On Tuesday, November 12, the Monroe County legislature passed a measure that would allow police officers to arrest anyone that “annoys, alarms, or threatens the personal safety of an officer.” The bill, which was sponsored by Republican legislator Karla Boyce, passed by a 17-10 vote.
Dallas Transit Agency to Pay $345,000 to Settle Police Recording Lawsuit
On November 11, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) and freelance journalist Avi Adelman reached a settlement after a DART police officer illegally arrested Adelman and then lied about the circumstances of the arrest.
Federal Judge Rules That 3D Gun Blueprints Can’t Be Published Online
Judge Robert Laskin of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle ruled that the State Department violated federal procedural rules when it allowed blueprints for 3 D guns to be published on the Internet.
A county board in southern Wisconsin decided to hold off on a resolution that would have punished journalists and county officials for how they handle information about a recent study that showed high-levels of contamination in the county’s well system.
David Boies Sues Alan Dershowitz for Defamation
On November 7th, famed attorney David Boies filed a defamation suit against Alan Dershowitz, another high-profile lawyer, in New York State Supreme Court. According to the complaint, Dershowitz, who has been accused by two women of sexually abusing them when they were underage, has publicly and falsely disparaged Boies in the media on nine separate occasions.
As Whistleblower’s Identity Spreads, Social Media Companies Are Asked to Intervene
Should social media companies remove posts with the whistleblower's name to protect the person from harm? Facebook and Twitter have different answers.
Federal Judge Drops Elizabeth Warren From Covington Teens’ Defamation Suit
A federal judge in Kentucky dropped a libel case against Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Deborah Haaland (D-NM). The two were sued for libel in August by the families of eight teenagers from Covington Catholic High School for spreading allegedly false and defamatory information on social media.
How an Email to Students about a College Football Game Turned into a Free Speech Controversy
“The issue wasn’t that the SGA email said ‘Protest Trump and you’ll be kicked out'," a student at the University of Alabama said. "The issue was that the timing was suspect, and seemed intended to have a chilling effect on students who may have been planning on booing or protesting."