner” after an <a href="https://freedom.press/news/a-judge-struck-down-an-anti-press-restraining-order-why-does-it-feel-so-lousy/" target="_blank">anti-press</a> restraining order is struck down.<br />■ West Virginia has adopted the Student Journalist Press Freedom Protection Act, the 17th state to grant First Amendment rights to <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4116/w-va-becomes-17th-state-to-protect-student-journalists-advisers" target="_blank">journalism students</a> and their faculty advisers.<br />■ “Freedom of expression has not in my lifetime been under such threat,” declared author Salman Rushdie in a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/salman-rushdie-makes-rare-appearance-attack-warn-ending-freedom-speech" target="_blank">surprise public appearance</a>, just months after he was attacked.</div><div> <br /><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Not so dandy, Andy.</b> The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the late artist Andy Warhol in a <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4154/andy-warhol-violated-a-photographer-s-copyright-on-image-of-prince-supreme-court-rules" target="_blank">“fair use” argument</a> over a <i>Vanity Fair </i>magazine cover.</span><br />■ Supreme Court justices handed Google, Twitter, and Facebook legal victories, but left <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4152/supreme-court-avoids-ruling-on-law-shielding-internet-companies-from-being-sued-for-what-users-post" target="_blank">liability-shield</a> questions for internet companies unanswered.<br />■ With protests continuing outside the high court justices’ homes, several Republican senators want to increase penalties for violating the U.S. Code for <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/free-speech-federal-crime-protesters-are-still-marching-conservative-s-rcna78678" target="_blank">“picketing and parading.”</a></div><div>■ “The greatest intrusion on civil liberties in peacetime history” is how Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch labeled the nation’s <a href="https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/supreme-court-justice-neil-gorsuch-141657699.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=1_11" target="_blank">pandemic response</a>.</div><div><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Sloganeering.</b> Unsuccessful candidates have filed cert petitions in U.S. Supreme Court claiming that New Jersey’s <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2023/05/former-candidates-say-new-jerseys-slogan-statutes-violate-the-first-amendment/" target="_blank">“slogan statutes”</a> violate the First Amendment.</span><br />■ An Arizona activist group has settled its lawsuit over reported <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/05/22/arizona-groups-settle-ballot-box-voter-intimidation-lawsuit" target="_blank">voter intimidation</a> at state ballot drop boxes.</div><div>■ A Tennessee deputy was not at fault for failing to stop a quid pro quo <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/deputy-cleared-in-traffic-stop-baptism/" target="_blank">traffic-stop baptism</a>, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.<br />■ Former journalist, civil-rights activist, and U.S. State Department spokesman <a href="https://apnews.com/article/hodding-carter-state-department-spokesman-iran-hostage-0610d93a82e543499b22cdf0b886cdd7" target="_blank">Hodding Carter III</a> is remembered for never missing “an opportunity to speak truth to power.”</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div><div><a href="https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/Ut0Mrg?vid=yx2hj" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="1250" height="534" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oN5DgAge2d4/YOSE7cZRRiI/AAAAAAAA7C0/zaMkW33ZGp8U3PVFPqJF9WWV_PovzJ1ZwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h534/FSC.no%2Blink%2B300_250%2Bad1.jpg" style="background-color: white; border: none; color: midnightblue; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;" width="640" /></a></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-52308797252396140132023-05-08T12:25:00.003-05:002023-05-08T13:10:14.593-05:00Fault lines / A field day / Listen up<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Fault lines.</b> A divided nation comes together to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/poll-misinformation-polarization-coronavirus-media-d56a25fd8dfd9abe1389b56d7e82b873" target="_blank">blame the news media</a> for the political polarization in the country, according to an Associated Press survey.</span><br />■ Not everything was better back in the old days, but <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/29/opinion/journalism-newsroom.html" target="_blank">newsrooms truly were</a>, declared Maureen Dowd in a <i>New York Times</i> commentary.<br />■ Elon Musk has failed to usher in a new era of <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/elon-musk-twitter-free-speech-hypocrisy-rcna81961" target="_blank">free speech on Twitter</a> as promised, data from a Harvard University report shows.