From Mehdi v. Comm’n on Human Rights & Opportunities (Conn. Ct. App. official release date Aug. 13, 2013): [T]he plaintiff filed a discrimination complaint against Thomas Curly/Associated Press, alleging that he had been denied services based, in part, on his religious beliefs in violation of [the Connecticut ban on discrimination in places of public accommodation]. […]
Archive | Freedom of Speech
Down the Memory Hole?
From Martin v. Hearst Corp. (D. Conn. Aug. 5, 2013): Plaintiff Lorraine Martin was arrested in 2010. At the time, local media outlets ran articles on news websites and in print accurately reporting that she was arrested [for possession of narcotics, drug paraphernalia, and marijuana -EV]. She now sues the owners of those media outlets, […]
Should We Boycott the Sochi Olympics?
Gay rights advocates such as actor Harvey Fierstein are calling for a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, over Russia’s highly repressive new law banning “homosexual propaganda,” any speech that equates the social status same-sex relationships with heterosexual ones. Others argue that the West should not boycott the Olympics, but should instead […]
Ban on Internet Cafes Struck Down
From iBiz, LLC v. City of Hayward (N.D. Cal. July 18, 2013): Like the provision of newspaper racks in a city, the provision of access to the Internet and computers is conduct that might not carry a message itself but is nevertheless closely related to expression. The Supreme Court has affirmed that the Internet is […]
Will NYT’s James Risen go to Jail?
Last Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the fourth Circuit rejected New York Times reporter James Risen’s claim of reporter’s privilege in United States v. Sterling. The underlying case is a federal prosecution of a former CIA official for allegedly disclosing classified information in violation of the Espionage Act. The federal government believes Sterling […]
Chalking and the First Amendment
May state or local governments bar people from writing messages in chalk on public sidewalks, on the theory that this is a form of graffiti (albeit fairly easily washable). Is such a ban constitutional? 1. Mahoney v. Doe (D.C. Cir. 2011) said yes, if the prohibition is content-neutral. The court used logic that might be […]
When May the Government Require Groups to Endorse Certain Views in Order to Get Government Benefits?
That’s the question the Court considered in today’s Agency for Int’l Development v. Alliance for Open Society Int’l, Inc.; and the Court held that government’s power in this area is distinctly limited. Here’s the opening of Chief Justice Roberts’ opinion for six Justices (Justice Scalia, joined by Justice Thomas, dissented, and Justice Kagan was recused): […]
Return of the People’s Rights Amendment
By Ilya Somin on June 20, 2013 3:41 am in Constitutional Amendments, Constitutional Theory, First Amendment, Freedom of Speech, Restrictions on Campaign Contrbs. and Expenses
The Tester-Murphy Amendment, which Eugene Volokh criticizes here. appears to be virtually identical to last year’s People’s Rights Amendment. I outlined some of the dangers posed by the PRA in this post.
Sens. Tester & Murphy’s Constitutional Amendment Would Strip Rights from Corporate-Owned Newspapers, Advocacy Groups, Etc.
By Eugene Volokh on June 19, 2013 1:41 pm in Freedom of Speech, Restrictions on Campaign Contrbs. and Expenses
The Lachlan Markay (Washington Free Beacon) reports on the Tester/Murphy amendment, which would provide: Section 1. We the people who ordain and establish this Constitution intend the rights protected by this constitution to be the rights of natural persons. Section 2. The words people, person, or citizen as used in this Constitution do not include […]
“Harassment” Prosecution Based on Insulting Language Written by Driver on Traffic Ticket Payment Form
From People v. Barbosa (N.Y. Justice Ct. Mar. 22, 2013): Defendant is charged with Aggravated Harassment pursuant to Penal Law §240.30(1)(a) which allegedly occurred August 20,2012. It is alleged that Mr. [Barboza] signed a traffic payment correspondence with the words “FUCK YOUR SHITTY TOWN BITCHES” written across the top. The aforesaid section of law is […]
Colorado Law Limiting Sale of “Magazines Whose Primary Focus Is Marijuana” Blocked
From Trans-High Corp. v. Colorado (D. Colo. June 10, 2013), a judgment entered with the consent of the Colorado Attorney General’s office (which agreed that the law was indeed unconstitutional): 2. The Code Provision “requiring that magazines whose primary focus is marijuana or marijuana businesses are only sold in retail marijuana stores or behind the […]
Russian Parliament Passes Bill Banning “Propaganda of Non-Traditional Sexual Relationships Aimed at Minors”
Russia Beyond the Headlines has the details; the Russian-language text of the bill is here. The bill covers “the dissemination of information, aimed at forming among minors [1] nontraditional sexual orientations, [2] an attraction to nontraditional sexual relationships, [3] a distorted perception about the social equal value of traditional and nontraditional sexual relationships, or [4] […]
Crime to “Make Any Disloyal or Insulting Remark to or About the Troops”
Fla. Stats. § 250.51: When troops of the Florida National Guard are at drill in their respective armories, on the streets, public roads, or other places, where such drills are conducted or when they are performing other duties required of them by the state or the United States, [it is a misdemeanor for a person […]
Prof. Stuart Benjamin on Algorithms and Speech
Our own Stuart Benjamin (Duke) has a very interesting new article out in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Algorithms and Speech. Here’s the Introduction: More and more of our activity involves not merely the transmission of bits, but the transmission of bits according to algorithms and protocols created by humans and implemented by machines. […]
Liberals, Free Speech, and Demonstrations Outside Abortion Clinics
I blogged last week about the danger of assuming that liberals would be hostile to First Amendment protection for anti-abortion speech. I wanted to add an extra data point, related to McCullen v. Coakley, an abortion clinic demonstration case pending before the Court. The petition in McCullen seeks review of a First Circuit decision (McCullen), […]