Voting Technology Company Demands Conservative Networks Retract Election Fraud Claims
From the moment the 2020 presidential election was called in favor of Joe Biden, three prominent conservative cable companies, Fox News, One America News Network (OANN), and Newsmax have repeatedly questioned the accuracy of the results. Now Smartmatic, a voting technology company, is threatening to sue the networks for false claims they published or republished about its product.
More than a thousand professors and graduate students have pledged not to speak at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) until the administration provides a “full and transparent” account of the events that led to the firing of Garrett Felber, a well-regarded history professor.
Massachusetts Wiretap Law Can’t Apply to Police Recording, First Circuit Rules
On December 15th, the United States Appeals Court for the First Circuit unanimously ruled that a Massachusetts wiretap statute could not be used against individuals who recorded police officers in public, even if the officer had not consented to the recording. The state has long fought to preserve the statute that broadly protects people from being recorded without their consent
Press Groups’ Challenge to Texas Drone Law Can Move Forward
The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), the Texas Press Association (TPA), and an independent journalist can move forward with their First Amendment challenge to a Texas law that restricts the use of drones.
New Report Shows Acute Rise in Arrests of Journalists in the U.S.
Drawing on data collected by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, the report showed at least 117 verified cases of journalists arrested in 2020. The number represents a 1200% increase from 2019 when only nine cases were confirmed.
For almost a year, women detainees in an immigration detention center in Ocilla, Georgia have tried to call public attention to a pattern of medical neglect and mistreatment, many at the risk of deportation. The pattern of retaliation led to what might at first sound like a paradox: a free-speech group asking the court to block public access to records.
Former Cybersecurity Official Christopher Krebs Sues Trump Campaign for Defamation
Christopher Krebs, the former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), who was fired by President Donald Trump last month, is suing Trump, Trump lawyer Joseph diGenova, and Newsmax Media for defamation and the infliction of emotional distress.
Supreme Court Orders New York to Stop Enforcing COVID-19-Related Restrictions On Houses of Worship
On November 26th, the United States Supreme Court ordered a preliminary injunction barring the state of New York from enforcing a restriction on religious gatherings after finding that the regulations “single[d] out houses of worship for especially harsh treatment.”