<a href="https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/elon-musk-twitter-free-speech-hypocrisy-rcna81961"><br /></a>■ Colorado lawmakers have pushed a bill that would allow politicians to block social media users from their private accounts, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/social-media-politicians-block-twitter-facebook-f70db65a4b4588de9681c7629c5a6f02" target="_blank">blurring the line</a> between public forums and personal accounts. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/social-media-politicians-block-twitter-facebook-f70db65a4b4588de9681c7629c5a6f02"><br /></a>■ Kids have free-speech rights too, a Harvard law professor warned legislators who want to limit young people’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/27/social-media-ban-for-kids-under-13-isn-t-constitutional/569b8ec0-e4fe-11ed-9696-8e874fd710b8_story.html" target="_blank">access to social media</a>.<br /><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Bound by law.</b> Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a new law that puts book publishers and sellers at risk of prosecution if they provide schools with <a href="https://tennesseelookout.com/2023/05/04/new-law-puts-book-sellers-distributors-at-risk-for-criminal-prosecution/" target="_blank">written materials deemed obscene</a>.</span><br />■ Removal of a Missouri highway road sign honoring a <a href="https://www.kmov.com/2023/05/06/removal-i-44-road-sign-could-be-conflict-with-first-amendment/" target="_blank">convicted cop killer</a> could violate the First Amendment, a Freedom Center of Missouri lawyer contended.<br />■ Donald Trump has agreed to appear at a town hall forum televised by CNN, the network he has derided for dispensing “<a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4071/cnn-says-trump-to-appear-in-n-h-town-hall" target="_blank">fake news</a>.”<br />■ A New York Supreme Court judge dismissed the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/05/03/trump-new-york-times-lawsuit-dismissed" target="_blank">former president’s lawsuit</a> against <i>The New York Times</i>.<br />■ A porn industry group has filed a lawsuit claiming that a Utah age-verification requirement to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/porn-age-verification-utah-lawsuit-db5649d2030cb75d652cd55c51513d38" target="_blank">access adult websites</a> is unconstitutional.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>A field day.</b> A pair of high school students, aided by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, is suing on viewpoint-discrimination grounds a Michigan school district that made them remove <a href="https://www.thefire.org/news/students-sue-after-michigan-school-district-forces-them-remove-lets-go-brandon-sweatshirts" target="_blank">‘Let’s Go, Brandon’ </a>sweatshirts at a school event.</span><br />■ A Massachusetts seventh grader sent home for donning a shirt that read “there are only two genders” told the local school board that he had a <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/05/01/boy-says-he-was-sent-home-over-shirt-that-said-there-are-only-two-genders/" target="_blank">First Amendment right</a> to wear it.<br />■ Two California teachers have filed a lawsuit arguing that they have a First Amendment <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article274938921.html" target="_blank">right to “out”</a> transgender students to their parents.<br />■ Covenant School parents who do not want the Nashville shooter’s ‘manifesto’ released as an open public record were granted a <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4090/nashville-police-say-covenant-school-parents-may-intervene-in-public-records-case-judge-delays-hearing" target="_blank">five-week delay</a> from Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea L. Miles.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The text that roared.</b> The discovery of a Tucker Carlson message on the eve of Fox News’ defamation trial <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/02/business/media/tucker-carlson-text-message-white-men.html?smid=em-share" target="_blank">sparked a chain of events</a> that likely contributed to his dismissal from the network.</span><br />■ Readers may be seeing the end of a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/03/opinion/jezebel-gawker-buzzfeed-ben-smith.html" target="_blank">digital media age</a>, but <i>Semafor </i>editor Ben Smith explains where the end began in a <i>New York Times</i> essay.<br />■ The lengthy Disney-DeSantis feud escalated when the Walt Disney Co. hit Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with a <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/disney-sues-ron-desantis-first-193100360.html" target="_blank">discrimination lawsuit</a>.<br />■ Constitutional lawyer Robert Peck is convinced that more retaliation lawsuits, such as the ones filed in Florida and Montana, will be levied on state legislators who keep <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/ousted-trans-lawmaker-could-follow-disney-with-free-speech-suit" target="_blank">trying to silence</a> outvoted minority members.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Listen up.