You may despise their message, but the First Amendment continues to trump people’s wishes to be free of hateful speech near a funeral. Joe Harris reports: A federal judge has ruled that a Missouri law restricting protests at or near military funerals is unconstitutional. The state enacted the law in 2006 in response to protests…
Tag: First Amendment
Comment decision in NH high court’s hands
Ashley Smith reports: The New Hampshire Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a free-speech case that calls into question whether media outlets can protect the identities of anonymous online commenters. The case also has potentially broad implications in determining who constitutes the media in an Internet age that has blurred the line between traditional news…
EPIC urges court to protect speech of privacy advocate
From EPIC.org: EPIC filed a “friend of the court” brief with the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, urging the court to hold that the First Amendment protects the speech of Betty Ostergren, a privacy advocate. Ostergren runs a Website that republishes Social Security Numbers, collected from public records, to persuade Virginia lawmakers to stop releasing documents…
From skanks to douchebags: student internet speech suit back in court
Jim Moore reports: Avery Doninger will soon return to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals with the right of students across the country to speak their minds in blogs and text messages at stake. Once a 16-year-old high school junior who referred to school administrators as “douchebags” in an online blog post protesting the…