Librarians Fear New Penalties, Even Prison, as Activists Challenge Books

Across the country, book challenges and bans have soared to the highest levels in decades, and lawmakers are considering new punishments.

How Lawmakers Are Addressing Deepfakes Like the Ones That Victimized Taylor Swift

State lawmakers across the U.S. have been searching for ways to quash such nonconsensual deepfake images of both adults and children.

Teacher Guide: Speech Not Protected by the First Amendment

This teacher guide discusses many of the important unprotected categories of speech that have led to contentious First Amendment litigation through the years.

NJ Court Vacates Obscenity Charge over Profane Anti-Biden Signs

A resident of Roselle Park, New Jersey was charged with violating the town's anti-obscenity ordinance for displaying signs that said "F--ck Biden." On July 27th, a Superior Court vacated those charges on First Amendment grounds.

Teacher Guide: Does the First Amendment Allow the Government to Censor Art? 

For much of our nation’s history, the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech did not clearly protect art from government censorship. Over the course of the 20th century, however, courts gradually extended speech protections to a broader range of artistic expression, including film, dance, theater, and fine arts. Today, public officials can censor art only in limited circumstances. What are those circumstances, and what protection does the First Amendment provide?

Tennessee Lawmakers Copy Missouri’s Library Censorship Bill

Like the one proposed in Missouri, the Tennessee bill would make it so that a librarian could serve jail time for giving a child a book deemed inappropriate by the parental review board.

Sticker Shock: Charges Dropped Against Man Arrested For “Obscene” Car Decal

A Florida man who was arrested for refusing to alter a car decal a deputy claimed was “obscene” will not be prosecuted, officials said yesterday. Dillon Shane Webb was arrested […]