The L.A. Times reported late last week that The Orange County district attorney’s office on Friday charged 11 defendants with conspiring to disrupt a meeting and a speech by the Israeli ambassador to the United States at UC Irvine last year…. In a statement, Orange County Dist. Atty.Tony Rackauckas said the case was filed because […]
Archive | Freedom of Speech
Outlawing “Repeated” Speech That “[C]auses … Emotional Harm” or “[C]reates a Hostile Environment”?
The East Greenwich, Rhode Island town council was apparently considering an “anti-bullying” ordinance that would have outlawed, among other things, “the repeated use” of any “expression” that “[c]auses … emotional harm to the victim” or “[c]reates a hostile environment for the victim.” The exact boundaries weren’t clear, since the draft was partly just given as […]
Court Strikes Down Baltimore Ordinance Requiring Disclaimer for Pregnancy Counseling That Doesn’t Include Abortion or Birth Control Options
Baltimore Code § 3-501 to -503 — just enacted a year ago — provides that any organization that primarily provides pregnancy-related services but not abortion or certain kinds of birth control “must provide its clients and potential clients with a disclaimer substantially to the effect that the center does not provide or make referral for […]
Is It Libel to Say Someone Was Convicted of a Crime When the Conviction Has Been Expunged?
A trial court in New Jersey said it could be, but the New Jersey Supreme Court has said no: During a primary contest for State Senate, opponents of candidate Brian Stack issued campaign flyers criticizing him for previously hiring a person with a criminal conviction, plaintiff G.D. One campaign flyer stated that G.D. was “a […]
Can It Be Illegal for Advocacy Group to “[P]rovid[e] Political Buttons to Be Worn at the Polling Place on Election Day”?
Certain kinds of electioneering materials may be banned at and near polling places on election day; that’s what the Court held in Burson v. Freeman (1992). But does this allow restraints on distributing such material at other times and places, on the theory that recipients will display (or are even intended to display) such material […]
Company Fires Law Firm Because of Firm’s Unfounded Legal Threat on Company’s Behalf
Monday, Cory Doctorow (Boing Boing) reported: Back in July, I posted about the research on the academic advantage some people with autism exhibit. In the comments, someone else used the word “scam” in a message board post. Here’s the quote: “Went to college expecting it to be the place of knowledge, an all encompassing and […]
Felony for Doctors to Ask Patients About Guns?
It would be under a newly proposed Florida bill, which would criminalize (among other things) any “verbal or written inquiry by a public or private physician, nurse, or other medical staff person regarding the ownership of a firearm by a patient or the family of a patient or the presence of a firearm in a […]
[Please Note UPDATE] Thugs Suppress Screening of “Documentary That Critiques Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program”
The National Post (Canada) reports: After receiving threats and two suspicious letters Tuesday, the National Archives of Canada cancelled the screening of a controversial documentary that critiques Iran’s nuclear weapons program, a move that has organizers questioning the national library’s autonomy. The Free Thinking Film Society’s showing of Iranium prompted so many complaints — some […]
Lawyer Seeking Order That “Will Compel … Volokh to Remove His … Blog [Post]”
Check out the Appellant’s Emergency Motion to Seal Portions of Court Filings Referencing Libelous Statements Made by Others in Wolk v. Olson (3d Cir.). To review the bidding, Arthur Wolk sued Overlawyered.com, alleging Overlawyered had libeled him. The case was dismissed on statute of limitations grounds, and Wolk appealled. Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit), Marc Randazza (Legal […]
How Would You Respond to Simon Jenkins?
Free speech can’t exist unchained. US politics needs the tonic of order. If America is to speak in a way that heals, as Obama wishes, it needs the curbs and regulations that make freedom of expression real. Simon Jenkins writes in the Guardian. This is the title. If you wish to comment, please read his […]
Assign Supposedly Blasphemous Paper to Your Students — Get Your Hand Chopped Off
The Press Trust of India reports: The police has filed a chargesheet against 27 accused in the brutal attack on Professor T. J. Joseph, a private college lecturer in Kerala. His right hand had been chopped off allegedly by [Muslim radical] activists of the … Popular Front of India (PFI) on July 4, 2010 … […]
Speech That Is Criminally Punishable vs. Speech That Triggers an Investigation
A reader asks, [If P]alin’s target poster and gun metaphor rhetoric were directed at white house or president, would that constitute a crime? Seems like folks get visits from the FBI for less… The answer to the question is “no,” for reasons I discussed in my earlier post. Nor do I think that the Secret […]
The First Amendment and Speech That Allegedly Threatens Public Officials
Chris Moody (Daily Caller) writes: Texas Democrat Rep. Rubén Hinojosa said Monday that he is open to joining Pennsylvania Democrat Rep. Robert Brady in support of a bill to curb speech that could be perceived as “threatening” to public officials. “The level of discourse is out of control,” Hinojosa said. “Yes, I would certainly sit […]
Prosecution for Telling Police Officers “You Have to Clean Your Damn Dirty Car” Rejected on First Amendment Grounds
This happened in a trial court decision in State v. Elabanjo (N.C. Super. Ct. Jan. 5); the defendant was prosecuted under N.C. Gen. Stat. &sec; 14-197, which makes it a misdemeanor to “on any public road or highway and in the hearing of two or more persons, in a loud and boisterous manner, use indecent […]
District Court Upholds Stolen Valor Act Against First Amendment Challenge
By Eugene Volokh on January 5, 2011 6:18 pm in Freedom of Speech, Knowingly False Statements of Fact
This happened in Monday’s United States v. Robbins (W.D. Va.); the court disagreed with the district court in Strandlof and the Ninth Circuit panel in Alvarez, which held that the statute violates the First Amendment. I think the Act, which criminalizes certain knowingly false claims of having received a military honor, is constitutional, for reasons […]