</b> There is a lot of noise surrounding campus speakers these days, but students may be less interested in debating controversial views and more interested in <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/28/us/pittsburgh-student-protest/index.html" target="_blank">shouting them down</a>, according to a CNN review.</span><br />■ There was time to roast the president and toast the First Amendment at the annual White House <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4085/white-house-correspondents-dinner-levity-gravity-and-a-toast-to-the-first-amendment" target="_blank">Correspondents’ Dinner</a>.<br />■ ABC News’ Pierre Thomas was among several journalists to be honored with a 2023 <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/awards-2023-announcement/" target="_blank">Freedom of the Press </a>Award.<br />■ The world must unite to stop threats, attacks, and imprisonment of journalists for <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4077/world-press-freedom-day-u-n-chief-urges-all-nations-to-stop-targeting-news-media" target="_blank">doing their jobs</a>, declared U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.<br />■ An international First Amendment partnership has opened its doors on the Vanderbilt University campus, ready to take on <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2023/05/01/international-first-amendment-partnership-comes-to-vanderbilt-university/70155788007/" target="_blank">global free-speech issues</a>, its leaders said.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/Ut0Mrg?vid=xwtfs" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1200" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUZbcb6jX7MwlP-WYa3GeE_OCnO9ifFmBs1li5hKA8xsQUlO9telgQsKC5PjVgTSfTOTmLqLxvPF3i9A2S7O35E3Ju6C1bCj2wODCNFMBeMtM1eNiqcWg0EoqqpH4daAEvxKaIP_JpOMrxUDyyOWxwCTQdkojuFs5TWCHc7vaBzHpBUwpS-d3a2Fxp/w640-h334/FSC%20newsletter.001.png" style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #0000cc; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-20271567905087252952023-04-24T12:28:00.006-05:002023-04-24T13:50:51.538-05:00Tuckered out / True threat? / Press down<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><b>Tuckered out. </b></span>Just days after settling a defamation lawsuit, the Fox News network has parted ways with popular and controversial host <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tucker-carlson-out-fox-news-58a8421c55978f223b9c4b1d1cbe50be">Tucker Carlson</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;">■ CNN has parted ways with morning-show anchor <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/24/media/don-lemon-cnn/index.html" target="_blank">Don Lemon</a> a few weeks after he made sexist comments on-air about GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley.</div><div style="text-align: left;">■ The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed the First Amendment protections for a <a href="https://www.azmirror.com/blog/arizona-supreme-court-tosses-gop-senate-candidates-defamation-lawsuit-against-radio-talker/">conservative talk-radio </a><a href="#">host sued</a> by a GOP candidate who lost a 2020 election.</div><div style="text-align: left;">■ Grammy-winning singer Lizzo brought a glittery protest of Tennessee’s <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lizzo-tennessee-drag-queens-c73bc8f777b28148dea90a3cca347701">anti-drag legislation</a> to her Knoxville concert.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Half-baked.</b> A mural atop a New Hampshire bakery is now a battle marker in a fight <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/pastry-artwork-pits-bakery-against-052309718.html">pitting free speech</a> against a local zoning ordinance.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>An Oklahoma county commissioner resigned after his remarks about lynching black people and killing journalists were <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/19/us/mccurtain-county-oklahoma-officials-recording/index.html" target="_blank">caught on tape</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;">■ Elon Musk has promised free speech on Twitter, but he has <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-promised-free-speech-twitter-hes-betrayed-it-again-again-opinion-1794478">failed on that promise</a> regularly, declared journalist Brad Polumbo in a Newsweek opinion piece.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>Greenpeace has prevailed in a lengthy <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/greenpeace-prevails-in-defamation-suit-by-canadian-logging-company/" target="_blank">defamation case</a> brought by a Canadian logging company, a federal judge has ruled.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>True threat? </b>A convicted
stalker’s claim that Facebook messages he sent to a female musician in Colorado
were <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-weighs-convicted-stalkers-free-speech-claim-2023-04-19/" target="_blank">protected speech</a> under the First Amendment has reached the U.S. Supreme Court.</span><a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-weighs-convicted-stalkers-free-speech-claim-2023-04-19/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>Cornell University’s president took aim
