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Constitutional Law

First Amendment Center

News related to the first amendment of the US Constitution and freedom of speech issues.
By First Amendment Center

Post Frequency: 38.7/day

Last Entry: March 29, 2011 at 21:00:00

2nd Circuit rejects whistleblowing custodian's appeal

Posted on February 13, 2011
Comment? E-mail me A former custodian who warned school officials about possible asbestos in a gymnasium lost his appeal before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In 2003, while working as head custodian at Somers Central High School in Lincolndale, N...

Jury returns $5M libel verdict against Va. newspaper

Posted on February 13, 2011
CHESAPEAKE, Va. ? A former high school athlete has won a $5 million libel verdict against The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk. A Circuit Court jury found on Feb. 11 that Kevin Webb was libeled by a December 2009 article that said he bullied a schoolmate at Great Bridge High School...

La. judge: State can probe church's finances

Posted on February 13, 2011
ST. FRANCISVILLE, La. — A state district judge rejected arguments Feb. 10 on behalf of a West Feliciana Parish police juror asserting that the state lacks authority to investigate a tax-exempt church?s finances. Attorneys for Juror John Cobb, 52, asked 20th Judicial District Judge William G...

Ex-NCAA players take on video games for using likenesses

Posted on February 13, 2011
SAN FRANCISCO — There was a time when Sam Keller and his teammates couldn't wait to get their hands on Electronic Arts Inc.'s latest edition of NCAA Football, which included their team and images down to Keller's distinctive visor he wore while playing quarterback for the University of Nebraska in 2007...

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Fla. judge allows Casey Anthony's Web postings at trial

Posted on February 12, 2011
ORLANDO, Fla. ? Lawyers prosecuting a Florida mother charged with killing her 2-year old daughter will be able to present to the jury information about her MySpace postings and her tattoo. Circuit Judge Belvin Perry in Orlando ruled on Feb. 10 that prosecutors can tell jurors about Casey Anthony's tattoo and as well as her postings on the social networking site during her trial set to begin in May...

Kan. neighbors' feud sparks free-speech debate

Posted on February 11, 2011
WICHITA, Kan. ? A bitter and surreal feud among families at one corner of Wichita?s east-side College Hill neighborhood has raised questions about blight, tolerance, common courtesy and freedom of speech. The years-long battle drew attention from neighbors and passing motorists in October, when David Grebenik posted six hand-written signs on the east side of his house at Second and Bluff...

Proposal to honor KKK leader on Miss. license plate causes stir

Posted on February 10, 2011
JACKSON, Miss. ? A fight is brewing in Mississippi over a proposal to issue specialty license plates honoring Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan. The Mississippi Division of Sons of Confederate Veterans wants to sponsor a series of state-issued license plates to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, which it calls the "War Between the States...

Ga. court hears arguments in Olympic bombing libel case

Posted on February 10, 2011
ATLANTA — The Georgia Court of Appeals has heard arguments in a lawsuit by the estate of Richard Jewell over newspaper coverage of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing. The estate is continuing to press the late security guard's claims against The Atlanta Journal-Constitution...

Teen's 'bitch' yell in theater ruled disorderly conduct

Posted on February 10, 2011
Comment? E-mail me A juvenile was guilty of disorderly conduct when she yelled "bitch" at a theater in Wyandotte County, Kan., a state appeals court has ruled. The juvenile, known in court papers as ?H.A.-G.,? had argued that she did not commit disorderly conduct because her profane word did not constitute ?fighting words? ? words that are likely to incite an immediate breach of the peace...

1st Circuit: Witnesses can proselytize behind Puerto Rico's gates

Posted on February 09, 2011
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico ? A federal appeals court in the United States has ordered gated communities across Puerto Rico to grant access to Jehovah's Witnesses so they can engage in their First Amendment right to proselytize. The ruling comes nearly seven years after two religious corporations filed a lawsuit against the government of the U...

Judge dismisses challenge to Air Force Academy prayer luncheon

Posted on February 09, 2011
DENVER ? A prayer luncheon will go on at the Air Force Academy after a judge rejected a lawsuit brought by a watchdog group. An academy chaplain said he would make it clear that today?s event is sponsored by the chapel and not the academy ? one of the objectives of the lawsuit...

N.J. high court weighing limits of journalist-shield law

Posted on February 08, 2011
TRENTON, N.J. ? Shellee Hale readily admits she operates outside the boundaries of traditional news media, but says that shouldn't disqualify her from being covered by a New Jersey law that protects reporters from having to identify confidential sources...

Federal judge tosses atheist's challenge of funding for Ill. cross

Posted on February 08, 2011
ST. LOUIS — A federal judge on yesterday tossed a Chicago-area atheist?s lawsuit that sought to force the return of a state grant that helped pay for restoration of an 11-story cross that is considered a landmark in southern Illinois. The ruling by U...

House rejects extension of controversial Patriot Act provisions

Posted on February 08, 2011
WASHINGTON ? The House yesterday failed to extend the life of three surveillance tools that are key to the nation's post-Sept. 11 anti-terror law, a slipup for the new Republican leadership that miscalculated the level of opposition. The House voted 277-148 to keep the three provisions of the USA Patriot Act on the books until Dec...

Pittsburgh, abortion protester settle lawsuit over clinic access

Posted on February 08, 2011
PITTSBURGH — The city of Pittsburgh has settled a lawsuit filed by an abortion protester who claimed a 2005 city ordinance illegally restricted leafleting and free speech by protesters. Protester Mary K. Brown sued claiming the city?s combination of a ?buffer zone,? which kept protesters at least 15 feet from clinic entrances, and a ?bubble zone,? which kept protesters at least 8 feet from abortion clients, was illegal...

