First Amendment

Marine’s Dad Gets $11M for Funeral Picketing

In a verdict that is sure to catch the attention of First Amendment advocates, a federal jury in Baltimore has awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages and $8 million in punitive damages to a father of a fallen Marine whose funeral was picketed by members of a fringe Kansas church.…

Oct 31, 2007 11:48 PM CDT

Justices Seek Ways to Uphold Child Pornography Law

U.S. Supreme Court justices appear intent on finding a way to uphold the latest congressional effort to outlaw child pornography. In oral arguments yesterday, the justices debated how they could uphold the law, known as the Protect Act, and even toyed with the idea of overturning the overbreadth doctrine, SCOTUSblog…

Oct 31, 2007 12:21 PM CDT

Wildfire Volunteer Lawyers Can Sue Gov’t, Even FEMA

Volunteer lawyers who help victims of the recent Southern California wildfires will no longer be restricted in the kinds of lawsuits they can bring on behalf of their clients. Now lawyers can sue local, state and federal agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which sponsors the disaster legal aid…

Oct 29, 2007 8:15 PM CDT

Right to Life’s Challenge to Judge Ethics Code Tossed

A federal appeals court has dismissed a challenge to Indiana’s judicial ethics code that barred judicial candidates from making statements about issues likely to come before the courts. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today (PDF) that Indiana Right to Life did not have standing to bring its…

Oct 26, 2007 5:53 PM CDT

Church on Trial for ‘Thank God For Dead Soldiers’ Funeral Protest

The father of a marine killed in Iraq is seeking damages from a church that sponsored a protest at his son’s funeral in a federal trial now under way in Baltimore. Albert Snyder’s suit claims invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress, the New York Times reports. The…

Oct 26, 2007 2:36 PM CDT

Court Upholds Order Keeping Lawyer Away From Ex-Judge

A California lawyer will have to stay at least 100 yards away from the judge who handled his divorce under a restraining order upheld yesterday by an appeals court. Lawyer James Disney of Concord had appealed the order, contending it violated his freedom of speech and right to practice law,…

Oct 25, 2007 2:25 PM CDT

Appeals Clerk Explains Why Details of Alleged FBI Coercion Withdrawn from Opinion

The federal appeals court clerk who asked blogger Howard Bashman to take down an opinion from his How Appealing site because of security concerns has told the Washington Post the ruling was not withdrawn at the request of the Justice Department or FBI. The opinion by the New York City-based…

Oct 25, 2007 10:40 AM CDT

Court Upholds Sex Stings Using Undercover Cops in Chat Rooms

A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction of a man snared in a sexual predator sting, saying the statute used to convict him did not impermissibly suppress his right to engage in fantasy speech. The defendant, Frank Gagliardi, was arrested while waiting in his car to meet two 13-year-olds,…

Oct 23, 2007 6:12 PM CDT

Two Cases Challenge Clampdown on Terrorism Talk

The First Amendment is being cited in two cases challenging the government’s attempt to bar controversial Muslim views from being voiced here. “The question before the judges considering the two cases is thus a difficult one,” Adam Liptak writes in his Sidebar column for the New York Times. “What role…

Oct 22, 2007 6:02 PM CDT

Charges Dropped Against Weekly That Revealed Grand Jury Subpoena

Prosecutors have dropped charges against two media executives arrested Thursday night for publishing a story in the Phoenix New Times that revealed details of a grand jury subpoena. Maricopa County, Ariz., Attorney Andrew Thomas said he had no prior knowledge of the arrests of New Times founders Michael Lacey and…

Oct 22, 2007 11:12 AM CDT

Media Execs Arrested for Revealing Grand Jury Subpoenas

Updated: Two executives who founded an alternative weekly newspaper were arrested last night for publishing a story in The Phoenix New Times that revealed grand jury secrets. They were released by 4 a.m. this morning, according to the Phoenix New Times blog, which continues to post updates. A lawyer for…

Oct 19, 2007 1:56 PM CDT

Judge Is Bad-Guy Film Role for Floyd Abrams

First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams has a role as a judge who sends a journalist to jail for refusing to reveal her sources in an upcoming film called Nothing But the Truth. Abrams might consider himself to be playing the bad guy. In real life he represented New York Times…

Oct 18, 2007 6:03 PM CDT

Fantasy Baseball Stats Protected by First Amendment

A fantasy baseball league does not need a license to run online games, a federal appeals court has ruled. The St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the use of the athletes’ names and statistics is protected by the First Amendment, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. “The information…

Oct 17, 2007 4:26 PM CDT

House Passes Reporter Shield Bill

The White House has threatened to veto legislation that passed the House yesterday to protect reporters’ confidential sources. The bill would protect journalists from having to reveal their sources in federal cases unless the information is needed to prevent terrorism or harm to national security, the Associated Press reports. In…

Oct 17, 2007 12:31 PM CDT

Judge Who Won Libel Verdict Defends Ethics Charge

A judge who won a $2.1 million libel verdict against the Boston Herald choked up as he defended himself on ethics charges that he used court stationery to demand even more money to conclude the case. The Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct has accused Judge Ernest Murphy of using court…

Oct 16, 2007 3:47 PM CDT