Our guest writer and constitutional law scholar, Catherine Ross, speaks out about the student protests rocking the nation from the March 14 walkouts to the March for our Our Lives movement and looking ahead to the next planned protests on April 20th. Her book, Lessons in Censorship: How Schools and Courts Subvert Students' First Amendment Rights, excerpted on FAW looks at important free speech issues relevant to today's movement.
Did White House Staff Sign Away Their First Amendment Rights?
The Washington Post reports that senior White House staffers in President Trump's administration were asked to sign long-term nondisclosure agreements which would prevent them from revealing confidential information. These agreements extended beyond the normal confidentiality obligations around classified information or attorney-client privilege and included fines if they were broken.
President Trump’s Plans for Libel Laws
President Trump and his team want to ‘open up’ libel laws. The goal: to make it easier to sue media organizations for unfavorable coverage. But there is little that the President can actually do to change the libel laws. There is no federal law on libel. State laws control libel, and all such laws are subject to stringent First Amendment protections for the press and other speakers that the Supreme Court has imposed through cases such as the landmark New York Times v. Sullivan decision in 1964. However, threats to loosen the libel laws is noteworthy as part of a larger effort to criticize the press and attack its credibility.
Judge Rules Defamation Suit Brought By An Ex-Apprentice Against President Trump Is A Go
The State Court of Appeals refused Trump’s appeal to delay a defamation suit until after his presidency because the lower court has yet to issue a final determination on the […]
Former Met Music Director James Levine Sues For Defamation
After an artistic collaboration spanning four decades, conductor James Levine was fired by the Metropolitan Opera, Monday, March 12th, after an “investigation uncovered credible evidence that Mr. Levine had engaged […]
A Provocative Mural in Louisiana Stirs Artistic Expression Debate
When real estate developer Neal Morris commissioned local street artist Cashy D last November to create a wall mural using a quote from President’s Trump’s Access Hollywood taping, he did not expect the […]
InfoWars, Alex Jones and Others Sued For Defamation
For an in depth examination of Alex Jones and the Sandy Hook defamation lawsuits, click on the link below: Foreign Service Officer Brennan Gilmore, currently on leave from the State […]
New Survey Finds First Amendment Challenges on College Campuses
Gallup, the Knight Foundation, the American Council on Education, Charles Koch Institute and the Stanton Foundation worked together to update a 2016 landmark survey of college students and their thoughts […]