So held the European Court of Human Rights in Altuğ Taner Akçam v. Turkey (Oct. 25, 2011), a case brought by a professor (who teaches at an American university) who had been subject to prosecutions (brought by individuals) under the law based on his work on the Armenian genocide. An excerpt from the court’s reasoning: […]
Archive | Freedom of Speech
Massachusetts Town Briefly Forbids Prayer Vigil on the Town Common
So reports the Jessica Heslam (Boston Herald): [Michael Casey] went to [Upton’s] three selectmen last month with a simple request: to hold a peaceful prayer vigil on the town common. It was supposed to be part of about 7,500 “rosary rallies” held nationwide by America Needs Fatima, a nonprofit Catholic group. The selectmen put their […]
Europe Rediscovering Seditious Libel?
Spiegel Online reports: European Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier is considering a move to ban [bond ratings] agencies from publishing outlook reports on EU countries entangled in a crisis, according to a report in Thursday’s issue of the Financial Times Deutschland newspaper. In an internal draft of a reform to an EU law applying to […]
“Harassment” of SSM Opponents in Washington State
By Dale Carpenter on October 19, 2011 12:45 am in Election Law, First Amendment, Freedom of Speech, Same-Sex Marriage
Yesterday, in Doe v. Reed, Federal District Judge Benjamin Settle rejected an as-applied challenge on First Amendment grounds to a Washington state law requiring the public disclosure of the names of initiative signers. The initiative in question would have blocked the legislatively approved recognition of domestic partnerships. (The initiative made it onto the state ballot but […]
French Court Orders ISPs to Block Access to Site That “Allow[s] Civilians to Post Videos of Alleged Police Misconduct”
Jurist reports: The Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris [official website, in French] on Friday ordered [judgment in PDF, in French] French Internet service providers to block access to Copwatch Nord Paris I-D-F, a website designed to allow civilians to post videos of alleged police misconduct. The decision was applauded by the police union, Alliance […]
Pro-Violence Political Groups’ “Negligent Selection” Liability for Criminal Actions by Members Engaged in Group Activities
Edwards v. Gruver (Ky. Ct. App. Oct. 14, 2011) (2-1 vote) involves an especially vile group — a KKK organization. But the principle potentially extends considerably more broadly, to justify imposing massive liability on a wide range of political groups whose ideologies in some situations encourage violence, and whose members indeed act violently while advocating […]
Anonymous Speech, Subpoenas and Internet User Identities, and Government Investigations
Over the last several years, various courts have held — in cases such as Dendrite Int’l, Inc. v. Doe No. 3 and Doe v. Cahill — that the First Amendment provides substantial, though limited, protection against subpoenas aimed at unmasking anonymous commenters; for more details on that protection, see this EFF analysis. But last week, […]
Elf on the Shelf v. Elf off the Shelf
A new copyright and trademark parody case, CCA and B, LLC v. F + W Media, Inc. (N.D. Ga. Sept. 22, 2011), which finds that defendants’ Elf off the Shelf parody is likely not an infringement of the copyright or trademark in plaintiffs’ Elf on the Shelf. The judge, by the way — Amy Totenberg […]
Subpoena for Library Records
There has been a lot of controversy in the past about whether the government should be free to subpoena library records or bookstore records, or execute search warrants for such records. (See, for instance, this post of Orin’s, this Congressional testimony by Orin, and pp. 30-37 of this article of mine.) I just ran across […]
Private Conversations and the Disclosure of Private Facts Tort
Occasionally, I see assertions that disclosing certain private information about someone — for instance, details of their sex lives, medical history, or financial affairs — would be tortious, even if the disclosure is in a private conversation. (See, for instance, this comment, and this dissent from a Supreme Court opinion.) But generally speaking, the disclosure […]
UC Irvine Students Convicted for Disrupting Speech
By Eugene Volokh on September 23, 2011 4:42 pm in Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
The AP reports: A California jury found 10 Muslim students guilty Friday of disrupting the Israeli ambassador’s university speech about U.S.-Israel relations, a case that stoked a debate about free speech…. They were charged with misdemeanor counts after standing up, one by one, and shouting prepared statements such as “propagating murder is not an expression […]
Florida Restriction on Doctors’ Asking About Guns Likely Violates the First Amendment
So holds Wollschlaeger v. Farmer (S.D. Fla. decided today), I think quite correctly. The Florida statute that was finally passed is much narrower than the version that I condemned in January, but it’s still a speech restriction. And though the constitutional status of professional-client speech is unsettled, I think that on balance a restriction such […]
A Legal Issue Near and Dear to My Born-on-February-29 Heart
From Habibi v. Holder (9th Cir., decided today): On November 3, 1999, petitioner Jawid Habibi …, [a lawful permanent resident], was convicted of Battery of a Current or Former Significant Other, a misdemeanor under California Penal Code § 243(e)(1). Habibi received a 365-day suspended sentence to be served through the year 2000, which was a […]
Any First Amendment Problems With Barring Sex Offenders from Public Libraries?
Prof. Doug Berman (Sentencing Law & Policy) discusses a Tennessee county’s executive order excluding registered sex offenders from public libraries, and asks whether it’s constitutional; I’d like to try to answer that as to the First Amendment. I don’t want to speak here to the recurring Ex Post Facto Clause objections to restrictions on sex […]
Sex, Lies, and Videogames:
Over the summer, I wrote a piece about the Supreme Court’s decision in the “violent videogames” case (Brown vs Entertainment Merchants Assn) for the forthcoming Cato 2011 Supreme Court Review. The Center for Constitutional Studies at Cato is having a kickoff event for the publication this coming Thursday (starting at 1030 AM), and I’ll be […]