The case is today’s Neighborhood Enterprises, Inc. v. City of St. Louis, litigated by the Institute for Justice. IJ’s client wanted to put up this sign: The city said no, because the sign was banned under its Comprehensive Sign Control Regulations — but if the sign had been a flag, symbol, or crest of a […]
Archive | Freedom of Speech
“Harassment” Prosecution for Anti-Gay Speech About a Political Candidate?
[UPDATE, July 15, 2011: I’ve just gotten and posted a copy of the criminal complaint, which is consistent with the story quoted below. Note that the complaint does refer to the candidate as the “victim,” which suggests that the objection is to the supposed annoyance to the opposing candidate, not to the recipients of the […]
Brown v. EMA casts doubt on the “weapons effect” justification for gun control
By David Kopel on June 27, 2011 9:38 pm in Child Protection, Constitutional Law, Expert Evidence, First Amendment, Freedom of Speech, Guns, Supreme Court
The State’s evidence is not compelling. California relies primarily on the research of Dr. Craig Anderson and a few other research psychologists whose studies purport toshow a connection between exposure to violent video games and harmful effects on children. These studies have been rejected by every court to consider them,6 and with good reason: They […]
California Violent Video Games Law Struck Down
The opinion, by Justice Scalia, is here. Justices Thomas and Breyer dissented; Justice Alito, joined by Chief Justice Roberts, concurred in the judgment. I’m reading the opinion now, and hope to have more to say about it soon. UPDATE: Here’s a brief summary of the Justices’ views on the matter: Majority (Justice Scalia, joined by […]
Vulgarity and Nudity on Over-the-Air Radio and TV Broadcasting
The Supreme Court has just agreed to hear the latest incarnation of FCC v. Fox Broadcasting (cert petition here), which asks whether the FCC’s current anti-indecency enforcement regime violates the freedom of speech or of the press, and is unconstitutionally vague. Justice Sotomayor is apparently recused. This could be an opportunity for the Court to […]
Electronic Arts Has Right to Refer to John Dillinger in Its Video Games
See these two interesting opinions from last week, Dillinger, LLC v. Electronic Arts, Inc. (S.D. Ind. June 15) and Dillinger, LLC v. Electronic Arts, Inc. (S.D. Ind. June 16), which involved the Dillinger heirs’ lawsuit over EA’s using the name “Dillinger” for some of the weapons in its Godfather games: The court rejected the right […]
Breyer Violates Godwin’s Bernstein’s Law
By David Bernstein on June 23, 2011 4:33 pm in Constitutional Law, Freedom of Speech, Rehabilitating Lochner
Back in April, I wrote, “We need a Godwin’s Law for constitutional litigation: the first side to raise Lochner, especially in a case not involving the Due Process Clause, automatically loses.” Let’s call it “Bernstein’s Law.” If Bernstein’s law was a criminal law, Justice Stephen Breyer would be going to jail for loooong time, given […]
No First Amendment Right to Chalk Sidewalks
Today’s Mahoney v. Doe (D.C. Cir.) upholds a content-neutral ban on defacing government property that has been read to ban chalking of sidewalks. The government has a substantial interest in preventing “visual blight,” including “temporary blight” that can be easily washed away, so long as it uses content-neutral means and leaves open “ample alternative channels” […]
New York’s Highest Court Interpets 47 U.S.C. § 230 Broadly
The case is Shiamili v. The Real Estate Group of New York, Inc., decided today. Defendants, who are apparently real estate brokers, ran a blog. Several people posted pseudonymous comments critical of Shiamili, another real estate broker. Defendants left those comments up, and even reposted one of the comments as a separate post, with a […]
Nevada Commission on Ethics v. Corrigan
Congratulations to our own John Elwood, who briefed, argued, and just won Nevada Commission of Ethics v. Corrigan. The Nevada Supreme Court had held that a statute that required public officials to recuse in certain cases in which they had an interest was an unconstitutional violation of the official’s First Amendment rights. The Supreme Court […]
“M.F. Husain Went Into Self-Imposed Exile After Threats by Hindus Offended by His Work”
The Christian Science Monitor has an obituary of M.F. Husain, said to have been one of India’s leading painters. The story goes into some detail about Husain’s having gotten physical threats and been sued based on his work: The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, a group whose goals include stopping the “denigration of Hindu righteousness,” protested his […]
New Biography of Gandhi Banned in Indian State
I had missed this when it happened in late March; a column in Sunday’s The Hindu has more details: Great Soul, the Mahatma’s new biography by Joseph Lelyveld, happens to be the latest entrant in the Indian hall of ‘shame’ following a whole series of other books, the recent ones including Jaishree Mishra’s Rani, and […]
Mississippi Supreme Court Reprimands Judge Who Sent Lawyer to Jail for Refusing to Say the Pledge of Allegiance
The opinion is here. For more on the case, see here and here.
Prof. Sonja West on the “My Ex-Girlfriend Killed Our Baby” Billboard Case
I asked Prof. Sonja West (University of Georgia) whether she had some thoughts on the case, because she had written two articles that relate to the question: The Story of Me: The Underprotection of Autobiographical Speech and The Story of Us: Resolving the Face-Off between Autobiographical Speech and Information Privacy. She was kind enough to […]
When Facts About Another’s Life Are Also Facts About Your Life
Greg A. Fultz put up a billboard showing himself holding what appears to be empty space, with the words “This Would Have Been A Picture Of My 2-month Old Baby If The Mother Had Decided To Not KILL Our Child!” and some endorsements (apparently later removed) from pro-life groups, including the words “PRO LIFE” and […]