Archive
Student

Texas Governor Says Teacher Who Showed Cartoon Comparing Police to KKK Should Be Fired

The cartoon is made up of five panels and starts with an image of a slave ship owner kneeling on a Black man's neck, and ends with a police officer kneeling on a Black man while he says "I can't breathe."

Read More

Videos

Video: Frequently Asked Questions on Basic Free Speech Principles

In partnership with FIRE, First Amendment Watch developed a series of videos to help universities teach students about their free speech rights protected by the First Amendment.

Read More

Tiktok

TikTok and WeChat Users Challenge the Constitutionality of Trump’s Executive Orders

The lawsuits, filed by WeChat users and the company Tiktok, claim the executive orders violate the First and Fifth Amendment, and that the law is unconstitutionally overbroad. Both lawsuits are asking for declaratory relief, as well as a preliminary and permanent injunction barring the president from enforcing the orders.

Read More

Portland

Oregon District Court Bars Federal Agents From Targeting Journalists

The judge extended a preliminary injunction prohibiting federal agents from "arresting, threatening to arrest, or using physical force" against journalists or legal observers. An attorney working with the ACLU on the case called the court's decision "a crucial victory for civil liberties and freedom of the press." 

Read More

Trump Twitter

Government Petitions Supreme Court to Review Knight v. Trump Decision on Twitter Blocking

As in previous cases, the president's lawyers insist that the president's personal account is private and he should be allowed to exclude critics freely. They also emphasized that the act of blocking was not a kind of state action because it did not involve government power.

Read More

Bullets

North Carolina Supreme Court Upholds Defamation Ruling Against Investigative Reporter

In reviewing the case, the North Carolina Supreme Court found that the reporter had omitted important information and mispresented quotes from sources. This, along with other evidence, led the court to conclude that article's false statements had not resulted from "mere negligence" but from a "purposeful avoidance of the truth."

Read More

Memphis

Tennessee Governor Signs Bill That Raises Penalties For Protestors Who Break the Law

Protesters in Tennessee charged with rioting, assaulting a police officer, or vandalizing state property will now face greater fines and longer prison sentences, following a new bill signed into law on August 18th by Governor Bill Lee. 

Read More

Hate Speech: Fighting Words

Fighting words refer to direct, face-to-face, personal insults that would likely lead the recipient to respond with violence. The U.S. Supreme Court developed the fighting-words doctrine in Chaplinsky v. New […]

Read More