San Mateo Clerk Sued Under First Amendment for Withholding Access
News delayed is no longer news, so most California courts allow the press to report on new cases as soon as they are filed. Except for a few holdouts.
Read moreFirst Amendment
Twitter’s Trump Ban Sets Dangerous Precedent for Free Speech, Legal Scholar Warns
A law school dean says giving social media firms the power to permanently ban politicians could have serious ramifications for the future of free speech on the internet.
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Panel Urged to Grant Iowa University Officials Immunity in Religious Freedom Case
The University of Iowa asked an Eighth Circuit panel Wednesday to rule that university officials are not individually liable for violating a Christian student group’s First Amendment rights.
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Bones of Access Discovered in Florida
Court tech has perversely damaged transparency in many courts. But the fossil remnants of pre-tech access were found in one small court in Florida.
Read moreSchool Closures
The Sixth Circuit ruled in favor of nine Christian schools challenging Toledo-Lucas County Health Department’s resolution closing every school in the county for in-person education for grades 7-12. The court granted the schools an injunction, finding that the closure orders violate their rights under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.
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Austin Court Clerk Sued Under First Amendment for Holding Up News Access
A First Amendment complaint filed in Austin’s federal court on the last day of 2020 follows the money extracted from the public record by clerks holding up access until they can make a sale.
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Church Rails Against California Covid Restrictions
The Calvary Chapel Church in San Jose appeared in federal court Thursday afternoon seeking a temporary restraining order preventing the state of California and Santa Clara County from imposing Covid-19 restrictions, including preventing the congregants from gathering to worship.
Read moreSecret Recording
The First Circuit upheld a ruling in favor of two civil rights activists in Boston, finding a state law criminalizing the “secret, nonconsensual audio recording of police officers discharging their official duties in public spaces” violates the First Amendment.
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Ninth Circuit Blocks Covid Capacity Limits on Nevada Churches
Citing a recent precedent set by a Supreme Court reshaped by President Donald Trump, the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday blocked Nevada from enforcing Covid-19 restrictions on churches that are stricter than those imposed on casinos and other businesses.
Read morePanhandling
An anti-panhandling statute that made it a crime for people to solicit donations from drivers violated the First Amendment rights of homeless people, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial court ruled.
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Street Preacher Kicked Out of Festival Takes Free Speech Case to 8th Circuit
The First Amendment rights of an Iowa street preacher were violated when police hustled him away from a Davenport street festival, his lawyer told an Eighth Circuit panel Tuesday.
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Citing First Amendment Rights, Judge Lifts Iowa Ban on Protesters
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Thursday barring the state of Iowa from banning 17 protesters from setting foot on the Iowa Capitol grounds for up to a year following this summer’s protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. The case will proceed in the meantime.
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Fourth Circuit Hears Free Speech Case Centered on Racial Slur
A Fourth Circuit panel heard arguments Thursday over whether a former Air Force officer’s use of a racial slur toward a Black store clerk fell within the “fighting words” exception to free speech protection.
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Virginia State Senator Sues Over Pandemic-Related Closure of Government Office Building
A Virginia state Senator sued the state’s Democratic legislative leadership, clerks, and the state’s Division of Capitol Police Tuesday after the majority announced the closure of an office building to the public during the upcoming 2021 legislative session.
Read moreReligious Speech
In a First Amendment dispute, a federal court in Tennessee ruled against three “preachers” moved by officers from the entrance of a park during an LGBTQ festival. The three, who confronted festival-goers and used an amplification system to spout slurs, were moved from the park to a sidewalk because of their actions, not the content of their message, the court ruled.
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Press Attack on Drone Photo Ban Survives Texas Challenge
Texas photojournalists have cleared a major hurdle in their lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s restrictions on drone photography at prisons, sports arenas and other newsworthy locations and events.
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Judge: ‘Offensive to Good Taste’ Rule for California License Plates Infringes Free Speech
A federal judge found California’s ban on “offensive” personalized license plates unconstitutional Tuesday, ruling it constitutes viewpoint discrimination under the First Amendment.
Read moreBorder Patrol
The Ninth Circuit ruled that Bivens remedies are available to a bed and breakfast owner who claims a border patrol agent violated his First and Fourth Amendment rights by unlawfully using his driveway to question guests, shoving and pushing him after being asked to leave, and asking the IRS to look into his tax status.
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Professor Challenges University Pronoun Policy at Sixth Circuit
An Ohio philosophy professor punished for his refusal to call a transgender student by her preferred pronouns asked a Sixth Circuit panel Thursday to revive his First Amendment lawsuit against the school and its trustees.
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