Satanic Temple wants to erect ‘good taste’ display next to Ten Commandments

The New York-based Satanic Temple wants to donate a “good taste” monument to be placed next to a Ten Commandments display by Oklahoma’s Statehouse. The Satanic Temple sent a letter to Oklahoma’s Capitol Preservation Commission proposing a display that is “an homage to the historic/literary Satan,” the Associated Press reports.…

Dec 10, 2013 12:15 PM CST

Bar membership remains mandatory, but top Neb. court restricts activities on which dues can be spent

Membership in the Nebraska State Bar Association will remain mandatory. But the state’s top court on Friday limited the manner in which the group can spend members’ dues. In a partial victory for the state senator who brought the case, contending that his money was being spent on political activities,…

Dec 6, 2013 4:50 PM CST

Park district returns donation from atheist blogger

A Chicago-area park district has returned a $3,000 donation from an atheist blogger made after a dispute over a park commissioner’s refusal to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Morton Grove Park District Executive Director Tracey Anderson, in an email to the would-be benefactor, said the park district “has no…

Dec 4, 2013 9:11 PM CST

NBA star’s divorce becomes an unexpected First Amendment contest

Dec 1, 2013 10:30 AM CST

State appeals court upholds parole board ban on use of social media by sex offenders

Saying that convicted sex offenders pose a danger to the public if they are allowed access to the Internet, a New Jersey appellate court on Tuesday upheld a state parole board ban on the their use of social media.such as Facebook and Twitter. Objectors argued that the rule is overly…

Nov 27, 2013 7:20 PM CST

Contraceptive-coverage mandate will be reviewed by Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider the constitutionality of the health care law’s contraceptive mandate in challenges by Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. The court granted cert on Tuesday, report the Washington Post, SCOTUSblog and CNN.com. At issue is whether for-profit companies can be required to…

Nov 26, 2013 5:39 PM CST

Larry Flynt joins with ACLU to fight execution of serial killer who shot and paralyzed him

Hustler publisher Larry Flynt has spent decades in a wheelchair since being shot on March 6, 1978 as he stood on the steps of a Georgia courthouse in which he was facing an obscenity prosecution. His admitted assailant, Joseph Paul Franklin, 63, has been convicted of racially motivated murders in…

Nov 12, 2013 3:00 PM CST

Contraceptive mandate blocked by 7th Circuit

A federal appeals court based in Chicago has blocked the so-called contraceptive mandate that requires companies to provide contraceptive coverage in group health-care plans for employees. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday on behalf of two closely held companies and their Catholic owners, who claimed the mandate…

Nov 11, 2013 4:26 PM CST

‘Up-skirt’ photos aren’t banned by Peeping Tom law, lawyer argues

A lawyer for a Massachusetts man accused of taking “up-skirt” photos on the Boston subway argued on Monday that a Peeping Tom law doesn’t ban her client’s actions. Lawyer Michelle Menkin told the state’s top court that the law only applies to settings where there is an expectation of privacy…

Nov 7, 2013 12:15 PM CST

Man charged for texting explicit photo challenges law as free-speech violation

A Georgia man is claiming a free-speech violation after he was charged with violating a nude-materials law for texting a photo of his tattooed penis without the required warning. Lawyers for Charles Warren III are challenging the 1970s-era law, which bars distribution of materials containing nudity or sexual conduct unless…

Nov 6, 2013 11:45 AM CST

Angry prospective juror says what he thinks on questionnaire, gets 3 days in jail instead

As a convicted felon, Erick E. Haubenstricker could have been excused from jury duty simply by including this fact on a questionnaire. But the 36-year-old Michigan man took a different tack on the document, adding profanity-laced comments that blasted the system. On Monday, despite apologizing, he was sentenced to three…

Nov 4, 2013 7:25 PM CST

Psychics convicted in two separate cases; what is the line between fraud and free speech?

Psychics who charged large sums for their services were recently convicted in separate trials in Florida and New York, raising questions about the line between free speech and fraud. The Associated Press reports on the two trials and on state laws aimed at curbing abuses. In one trial, psychic Rose…

Nov 4, 2013 3:34 PM CST

Fear of juror Googling didn’t justify order to remove pages from lawyer website, appeals court says

A judge violated a lawyer’s First Amendment rights when he ordered the lawyer to take down references to asbestos wins on her website during a 2011 trial on similar issues, a California appeals court has ruled. The Second District Court of Appeal ruled on behalf of lawyer Simona Farrise last…

Nov 4, 2013 10:45 AM CST

Is the law firm associate model being phased out? | Encrypt laptop for ethics’ sake, blogger writes

The notion of creating a new class of associates that receives more training, less pressure to bill and less pay has taken hold at Greenberg Traurig as an alternative to the “quasi Hunger Game” model (as a Forbes writer put it this week) in which elite associates spend a brutal…

Nov 1, 2013 2:17 PM CDT

Victims are taking on ‘revenge porn’ websites for posting photos they didn’t consent to

Nov 1, 2013 9:30 AM CDT