No Facebook for inmates under S.C. bill

Posted on February 08, 2011
Comment? E-mail me Inmates could not join Facebook or other social-networking sites, nor could their friends create memberships for them, if a new measure in the South Carolina Legislature becomes law. South Carolina Democratic Rep. Wendell G. Gilliard and others introduced House Bill 3527 on Feb...

Company settles dispute with worker who criticized boss on Facebook

Posted on February 07, 2011
WASHINGTON ? Employers should think twice before trying to restrict workers from talking about their jobs on Facebook or other social media. That's the message the government sent yesterday as it announced a settlement in a closely watched case against a Connecticut ambulance company that fired an employee after she went on Facebook to criticize her boss...

Artwork with Confederate flag removed from Ga. exhibit

Posted on February 07, 2011
OAKWOOD, Ga. ? A college president says she ordered an instructor's painting removed from a faculty art exhibit amid controversy about the piece, which features a Confederate flag. The flag is superimposed on images that include a hanged black man and a hooded Ku Klux Klansman, the Athens Banner-Herald reported...

Judge says he's close to allowing TV coverage of Jackson trial

Posted on February 07, 2011
LOS ANGELES — A judge says he will approve TV coverage of the involuntary manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's doctor if the camera is unobtrusive. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor also said yesterday that he was moving up jury selection to March 24 because the original date of March 28 was too close to the absolute statutory limit for a speedy trial...

Ky. governor OKs posting of God phrases in Capitol walkway

Posted on February 07, 2011
FRANKFORT, Ky. — A legislative chaplain received permission Feb. 4 to post excerpts from historical documents that reference God in a Capitol walkway, settling a dispute that had raised the ire of lawmakers and ministers. The governor?s office intervened in the dispute that made its way onto the Senate floor when a lawmaker questioned why the Rev...

Calif. juror ordered to turn over Facebook posts

Posted on February 06, 2011
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California judge has ordered a juror to turn over Facebook messages he posted during the trial of several alleged gang members. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny said on Feb. 4 that Arturo Ramirez could face jail time if he doesn't give Facebook permission to disclose the postings within 10 days...

Muslim students face conspiracy charges over protest

Posted on February 06, 2011
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A group of Muslim students accused of disrupting a speech by Israeli ambassador Michael Oren at the University of California, Irvine, were charged Feb. 4 with misdemeanor conspiracy counts, ending speculation about what would come from their actions nearly a year ago...

Utah bill would declare marriage ordained by God

Posted on February 05, 2011
SALT LAKE CITY ? A bill introduced in the Utah Legislature would define marriage in state law as existing between one man and one woman and supported by God. The proposal reinforces the values of Utah residents but has no effect on current policies, said Rep...

Nearly 37,000 L.A. city salaries posted online

Posted on February 04, 2011
LOS ANGELES ? Salary information for nearly 37,000 Los Angeles city employees has been posted online in a move designed to make local government more transparent. City Controller Wendy Greuel said on Feb. 4 that the salaries in the database reflect pay cuts, furloughs and other cutbacks, as well as increased pay due to benefits like overtime, bonuses, uniform and car allowances...

Calif. parents sue school district over charter effort

Posted on February 03, 2011
COMPTON, Calif. ? Six parents and their children sued the Compton Unified School District yesterday, alleging officials are trying to thwart their push to convert a failing elementary school to a charter school. The parents immediately won a temporary injunction from Superior Court Judge Robert O'Brien, who blocked the district from using a complex process to verify signatures on a petition for the charter school...

U.S. officials condemn attacks on journalists in Egypt

Posted on February 03, 2011
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has issued a sharp criticism of attacks on journalists, peaceful demonstrators, human rights activists and diplomats in Egypt. Clinton said the attacks violated international norms on freedom of the press and that journalists must be allowed to report on the demonstrations...

6th Circuit: Ohio judge can't display Ten Commandments

Posted on February 02, 2011
CINCINNATI ? An Ohio judge violated the U.S. Constitution by displaying a poster featuring the Ten Commandments in his courtroom, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday. A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal district court's ruling that Richland County Common Pleas Judge James DeWeese violated the First Amendment?s separation of church and state by displaying the poster...

L.A. boy can use religious song at school talent show

Posted on February 02, 2011
LOS ANGELES — A fifth-grader will be allowed to perform to a Christian-themed song at his school talent show after a lawsuit accused the Los Angeles Unified School District of violating his free-speech rights, it was announced yesterday. The nation?s second-largest school district, the PTA and the student?s lawyers reached an agreement permitting the 10-year-old to appear in tomorrow night?s talent show at Superior Street Elementary School, Superintendent Ramon Cortines said in a statement...

Pa. faith-healers sentenced in death of son

Posted on February 02, 2011
PHILADELPHIA — A fundamentalist Christian couple who relied on prayer to cure their dying toddler must take their remaining children for medical check-ups as part of their sentence in the boy?s death, a judge ruled yesterday. Herbert and Catherine Schaible, who belong to First Century Gospel Church in Philadelphia, were previously convicted of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in the pneumonia death of their 2-year-old son Kent...

Mass. judges agree to bar courtroom photos of suspects

Posted on February 02, 2011
BOSTON &151; For years, suspects in criminal cases in Massachusetts have shielded themselves from courtroom cameras by pulling hoods over their heads or positioning themselves in courthouse nooks where they can't be seen. But lately, defense lawyers have been taking it a step further...

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