at a student campaign to have <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4018/proposal-on-student-trigger-warnings-triggers-veto-from-cornell-president" target="_blank">‘trigger warnings’</a> implemented on campus and shot
the effort down.<a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4018/proposal-on-student-trigger-warnings-triggers-veto-from-cornell-president"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>States, not students, are on the wrong
side of history when it comes to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/21/opinion/free-speech-campus-states-not-students.html" target="_blank">campus speech</a>, declared Brown University
president Christina Paxson in a <i>New York Times</i> guest editorial.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/21/opinion/free-speech-campus-states-not-students.html"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Unprotected blare. </b>Drivers
can and do use their car horns regularly, but all that <a href="https://lookout.co/santacruz/news/story/2023-04-21/honking-not-free-speech-judges-ninth-circuit-rule" target="_blank">honking is not free speech</a>, a three-judge panel of the 9<sup>th</sup> U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has
ruled.</span><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>Next term, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide if the First Amendment stops government officials from <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/24/politics/social-media-first-amendment-supreme-court/index.html" target="_blank">blocking social media</a> critics. <br /><div style="text-align: left;">■ Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments in a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-post-office-christian-85291b805b5630e958ac1200ef711cf2">religious discrimination</a> case involving a devout mail carrier and the U.S. Postal Service, which asked him to work Sundays.<br />■ Minneapolis city officials unanimously agreed to drop noise restrictions and allow for <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/04/15/minneapolis-to-allow-muslim-call-to-prayer-at-all-hours/">Muslim calls to prayer</a> at regular intervals, the first U.S. city to do so.</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Press down. </b>A record number
of journalists – 363 in 30 countries – were imprisoned in 2022 – triple the number in 2000 – a
sign of <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-record-number-of-journalists-were-detained-worldwide-prior-to-evan-gershkovichs-arrest-cae34b14" target="_blank">weakened press freedoms</a> worldwide.</span><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-record-number-of-journalists-were-detained-worldwide-prior-to-evan-gershkovichs-arrest-cae34b14"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>The Iowa Supreme Court rejected Gov. Kim
Reynolds’ attempt to ignore or delay <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4029/court-rejects-iowa-governor-s-move-to-dismiss-public-records-suit" target="_blank">public-records requests </a>from media
organizations.<a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/4029/court-rejects-iowa-governor-s-move-to-dismiss-public-records-suit"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>An investigative reporter has been hit
with a <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2023/04/20/arizona-judge-bars-reporter-from-contacting-sen-wendy-rogers-at-home/70136781007/" target="_blank">restraining order </a>after trying to interview Arizona state Sen. Wendy
Rogers at her home.<a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2023/04/20/arizona-judge-bars-reporter-from-contacting-sen-wendy-rogers-at-home/70136781007/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>Two North Carolina journalists have been
<a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/two-north-carolina-reporters-found-guilty-of-trespassing/7057903.html" target="_blank">convicted of trespassing</a> after they reported on the clearing of a homelessness
camp in a public park in 2021.<a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/two-north-carolina-reporters-found-guilty-of-trespassing/7057903.html"><br /></a><o:p> <br /></o:p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Command attention. </b>Texas state senators passed a bill that now moves to the state house requiring all public schools to display the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/22/us/texas-senate-passes-bill-ten-commandments/index.html" target="_blank">Ten Commandments</a> in classrooms beginning with the 2023-24 school year.</span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/22/us/texas-senate-passes-bill-ten-commandments/index.html"><br /></a><div style="text-align: left;">■ A study by PEN America has detailed the dramatic rise of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/20/books/book-bans-united-states-free-speech.html">book bans</a> across the country, the majority being driven by the organized efforts of activists and legislators.</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>Virginia’s General Assembly rejected a Gov.
