Archive | Freedom of Speech

From Hoye v. City of Oakland, handed down today: Within [100-foot zones around entrances to reproductive health clinics,] the [Oakland] Ordinance makes it an offense knowingly and willfully to approach within eight feet of an individual seeking entry to the clinic if one’s purpose in approaching that person is to engage in conversation, protest, counseling, […]

No, really. South Carolina bans obscene or indecent bumper stickers and similar “device[s]”, providing that a person may be fined for “operat[ing] a motor vehicle in this State which has affixed or attached to any part of the motor vehicle which is visible to members of the public not occupying the vehicle any sticker, decal, […]

The case is People v. Louis, a New York trial court case decided Wednesday. This seems consistent with United States v. Popa (D.C. Cir. 1999), discussed in this post, and also (though the analogy is less direct, given the difference in the statutes involved) with the Nebraska Supreme Court People v. Drahota decision). The defendant […]

So an Ohio trial court judge held last Friday in State v. Stephens. There had been an earlier case on the subject in Ohio, State v. Gilchrist (Ohio Ct. App. 2003), and the Gilchrist trial judge found that applying the law to the defendant did violate the First Amendment, a decision that the state apparently […]

I’ve heard many people argue that “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press” means that all speech restrictions — or at least all federal speech restrictions — are unconstitutional, period. Which part of “make no law” don’t you understand?, some people colorfully argue. Well, I understand “make […]

Marty Lederman (Balkinization) blogs about an indictment that raises very important First Amendment issues. Count 1 charges defendant with urging terrorist activity — that’s the solicitation vs. advocacy question. Count 2 charges defendant with linking to bombmaking instructions, with the intent that they be used for criminal purposes (an issue I discuss, among others, in […]

In State v. Epling (Utah. Ct. App. July 21, 2011), defendant pleaded no contest to three charges of sexually abusing his stepson, and was sentenced to three consecutive 1-to-15-year prison terms. Here’s one passage that struck me as particularly interesting: Epling also objects to the trial court’s expressed concern about his involvement with “pornography.” According […]

The case is this morning’s United States v. Bagdasarian (decided by a 2-to-1 vote). On October 22, 2008, when Barack Obama’s election was looking more and more likely, Bagdasarian, under the username “californiaradial,” joined a “Yahoo! Finance — American International Group” message board, on which members of the public posted messages concerning financial matters, AIG, […]