From the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Determination of No Reasonable Cause in Fair Housing Center of West Michigan v. [Redacted] (paragraph break added): [A]n individual complained to Complainant about a rental advertisement posted on a bulletin board at the [Redacted] Church … stat[ing] (in relevant part): “I am looking for a female christian […]
Archive | Freedom of Speech
Anti-Homosexuality Speech in High School Classes
From the Livingston (Mich.) Daily: Howell Public Schools Superintendent Ron Wilson on Thursday said high school teacher Jay McDowell was disciplined [by being suspended for one day without pay] after it was determined McDowell violated a student’s First Amendment rights and significantly violated a district policy. “The student was speaking out on being offended by […]
Vulcans and Video Games at the Supreme Court
Josh Blackman has posted some fascinating excerpts from the oral argument in Schwarzenegger v. EMA, the violent video games case. I’ll leave the analytical heavy lifting to our resident free speech experts, such as Eugene. My own view (uncharacteristically in line with conventional wisdom) is that the state government should lose this case and probably […]
Virginia’s Worst University Speech Code?
By Ilya Somin on November 2, 2010 4:56 pm in Academia, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
Richmond Times-Dispatch columnist Barton Hinkle has a column surveying speech codes at Virginia public universities {HT: co-blogger Todd Zywicki]. It turns out that George Mason University may have the worst of a bad lot: Free speech is one of those values to which everyone gives lip service. Nearly no one considers himself pro-censorship. Yet as […]
“That Would Be Very Nice”
Quintessential Justice Scalia, from the oral argument in the First Amendment violent video games case: JUSTICE GINSBURG: Is there — you’ve been asked questions about the vagueness of this and the problem for the seller to know what’s good and what’s bad. California — does California have any kind of an advisory opinion, an office […]
A Case That’s Actually About Falsely Shouting Fire (Almost)
All the incomplete quotations of Justice Holmes’ “falsely shouting fire” line make me pleased to see today’s decision in People v. Hanifin (N.Y. Sup. Ct. App. Div.): Defendant parked his car in the middle of Main Street in the Town of Union, Broome County in front of a business that, among other things, manufactures engine […]
North Carolina Department of Revenue’s Demand for Amazon Customer Records Violates the First Amendment
So holds Amazon.com v. Lay (W.D. Wash., decided yesterday): Amazon pursues summary judgment as to its First Amendment claim that the DOR’s request for all information related to Amazon’s sales to North Carolina residents violates the First Amendment. The Court agrees and GRANTS the motion. The First Amendment protects a buyer from having the expressive […]
Preliminary Injunctions in Libel Cases Forbidden, Permanent Injunctions Allowed
So the Kentucky Supreme Court held last week in Hill v. Petrotech Resources Corp., following a modern trend (though one from which some state courts have dissented). The premise is that the ban on “prior restraints” means that speech may not be restricted prior to a decision on the merits that it falls within an […]
Is NPR Bound by the First Amendment in Its Hiring/Firing Decisions?
A bunch of people have asked me whether NPR’s firing of Juan Williams for his statement about Muslims on The O’Reilly Factor violates the First Amendment. The answer is “no.” NPR is not a government actor, and thus not bound by the First Amendment; that it gets some funding from the government does not make […]
Christian in South Asian Country Sentenced to Prison for “Attempting to Promote Civil Unrest” by Screening Pro-Christianity Movies
By Eugene Volokh on October 19, 2010 2:42 pm in Freedom of Speech, Religion and the Law, Religious Freedom
From Kuensel Online (“Bhutan’s daily news site”): Gelephu dungkhag court sentenced last week a 40-year old man to three years in prison for attempting to promote civil unrest. Prem Singh Gurung from Tarithang was arrested on May 21, after villagers in Gonggaon and Simkharkha of Jigmecholing gewog complained that he was screening movies on Christianity […]
First Amendment Rights of Lawful Residents
A newly filed case, Bluman v. FEC, challenges 2 U.S.C. § 441e, which provides: It shall be unlawful for— (1) a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make— (A) a contribution … in connection with a Federal, State, or local election; (B) a contribution or donation to a committee of a political party; or (C) […]
DePaul University Says No to Pro-Marijuana-Legalization Group
By Eugene Volokh on October 18, 2010 7:03 pm in Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities, War on Drugs
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has the details. The university admits that it is excluding the group from generally available student group registration benefits, because the university disapproves of the group’s message: Considerable research indicates the use of cannabis does not contribute to healthy decision-making, particularly in college-age populations. Given the above, the […]
Should Taboos Be Taboo?
MIT psychologist Steven Pinker recently delivered an interesting speech to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education where he argued that we should be extremely skeptical about taboos on the expression of various views [HT: Michael Rappaport]: Today, I think it is the scientific study of the mind that people tend to blend with deep […]
Ban on References to Deities on License Plates = Unconstitutional Viewpoint Discrimination
So holds today’s Second Circuit decision in Byrne v. Rutledge: At issue here is the state ban on any combination [of letters and numbers on a personalized license plate] that “refer[s], in any language, to a … religion” or “deity.” Id. § 304(d)(4). The asserted purpose of the ban is to avoid the “distraction and […]
You Can’t Force People to Say the Pledge of Allegiance
That’s what the Court held 67 years ago even as to schoolchildren, and the rationale of the case would squarely apply to others, such as lawyers. But news travels slowly to one Mississippi courtroom, where Chancery Judge Talmadge Littlejohn sent a lawyer to jail for contempt of court, because the lawyer refused to say the […]