The Supreme Court's ruling in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. was a big victory for cheerleader Brandi Levy. Still, George Washington Law Professor and student speech expert Catherine J. Ross warns that the decision left unanswered many questions regarding school's authority to regulate off-campus speech.
Former Fox News Anchor Sues Network for Defamation Over Sexual Misconduct Allegations
Henry was fired from his job as co-presenter of “American Newsroom” in 2020 after his former colleague, Jennifer Eckhart, accused him of raping her in 2017. Henry denies all of the allegations and claims the network knew he was innocent when they fired him.
Federal Judge Blocks Florida’s Social Media Law
On June 30th, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida Tallahassee Division granted a request for a preliminary injunction barring Florida from enforcing a new law that substantially limits social media companies' ability to moderate their platforms.
The Pentagon Papers Case—David Rudenstine on its Meaning a Half Century Later
"The Pentagon Papers case affirms fundamental values and principles. Truth matters— facts matter. The role of the press in the American governing scheme is to serve the 'governed' and not the 'governors.' The protection of a 'cantankerous press, an obstinate press, a ubiquitous press' is essential to a vibrant and strong American democracy. That is the profound and enduring meaning of the case," Cardozo Law Professor David Rudenstine writes.
Supreme Court Will Hear Case About Whether Digital Billboard Ordinance Violates the First Amendment
On June 28th, the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in a case about whether Austin, Texas’s digital billboard policy violates the First Amendment. In 2017, Reagan National Advertising sued the city of Austin in state district court over a rule that prohibits billboards from being digitized if they appear anywhere other than a business’s property.
FAW Public Forum: Media Leak Investigations and the First Amendment
Watch our panel discussion with the Reporters Committee's Gabe Rottman, and two Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalists–Ellen Nakashima from The Washington Post & Charlie Savage from The New York Times–to talk about the history of media leak investigations and their impact on press freedom.
Virginia Lt. Governor Fails to Convince Fourth Circuit that CBS Defamed Him
In 2019, Virginia Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax sued CBS for defamation following their coverage of two sexual assault allegations against him. At the time, Fairfaix was poised to replace Gov. Ralph Northam who was facing intense public pressure to resign for appearing in blackface in his 1994 medical school yearbook.
Supreme Court Rules that Student’s Off-Campus Speech Is Protected By the First Amendment
In an 8-1 decision on June 23rd, the Supreme Court ruled that a student’s off-campus speech was protected by the First Amendment. The case, Mahanoy Area School District v B.L., involves a message posted on Snapchat by a then-14 year old student identified as “B.L.”, after she learned she failed to advance from the junior varsity to the varsity cheerleading squad. The message, posted on a Saturday afternoon when she was off-campus, stated, in part, “f*** cheer, f***everything.”