First Amendment

Church Leader, Polygamy on Trial in UT Rape Case

Opening arguments are expected to begin today in a Utah teen-rape case that is widely seen as putting on trial not only the defendant, Warren Jeffs, but the polygamist practices of the church community he leads. Jeffs, 51, heads the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a…

Sep 13, 2007 4:00 PM CDT

Embarrassing Singers Get 3rd Circuit Attention

Appeals judges yesterday grilled a Justice Department attorney defending the government’s decision to fine CBS $550,000 for Janet Jackson’s halftime Superbowl performance in which she briefly exposed her breast. DOJ lawyer Eric Miller said CBS was responsible for Jackson’s actions under the legal theory of respondeat superior, which imposes liability…

Sep 12, 2007 12:43 PM CDT

Gay Marriage Blurb Brings Suit

Two men are suing American University for publishing an announcement in an alumni magazine that said they had married each other. In a suit filed Aug. 30 in Manhattan federal court, Ross Weil and Brett Royce say the blurb defamed them because the false statement “imputes homosexual behavior” between the…

Sep 11, 2007 4:32 PM CDT

Juror’s Bible Notes Don’t Invalidate Sentence

An en banc federal appeals court has upheld a jury’s decision to impose a death sentence after the foreman brought notes citing scripture into deliberations. Stevie Lamar Fields was convicted of the 1978 rape and murder of a college librarian while on parole for manslaughter. The jury foreman had made…

Sep 11, 2007 10:42 AM CDT

Prisons Tossing Religious Books

Prisons are dismantling collections of religious books as part of an effort to block access to materials that can be used by militant Islamic and other radical groups. The Bureau of Prisons has created lists of up to 150 approved books for each of 20 religions or religious categories, and…

Sep 10, 2007 4:26 PM CDT

3rd Circuit Weighs Indecency Fine

Oral arguments are scheduled for tomorrow in CBS’ appeal of a $550,000 record fine for Janet Jackson’s exposure of her right breast during a Superbowl halftime show. David Solomon, a media partner at Wilkinson Barker Knauer in Washington, D.C., told Legal Times that the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of…

Sep 10, 2007 2:38 PM CDT

Explicit Web Site Justifies Cop Firing, Court Rules

The First Amendment does not protect an Arizona police officer fired for posting sexually explicit videos on a Web site, a federal appeals court has ruled. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the city of Chandler was not liable for firing policeman Ronald Dible, the Arizona Daily…

Sep 7, 2007 1:58 PM CDT

Patriot Act Ruling Could Curtail FBI Technique

A federal judge’s decision yesterday striking down parts of the USA Patriot Act could cut the FBI’s use of national security letters to gather customer information from telecommunications companies for terrorism investigations. The decision said the revisions violated the First Amendment by giving the FBI wide discretion to make case-by-case…

Sep 7, 2007 1:23 PM CDT

MI Lawyer Courtesy Rule Overturned

Controversial Michigan lawyer Geoffrey Fieger has won a round in his battle with Michigan state judges. A federal judge has struck down a state court rule used to sanction Fieger for calling state appeals judges jackasses in a radio interview and comparing them to Nazis, the Detroit News reports. The…

Sep 7, 2007 12:51 PM CDT

Judge: Patriot Act Threatens Constitutional System

Warning of “potential dire effects to individual freedoms,” a federal judge in New York has struck down revisions to the USA Patriot Act for violating the First Amendment and restricting the power of the courts to rule on the constitutional issue. The decision was a victory for the American Civil…

Sep 6, 2007 6:26 PM CDT

ACLJ is Key Contender in Religious Cases

Most lawyers are probably familiar with the ACLU. Far fewer attorneys may have heard of the ACLJ. However, the two civil rights organizations—sometimes fighting together and sometimes on opposing sides—are both key players in ongoing efforts to protect religious rights. The ACLJ—American Center for Law and Justice—is a leading Christian…

Sep 5, 2007 12:44 AM CDT

Tax Protest Site Wins Reprieve

A tax protest Web site has won a temporary reprieve from an order to turn over identifying information about people who accessed certain online information. The order would have required givemeliberty.org to give the government information about people who learned how to keep the federal government from withholding taxes from…

Sep 4, 2007 3:46 PM CDT

Drug Marketing Suits Test Civil Liability

Eight putative class action suits consolidated before a federal judge in Newark, N.J., will be among the first cases to test whether pharmaceutical companies may face civil liability for promoting off-label use of their products. The suits were filed against Schering-Plough Corp. after the company agreed to a $435 million…

Aug 31, 2007 11:32 AM CDT

Jewell’s Libel Suit May Survive

Libel plaintiff Richard Jewell and a defendant who identified him as a suspect in the bombing of Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park have both died, but the lawsuit may continue. Jewell’s 10-year-old libel and defamation suit against the Atlanta Journal-Constitution alleges the newspaper had a duty to investigate whether the information…

Aug 30, 2007 12:16 PM CDT

Rove Comments Led to Firing, Lawyer Says

A Texas lawyer contends in a lawsuit that she was fired from the state secretary of state’s office in violation of her First Amendment rights for comments she made in an article about Karl Rove. Elizabeth Reyes claims she was fired in 2005 because her remarks to a Washington Post…

Aug 23, 2007 12:15 PM CDT