Archive
Gavel

Federal Judge Rules Former Medical Student Cited for Lack of Professionalism Has a Plausible Retaliation Claim

The treatment of former University of Virginia medical student Kieran Ravi Bhattacharya raises serious concerns about the use of “professionalism” to punish those who hold dissident views or dare to challenge authority.  The university suspended and dismissed Bhattacharya after he raised concerns about a presentation from a faculty member about “microaggressions”.

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Conservative Think Tank Loses Press Access Lawsuit Against Wisconsin Governor

The MacIver Institute sued Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers in 2019 after his office allegedly refused to invite reporters from the think tank’s news arm, MacIver News Service, to press briefings. On April 9th, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit sided with the Governor after finding his office had acted on viewpoint-neutral policies and that MacIver had failed to show evidence that the policy was applied in a discriminatory manner.

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Constituents Sue Texas Attorney General For Blocking Them on Twitter

Filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas Austin Division on April 8th, the complaint argues that because the Attorney General uses @KenPaxtonTX for “official purposes,” his account is a public forum and blocking users based on their viewpoint is a violation of the First Amendment.

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Supreme Court to Decide Important Student (K-12) Social Media Case

The Supreme Court will clarify how far the arm of school authority extends—if at all—to student social media expression created off-campus.  The case, Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., involves a message posted on Snapchat by student "B.L." on a Saturday afternoon off-campus after she learned she failed to advance from the junior varsity to the varsity cheerleading squad.

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Scale of justice

Sixth Circuit Rejects Garcetti in Context of University Professor’s Classroom Speech

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling creating a categorical bar on the free-speech rights of public employees who speak pursuant to their official job duties does not apply in the university classroom, a federal appeals court has ruled.

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It’s A Matter of Public Opinion

How do cultural attitudes affect our ability to speak freely? Join us on April 21st at 12:00pm EST for our next #FAWPublicForum “It’s a Matter of (Public) Opinion,” where we will discuss current controversies that highlight conflicting attitudes about the appropriate bounds of free speech.

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U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court Ends Four-Year-Long Lawsuit Challenging Trump’s Blocking of Critics on Twitter

On April 5th, the Supreme Court of the United States vacated the Second Circuit’s decision in Knight First Amendment Institute v. Donald Trump, a long-running lawsuit challenging former President Donald Trump’s pattern of blocking critics from his personal Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump. 

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Summer Zervos, a former contestant on The Apprentice, leaves New York State Supreme Court with attorney Gloria Allred (not pictured) after a hearing on the defamation case against U.S. President Donald Trump in Manhattan, New York City.

Summer Zervos’ Defamation Suit Against Trump Moves Forward

The New York Court of Appeals has ruled that Summer Zervos’ lawsuit against former President Donald Trump can continue now that Trump is no longer in office. The former "Apprentice" star is suing Trump after he publicly denied her accusations of sexual assault.

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