A lawyer for a Satanist argued before the Eighth Circuit on Thursday that Missouri’s law requiring physicians to give women a pro-life booklet and an ultrasound before providing an abortion violates her First Amendment rights.
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An Arkansas newspaper argued before the Eighth Circuit on Wednesday that a state law requiring businesses that contract with the state to pledge not to boycott Israel is unconstitutional.
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An Ohio woman claimed in a federal lawsuit Monday that the state’s anti-stalking and harassment laws have made her afraid that she will be prosecuted for criticizing government officials online.
Read moreA federal judge struck down as unconstitutional a South Dakota law imposing burdensome regulations that would have made it much harder for the average citizen to get an initiative on the ballot.
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The Eighth Circuit ruled Wednesday that a Missouri law barring bars and restaurants from advertising alcohol at discounted rates through specials or coupons violates their right to free speech.
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A national advocate for free speech on college campuses brought a federal lawsuit against Iowa State University administrators, arguing the school’s chalking ban and other policies stifle political speech at a time when presidential politics are an especially hot topic.
Read moreA federal judge refused a school board member/legislative candidate’s request to dismiss a complaint from a school bus driver who was fired after she called the woman’s children bullies in an online post, as bullying is a subject of public interest, and the way a candidate handles it n her own family may have some bearing on the candidate’s character.
Read moreAn appeals court in Minnesota overturned a statute outlawing the dissemination of sexual images of a person without permission, ruling that it is unconstitutionally overbroad and in violation of the First Amendment.
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First Amendment advocates have escalated efforts to force California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra to comply with public records law, filing a petition in state court Thursday demanding his office reveal the identities of law enforcement officers involved in legal settlements.
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A cadre of civil liberties groups have filed an amicus brief in Devin Nunes’ defamation lawsuit against Twitter, claiming the Republican congressman’s attempt to unmask users behind parody accounts could lead to a First Amendment violation.
Read moreA Maryland state law requiring online platforms, including newspaper websites, to publish certain information about the political advertisements they carry violates the First Amendment, the Fourth Circuit ruled. The law requires platforms to identify the purchaser of the ad and the total amount paid for the ad.
Read moreWhat began with a youth football league’s fundraiser gone bad led to the Tennessee Supreme Court deciding on Thursday the fair report privilege – the privilege protecting journalists reporting on what is said during official government proceedings from defamation claims – doesn’t extend to journalists reporting on what officials tell them in one-on-one interviews.
Read moreFrom police raids on journalists’ homes to the effort to block police-misconduct files from being made public, it hasn’t been a great year for the First Amendment in California.
Read moreThe Nevada Supreme Court ruled Thursday that operating as a digital-only news outlet is not grounds for disqualification from the Silver State’s robust shield laws.
Read moreA father sued Cherry Creek High School administrators in federal court for expelling his son for posting on Snapchat, off campus, a photo of him and friends wearing funny hats, with the caption, “Me and the boys bout to exterminate the Jews.”
Read moreThe Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Church sued the City of Lenexa, Kansas in federal court for prohibiting it from using its church as an overnight homeless shelter.
Read moreNorcal Outdoor Media sued the California attorney general in federal court, claiming the state’s Outdoor Advertising Act unconstitutionally limits political ads on billboards within 660 feet of highways to 90 days before elections.
Read moreA federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by a Baltimore lawyer against the Southern Poverty Law Center, finding the civil rights group did not defame him when it exposed his ties to a neo-Nazi group through a “hate map.”
Read moreBound by a strict code of ethics, judges have long been barred from speaking publicly about pending cases, a constraint that could soon change in response to increasing attacks on judicial independence in an age of widespread social media vitriol.
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