Glenn Youngkin proposal to make <a href="https://www.virginiamercury.com/2023/04/13/general-assembly-shelves-youngkins-proposal-to-make-protesting-at-judges-homes-a-misdemeanor/" target="_blank">peaceful protests</a> outside judges’ homes
illegal.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>A Cookeville, Tenn., newspaper’s public-records lawsuit persuaded a regional medical authority to <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/cookeville-hospital-salary-info/" target="_blank">disclose the salaries</a> of senior administrators.<a href="https://www.virginiamercury.com/2023/04/13/general-assembly-shelves-youngkins-proposal-to-make-protesting-at-judges-homes-a-misdemeanor/"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">■ </span>Well-known <i>Fox News</i> employees were
spared having to testify in court but there were key takeaways from the
<a href="https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/3959249-five-takeaways-from-the-fox-news-dominion-settlement/" target="_blank">settlement with Dominion</a> Voting Systems.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><a href="https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/Ut0Mrg?vid=tgrdo" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1200" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCbldZMs-nZchiDDejEUt1IA1Z0gnqbSGiOH4AJjq6m5fVezslNdg7ejQ30MZG-bG-Zt9GQRAK2_jqG33FGESDxhcH6kVZebd9YOlTeIkNcCvRXVw_KRvP669hfmmvetqkl-tGO4LJDYQ3WnpdZX-gm1M8E9Pf2zPHT8nSb4kGFiG9WpSb7x1MoUi-/w640-h334/FSC%20Rights.001.png" style="text-align: center;" width="640" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184662845544884943.post-19738018784379316882023-04-10T12:32:00.005-05:002023-04-10T13:22:28.516-05:00Civil civics? / Shhh! / Book smarts<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Civil civics? </b>In real time
in Nashville, the nation watched as free speech was silenced, then amplified,
in the Tennessee General Assembly as two young <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2023-04-07/tennessee-lawmakers-lesson-on-gun-violence-free-speech-racism-and-democracy" target="_blank">lawmakers were expelled</a>.</span><br />■ Free Speech Center Director Ken Paulson told the <i>Washington Post</i> that the “Tennessee Three” incident is an example of how of <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/free-speech-expert-in-tenn-reacts-to-unprecedented-action/vi-AA19Fgga">legislative supermajorities</a> can undercut free expression in America.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>The Tennessee GOP worked harder to maintain
decorum than the First Amendment, declared journalist and author Chris Williams
in an <i>Above the Law</i> <a href="https://abovethelaw.com/2023/04/tennessees-house-of-representatives-violated-the-first-amendment-so-they-wouldnt-have-to-hear-complaints-about-children-being-gunned-down/" target="_blank">critique</a>.<a href="https://abovethelaw.com/2023/04/tennessees-house-of-representatives-violated-the-first-amendment-so-they-wouldnt-have-to-hear-complaints-about-children-being-gunned-down/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>There is “a massive gap between
protesting speech and silencing it,” opined a <i>Times Union</i> columnist
after a campus <a href="https://www.timesunion.com/churchill/article/churchill-ualbany-mob-shouted-free-speech-17884513.php" target="_blank">mob shouted down</a> a conservative speaker in Albany, N.Y.<a href="https://www.timesunion.com/churchill/article/churchill-ualbany-mob-shouted-free-speech-17884513.php"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>What is being lost on college
campuses is not free speech, it is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/opinion/campus-free-speech-duncan.html" target="_blank">the art of listening</a>, asserted Pamela Paul in
<i>The New York Time</i>s.<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/opinion/campus-free-speech-duncan.html"><br /></a><b> <br /></b><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Nobody wins. </b>The Fox News defamation
case is <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-v-dominion-is-a-lose-lose-for-first-amendment" target="_blank">a lose-lose situation</a> for the First Amendment, a University of Miami
law professor declared in a <i>Daily Beast</i> commentary.</span><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-v-dominion-is-a-lose-lose-for-first-amendment"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>A ban on TikTok will unleash a major
battle between <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/column-if-tiktok-is-banned-brace-epic-first-amendment-fight-2023-03-28/" target="_blank">the First Amendment and national security</a>, journalist
Alison Frankel declared in her <i>Reuters</i> commentary.<a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/column-if-tiktok-is-banned-brace-epic-first-amendment-fight-2023-03-28/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is trying to
gut free-speech protections with <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/29/politics/desantis-free-speech/index.html" target="_blank">a sword that cuts both ways</a>, potentially
wounding conservative news outlets.<a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/04/10/1168931359/do-legislative-supermajorities-weaken-the-democratic-process-as-seen-in-tennesse"><br /></a><b> <br /></b><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Shhh! </b>The judge in Donald
Trump’s New York arraignment hearing did not impose a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/04/08/1168295698/gag-order-trump" target="_blank">gag order</a>, saying it is
“among the most serious and least intolerable on First Amendment rights.”</span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/04/08/1168295698/gag-order-trump"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>PEN America called the disruption of activist
