Murderer sues publishers for writing a book about the murders, claiming that the book violated his statutory “right of publicity.” To be sure, a state statute does provide, “Any person whose name, portrait, or picture is used within the state or advertising purposes or for the purposes of trade without his or her written consent […]
Archive | Freedom of Speech
Crime to Post Images That Cause “Emotional Distress” “Without Legitimate Purpose”
Friday, a Tennessee law was changed to provide (new material italicized): (a) A person commits an offense who intentionally: (4) Communicates with another person or transmits or displays an image in a manner in which there is a reasonable expectation that the image will be viewed by the victim by [by telephone, in writing or […]
Gay Athletic Group Has First Amendment Right to Limit the Number of Straight Players on a Team
By Eugene Volokh on June 3, 2011 5:36 pm in Freedom of Association, Freedom of Speech, Sexual Orientation
From Apilado v. North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance, 2011 WL 2148816 (W.D. Wash. May 31): This case arises from the disqualification of a softball team from the 2008 Gay Softball World Series (GSWS). The event was operated by Defendant North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA) and attended by Plaintiffs Steven Apilado, LaRon Charles, […]
Court Upholds Baptists’ Right to Proselytize (and Criticize) on Sidewalks at a Religious Festival
So holds Teesdale v. City of Chicago (N.D. Ill. May 26, 2011) (earlier ruling here), in a decision that is much like the one in the Dearborn, Michigan incident, though of course with a different religious group as the target: Plaintiffs … alleged that defendants interfered with their distribution of religious literature and related proselytizing […]
Government Agency Imposes Legal Liability for Referring to a Black Woman (Not the Complainant) as a “Black Lady”
Check out this decision in Commission on Human Rights & Opportunities ex rel. Jennifer Swindell v. Lighthouse Inn, Ct. Comm’n on Hum. Rts. & Opps., Jan. 29, 2009, an administrative decision I just ran across. Jennifer Swindell alleged that she was fired based on race, and harassed based on race, by the defendant. The defendant […]
“If Someone Is Attending Speeches … Promoting the Violent Overthrow of Our Government, … They Should Be Deported or Put in Prison”
That’s what Sen. Rand Paul said on the Sean Hannity Show last week. More context, courtesy of ThinkProgress, which also has an audio excerpt: I’m not for profiling people on the color of their skin, or on their religion, but I would take into account where they’ve been traveling and perhaps, you might have to […]
Prosecution for Insulting the King
The Bangkok Post reports: A Thai-born man with American citizenship [Lerpong Wichaikhammat, also known as Joe Gordon] … [has been] charged with lese majeste in breach of Section 112 of the Criminal Code and is also charged with instigating people to break the law under Section 116 of the Criminal Code. The American was arrested […]
New York Stock Exchange Claims Publishers May Not Reproduce Photos of the Exchange Floor (At Least in Articles Not Directly Related to the Exchange)
That’s what their letter to TPM says: [Your] November 23, 2010 article, “‘Eager Beaver’ FBI Agent’s Attempt To Flip Witness Exposed Feds’ Big Insider Trading Case,’ prominently displays a picture of the NYSE Trading Floor despite the NYSE’s complete lack of relevance to, or association with, the underlying story. Misdirecting your audience in this fashion […]
Arab Christian Group Largely Wins Lawsuit Over Anti-Leafleting Rule at Arab International Festival on Dearborn (Michigan) City Property
The decision is Saieg v. City of Dearborn, just handed down today; for more on the lawsuit, see here, and for the earlier decision granting an injunction pending appeal, see here. The opinion was by Judge Moore, joined by Judge Clay; Judge Daughtrey dissented, for reasons given in the district court opinion. Here’s the key […]
Finding That Defendant Called Mother “Senile Old Bitch” and Stole from Her Doesn’t Justify Domestic Violence Restraining Order
Not that I approve of insulting one’s mother, but the result seems right. (I note the case chiefly because restraining order law is of interest to those who study the right to bear arms, since under federal law the targets of such orders are often barred from possessing guns.) The case is E.M.B. v. R.F.B. […]
May Courthouses Ban Jackets That Contain Vulgarities?
Occasionally I see claims that, under Cohen v. California (1971), the government may not bar people from displaying vulgarities in courthouses. (See, for instance, this comment.) I don’t think that’s a correct reading of Cohen. That case did set aside Cohen’s disturbing-the-peace conviction, which was based on Cohen’s wearing in a courthouse (but not a […]
No Constitutional Right to Dance in the Jefferson Memorial
So holds today’s D.C. Circuit decision in Oberwetter v. Hilliard, concluding that (1) the Jefferson Memorial is a “nonpublic forum” in which reasonable, viewpoint-neutral restrictions are permissible, and that (2) the government could therefore bar from people from engaging, inside the Memorial, in picketing, speechmaking, marching, holding vigils or religious services and all other like […]
Free Speech Limits Justified by International Law
I know of only one case in which some Supreme Court Justices (in dissent) took the view that international law justified certain speech restrictions. And they didn’t just cite some foreign precedents, or statements by international bodies or international law experts, as tangential support in an opinion that focused predominantly on domestic precedents and purely […]
Constitutional to Ban Corporate Contributions to Candidates (as Opposed to Independent Expenditures)
So holds Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, Inc. v. Swanson (8th Cir. decided today). (The decision was unanimous this point, though the panel split 2-1 on another matter.) I think this is the right result, even though I think Citizens United, which upheld corporations’ and unions’ right to engage in independent expenditures, is also right. […]
The Case of the Cheerleader, the Alleged Rapist, and the First Amendment
I’ve heard quite a bit in the last few days about Doe v. Silsbee Indep. School Dist., the case in which a high school cheerleader was allegedly raped by a football and basketball player from the same high school, refused to cheer for him when he was playing, was kicked off the squad, and sued […]