The Occupy Wall Street movement is often seen as a left-wing counterpart to the Tea Party movement. Until recently, however, OWS has differed from the Tea Party in so far as it paid little attention to constitutional issues. By contrast, constitutional issues are a central focus of the Tea Party, which claims that the courts […]
Archive | Freedom of Speech
Electronic Frontier Foundation Submits Proposed Amicus Brief in Obsidian Finance Group, LLC v. Cox
I’m pleased to say that the Electronic Frontier Foundation has asked the court for leave to file this amicus brief [UPDATE: link fixed] in our Obsidian Finance Group, LLC v. Cox case. To see links to the district court opinion in that case, and to our motion for new trial in that case, please go […]
Ban on “Economic Reprisals” Based on the Target’s “Political Activity”
Minn. Stats. Ann. § 10A.36 makes it a gross misdemeanor for “[a]n individual or association” to “engage in economic reprisals or threaten loss of employment or physical coercion against an individual or association because of that individual’s or association’s political contributions or political activity.” There is an exception for “compensation for employment or loss of […]
No Signs Providing Visual Access to Carnal Language, Including Phonetic Spellings
New Orleans Code of Ordinance § 54-256.1 prohibits “[s]igns containing language with vulgar content, explicit sexual descriptions, offensive written descriptions directed to a gender, class, racial or religious category or any combination of words including phonetic spellings or a foreign language equivalent which can be interpreted or defined as sexually suggestive, containing lewd connotations, or […]
Motion for New Trial in Obsidian Finance Group, LLC v. Cox
Our local counsel Benjamin Souede (Angeli Law Group LLC) and I have just filed a motion for new trial in Obsidian Finance Group, LLC v. Cox. As you may recall, the Nov. 30 opinion in that case concluded, among other things, that only members of the institutional media are entitled to certain First Amendment libel […]
“Does the First Amendment Protect Your Right to Speak for a Living?”
An interesting National Law Journal op-ed from Clark Neily and Paul Sherman of the Institute for Justice, about a case of theirs, Locke v. Shore: [T]he U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit boldly declared last March that the regulation of “professionals’ … direct, personalized speech with clients” received no First Amendment scrutiny whatsoever. […]
The Framers and the Difference Between Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press
A common argument against the claim that “the freedom of the press” protects all who use mass communications technology — and thus in favor of the claim that “the freedom of the press” specially protects the institutional media — is that otherwise the “freedom of the press” would be redundant of the “freedom of speech.” […]
The Original and Traditional Meaning of “Freedom … of the Press”
By Eugene Volokh on January 2, 2012 3:29 pm in Defamation, Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Gather Information, Restrictions on Campaign Contrbs. and Expenses
My article, Freedom for the Press as an Industry, or for the Press as a Technology? From the Framing to Today, 160 U. Penn. L. Rev. 459 (2011), available in its full PDF form here, has just been published; here is the Introduction: “[T]he freedom … of the press” specially protects the press as an […]
Montana Supreme Court vs. the United States Supreme Court
By Eugene Volokh on December 30, 2011 8:17 pm in Freedom of Speech, Restrictions on Campaign Contrbs. and Expenses
In today’s Western Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. Attorney General, the Montana Supreme Court upheld a ban on corporate expenditures to speak in support of or opposition to political candidates — pretty much the same sort of ban that the United States Supreme Court struck down in Citizens United v. FEC. The majority argues that Citizens […]
“It Ain’t Pretty and We Should Not Pretend That It Is”
By Eugene Volokh on December 30, 2011 12:46 pm in Freedom of Speech, Judicial Conduct, Knowingly False Statements of Fact
The broader context, from the dissent in In re Michels (N.Y. Comm. on Jud. Conduct Nov. 17, 2011): As a Commission, our duty is to respect both the First Amendment and the quandary this system imposes upon judicial candidates. It ain’t pretty and we should not pretend that it is. Therefore, we should give every […]
New Pro Bono Case on Whether First Amendment Libel Rules Are Limited to Institutional Media Defendants
I’m pleased to report that our local counsel, Benjamin Souede of Angeli Law Group LLC, and I will be representing the defendant blogger in Obsidian Finance Group, LLC v. Cox (D. Or.); we will be filing a motion for new trial, and an appeal to the Ninth Circuit if the motion is denied. Gertz v. […]
Lower House of French Parliament Passes Bill to Criminalize Statements That the 1915 Turkish Killings of Armenians Weren’t Genocide
[UPDATE: I originally misread the story and thought the law had been enacted; but, as a commenter pointed out, the bill just passed the National Assembly, and still requires consent by the Senate — I’ve revised the post accordingly.] According to the AP, French lawmakers easily passed a measure Thursday to make it a crime […]
The First Amendment and International Agreements
An interesting opinion in In re Request from the United Kingdom Pursuant to the Treaty Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the United Kingdom on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters in the Matter of Dolours Price (D. Mass. Dec. 16), involving a subpoena by the UK government pursuant […]
First Amendment Standing, and Government Pressure on Newspaper Not to Publish Letters to the Editor
Novotny v. Tripp County (8th Cir. Dec. 19, 2011) says the following: [Viewing] “the evidence and the inferences that may reasonably be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party[,]” … Novotny had a “long history of hostility” with his Uncle Virgil Novotny (Virgil) and with Roger Turnquist, Virgil’s neighbor and political […]
State Senator “Said He Would … Consider Legislative Action If Lowe’s Doesn’t Apologize to Muslims and Reinstate Its Ads [on ‘All American Muslim’]”
So reports the Detroit News. “[H]ome improvement giant Lowe’s” apparently decided “to yank its ads from the ‘All American Muslim’ reality TV show after complaints from a conservative Christian group.” This is leading to public criticism, but also to the legislator’s threat. [UPDATE: The senator’s spokesman now states, according to the Greeley Gazette, “that any […]