and athlete Riley Gaines’ speaking event at San Francisco State University a
“<a href="https://pen.org/press-release/disruption-and-harassment-at-riley-gaines-speaking-event-made-a-mockery-of-free-speech/" target="_blank">mockery of the principles of free speech</a>.”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Law schools can restore free speech on
campuses by <a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2023/04/02/how-law-schools-can-restore-free-speech-and-why-they-must/" target="_blank">teaching it</a>, contended J.D. candidate Charles Brandt in a
commentary for <i>The</i> <i>Orange County Register</i>.<a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2023/04/02/how-law-schools-can-restore-free-speech-and-why-they-must/"><br /></a><b> <br /></b><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>High steaks. </b>Using 1791
cheesesteaks (the year the First Amendment was ratified), the Foundation for
Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) fed lucky Philadelphians and gave them
a taste of <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/free-pats-genos-cheesesteak-south-philadelphia-constitution-first-amendment/" target="_blank">the Bill of Rights</a>.</span><br /><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>The Nebraska High School Press
Association, along with a former high school journalist, filed a federal
lawsuit claiming that First Amendment rights were violated when the school
district <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/3971/school-district-sued-over-axing-of-student-newspaper-after-lgbtq-issue" target="_blank">shuttered a campus newspaper</a> after an LGBTQ edition was published.<br />■ School district officials in Indiana did not violate a former teacher’s rights when it urged his resignation over the refusal to use transgender students’ <a href="https://www.wane.com/top-stories/court-backs-indiana-teacher-firing-over-transgender-students-names/">preferred pronouns</a>, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.</div><div><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Moscow detained a <i>Wall Street Journal</i>
reporter on espionage charges, the first such accusations since the Cold War, as
<a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/3987/jailed-u-s-reporter-s-defense-appeals-his-arrest-in-russia" target="_blank">appeals to release him </a>continue.</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Meme vs. them. </b>After
posting what the Connecticut Department of Correction considered to be an
anti-Muslim meme, a fired prison guard has been reinstated as an arbitrator
ruled the termination was an <a href="https://apnews.com/article/prison-guard-muslim-meme-marlak-connecticut-2183003f0b297f48c368db9766044682" target="_blank">excessive response</a>.</span><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/3993/prison-guard-gets-job-back-after-being-fired-for-anti-muslim-meme"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>U.S. senators have continued to push for legislation that would help news organizations get <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/3992/senators-try-again-with-legislation-to-support-local-journalism" target="_blank">compensated for content</a> on social media sites.<a href="https://www.wane.com/top-stories/court-backs-indiana-teacher-firing-over-transgender-students-names/"><br /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Tennessee’s <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2023/04/03/judge-temporarily-blocks-tennessee-drag-law" target="_blank">drag-show law</a> was blocked by
a federal judge only hours before it was set to take effect. <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/3982/federal-judge-temporarily-blocks-tennessee-s-anti-drag-law"><br /></a><o:p> <br /></o:p><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Book smarts. </b>As book bans
continue across the country, U.S. teachers and librarians are utilizing new methods for <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/7/how-teachers-and-librarians-are-subverting-book-bans-in-the-us" target="_blank">distributing works to young readers</a> who want them.</span><br /><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>A federal judge in Texas ruled that some books removed from public libraries must be put <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/01/us/texas-book-ban-removed-library-replaced-judge/index.html" target="_blank">back on the shelves</a>.<br /><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>Another bill seeking to ban library
materials deemed <a href="https://www.therepublic.com/2023/04/06/bill-banning-materials-harmful-to-minors-in-school-and-public-libraries-draws-sharp-debate-at-statehouse/" target="_blank">“harmful to minors”</a> created sharp debates in the Indiana
Statehouse.<br /><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">■ </span>The 45 words of the First Amendment were “liturgy” to the late Tennessee judge <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/3975/biography-of-an-intellectual-jurist-gilbert-s-merritt" target="_blank">Gilbert S. Merritt,</a> according to a new biography.</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><br /></div>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p><a href="https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/Ut0Mrg?vid=y5mhy" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="1250" height="534" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oN5DgAge2d4/YOSE7cZRRiI/AAAAAAAA7C0/zaMkW33ZGp8U3PVFPqJF9WWV_PovzJ1ZwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h534/FSC.no%2Blink%2B300_250%2Bad1.jpg" style="background-color: white; border: none; color: midnightblue; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;" width="640" /></a></p>Vincent Troiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11789062704853795304noreply@blogger.com