Does someone who wants to be a judge have a First Amendment right to hit people up for campaign money? Thankfully, the U. S. Supreme Court says “no,” in a 5-4 decision filed April 29. The Court’s split decision will hopefully keep the most unseemly aspects of money-raising out of…
A Sacramento man’s display of a swastika on his front lawn has triggered a hate speech debate in California. State Senator Marty Block (D-San Diego) was joined by a group of veterans, community leaders and fellow legislators February 26 in Sacramento urging the homeowner to remove the swastika from his…
The U. S. Supreme Court has taken a step in the right direction for public employee whistleblowers. The Court’s June 19 decision in Lane v. Franks reiterates that citizens don’t surrender First Amendment rights by accepting public employment and that First Amendment protection of a public employee’s speech requires balancing…
Will Congress step in where the U. S. Supreme Court decided not to tread? That’s the question facing the news media and advocates of the so-called Free Flow of Information Act now that the U. S. Supreme Court in early June decided not to hear a case involving New York…
What’s the difference between a blogger and an old-fashioned ink-stained newspaper reporter? Not much, according to a January 17 court ruling from the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Ruling on what it called a “question of first impression” on the First Amendment protections afforded a blogger sued for defamation,…
The Supreme Court’s ruling upholding President Obama’s Affordable Care Act wasn’t the only split decision it handed down on June 28. The Court also made a major First Amendment ruling, striking down the “Stolen Valor Act of 2005,” which makes it a crime to lie about having received the Congressional…
The U. S. Supreme Court will soon hear a case which could do major damage to First Amendment free speech protections. The case, U. S. v. Alvarez, involves the “Stolen Valor Act,” a 2005 law which makes it a crime to lie about having received a military medal of honor.…
California Governor Jerry Brown disappointed privacy advocates with his October 9 veto of a bill which would have required law enforcement officers to have a warrant before searching cell phones incident to an arrest. The bill, Senate Bill 914, sailed through the Legislature with a 32-4 Senate vote and unanimous…
The Occupy movement is raising some thorny First Amendment issues. Protesters have First Amendment rights to demonstrate and march, and they’ve raised important issues about the rising income inequality in this country. On the other hand, governments traditionally have been able to impose so-called “time, place and manner” restrictions, so…
Is Mortal Kombat the highest form of free speech? Maybe not. But it is protected by the First Amendment, according to a majority of the U. S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court’s ruling on June 27 in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association struck down a California law restricting the sale…