I’ve blogged before about Moore v. Hoff, a Minnesota case in which a jury ordered a blogger (John Hoff, who blogs as Johnny Northside) to pay $60,000 to a university official because the blogger blogged the truth about the official, intending to get him fired. Today, the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the verdict, in […]
Archive | Freedom of Speech
Moscow City Court Upholds Ban on Gay Pride Parades
According to Interfax: The Moscow City Court has again upheld a ban on gay pride parades in Moscow for the next 100 years…. According to earlier reports, the organizers of the Moscow gay pride parade on August 23 submitted to the Moscow government and the Moscow Main Interior Affairs Department notices of their intention to […]
New Mexico Supreme Court Will Hear the Elane Photography Case
I’m pleased to say that the New Mexico Supreme Court will hear the Willock v. Elane Photography case, which I’ve blogged about extensively. The court will now decide whether (1) holding a wedding photographer liable for refusing to photograph a same-sex commitment ceremony violates New Mexico’s statutory ban on sexual orientation discrimination, and (2) even […]
Two-Year Sentences for Punk Rockers’ Unauthorized Anti-Putin Performance in Russian Cathedral
The Washington Post reports: Russian authorities sentenced three feminist punk rockers to two years in prison Friday [on charges of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred] …. [T]he women [had] dashed into Moscow’s main cathedral to sing a song directed against Vladimir Putin ….. The video includes a brief clip of the performance. Press accounts suggest […]
$60,000 Damages for Blogging the Truth About Someone, Intending to Get the Person Fired
Last year, I blogged about Moore v. Hoff, a Minnesota case in which a jury ordered a blogger to pay $60,000 to a university official because the blogger blogged the truth about the official, intending to get him fired. I am told that Monday morning, the Minnesota Court of Appeals will hand down a decision […]
Obliviate!
I’ve blogged before about people trying to force others to stop talking about the people’s past arrests or convictions; but Jason Lee Neiman wants to force others to stop talking about his past lawsuits. From Neiman v. Versuslaw, Inc. (C.D. Ill. Aug. 3, 2012): Plaintiff is an insurance claims industry professional with over 20 years […]
“Civil Rights Agenda” Files Antidiscrimination Complaint Against Chick-fil-A Based on Chick-fil-A’s Speech
By Eugene Volokh on August 10, 2012 4:54 pm in Freedom of Speech, Hostile Environment Harassment Law, Religion and the Law
The complaint, filed with the Illinois Department of Human Rights, alleges that Chick-fil-A discriminated against gays in public accommodations. Now none of the allegations suggest that Chick-fil-A employees refused to serve gays, or treated gay customers differently from straight ones. Rather, the argument is that “the company’s widely published corporate philosophy, culture and policies make […]
Tennessee County Seeks to Identify Authors of About Ten Thousand Comments
So reports Paul Alan Levy (Public Citizen Consumer Law & Policy Blog), with links to various documents, including the letter objecting to the subpoena, which in turn includes the subpoena as Exhibit A: Shelby County, a government body in the southwestern corner of Tennessee that contains the city of Memphis, has subpoenaed Memphis’ daily newspaper, […]
“Zombie Mohammed” Judge (Mark Martin) Formally Rebuked for His Behavior in the Case
The rebuke came from the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board; the letter does not give more details, but I take it that the Board concluded that the judge’s actions in the Zombie Mohammed controversy were improper.
Is It Libel to Say Someone Was Arrested When the Arrest Record Has Been Erased?
As I noted last year, the New Jersey Supreme Court rejected a similar claim as to convictions (paragraph break added): G.D. [argues] that the record of his conviction [for possession with intent to distribute cocaine] was expunged [some years later] and, therefore, his conviction — as a matter of law — is deemed not to […]
Chicago Alderman: I Will Deny Business Permit Because “There Are Consequences for [Its Owner’s] Statements and Beliefs,” and They Should Include Denial
Alderman Proco “Joe” Moreno’s doubles down on a First Amendment violation: Home Depot in the 2500 block of North Elston Avenue wants to sell a piece of its land so that a Chick-fil-A restaurant can open in the 1st Ward, where I am alderman. It would be the fast-food chain’s first “stand-alone” Chicago restaurant. But […]
The ACLU of Illinois on Alderman’s (and, Seemingly, Mayor’s) Plan to Block Chick-Fil-A
From Foxnews.com: “The government can regulate discrimination in employment or against customers, but what the government cannot do is to punish someone for their words,” said Adam Schwartz, senior attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. “When an alderman refuses to allow a business to open because its owner has expressed a viewpoint […]
Boston Mayor Backs Down on Statement that “It Will Be Very Difficult” for Chick-Fil-A to Get Boston Business License
From the Boston Herald: Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino repeated today that he doesn’t want Chick-fil-A in Boston, but he backed away from a threat to actively block the fast-food chain from setting up shop in the city. “I can’t do that. That would be interference to his rights to go there,” Menino said, referring […]
No Building Permits for Opponent of Same-Sex Marriage
The Chicago Tribune reports: [Chicago Alderman] Proco “Joe” Moreno announced this week that he will block Chick-fil-A’s effort to build its second Chicago store … following company President Dan Cathy’s remarks last week that he was “guilty as charged” for supporting the biblical definition of marriage as between a man and woman…. The alderman has […]
Ukrainian Legislators Proposing Ban on “Propaganda of Homosexuality”
The New York Times reports on this in English; here are also some Russian-language sources, Kommersant (Ukraine), URA-Inform (Ukraine), and Regions.ru (Russia). According to the Times, the proposal would define the prohibited propaganda as “positive public depiction of gays in public,” and the other articles seem consistent with that; if anyone can point me to […]