Update 9/4/2019: A federal judge ordered President Donald Trump and White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham to immediately restore Karem’s press pass. Brian Karem, a senior White House correspondent for Playboy magazine, […]
Roger Stone Claims The Gag Order Imposed on Him and His Family Is a Prior Restraint
Roger Stone, former advisor to Donald Trump, has filed a petition with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia arguing that the current gag order imposed […]
Reprinted with Permission from Ballard Spahr The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit yesterday became the third federal circuit court to hold that the interactive space of a […]
Federal Appeals Court Affirms Lower Court Ruling That Trump Can’t Block Critics on Twitter
A federal appeals court ruled that President Trump’s Twitter account is a public forum, and his practice of blocking critics violates the First Amendment. The decision arose from a July 2017 suit filed in U. S District Court for the Southern District of New York by seven Twitter users who had been blocked after they made critical remarks about Trump and/or his policies. The critics, represented by Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, sued Trump and Daniel Scavino, the White House’s Director of Social Media, for violating their First Amendment rights.
Federal Agency Accuses Kellyanne Conway of Violating Hatch Act
Kellyanne Conway, a senior advisor to President Trump, has been accused of violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in campaign politics at work. The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) recommended that Trump fire Conway for being a “repeat offender” of the Act. “As a highly visible member of the administration, Ms. Conway’s violations, if left unpunished, send a message to all federal employees that they need not abide by the Hatch Act’s restrictions,” said the letter to the president. “Her actions erode the principal foundation of our democratic system — the rule of law.” At the heart of the accusation are Conway’s recent comments about Democratic presidential candidates in television interviews and on social media.
Trump Urges Supporters to Boycott CNN’s Parent Company
President Donald Trump took to Twitter and urged his supporters to boycott CNN’s parent company, AT&T. “I believe that if people stoped (sic) using or subscribing to @ATT, they would be forced to make big changes at @CNN, which is dying in the ratings anyway. It is so unfair with such bad, Fake News! Why wouldn’t they act. When the World watches @CNN, it gets a false picture of USA. Sad!," he tweeted.
PEN America Rebuts Trump’s Motion To Dismiss Suit Over First Amendment Violations
Updated 3/25/2020: District court rejected Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss PEN America’s lawsuit, says the case can proceed. PEN America filed its response to a motion to dismiss filed on […]
The U.S. Is Now A Less Safe Place For Journalists
A newly released annual report by Reporter Without Borders, called the “World Press Freedom Index,” reveals a disheartening state of freedom of the press around the globe—including in the U.S. “The number of countries regarded as safe, where journalists can work in complete security, continues to decline, while authoritarian regimes continue to tighten their grip on the media,” the report says. The United States has now become a less safe place for journalists, ranking at No. 48 out of the 180 countries and territories on the list.