Tag
Virginia
Person holds a smartphone with Tik Tok logo displayed in this picture illustration

GOP Effort to Ban Video-Sharing App TikTok for Kids Fails in Virginia’s Legislature

Opponents raised a range of questions, including whether the government — rather than parents — should be responsible for limiting children’s access to social media.

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An Unprecedented Uptick in Book Bans Brings First Amendment Scrutiny

Virginia is among the top 10 states in book banning conflicts, according to a PEN America study. There, the ongoing battle has led most recently to a state judge throwing out a decades-old state obscenity law that had the effect of imposing a prior restraint on book distributors. And it stirred widespread opposition including one of the largest booksellers in the nation, Barnes & Noble. 

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Virginia Senate

Virginia Lawmaker Files Lawsuit After State Senate Votes to Censure Her

On February 1st, a Virginia state senator filed a federal lawsuit against the Senate of Virginia, the lieutenant governor, and the president of the Senate after lawmakers voted to censure her for speaking at then-President Donald Trump’s rally prior to the attack on the Capitol on January 6th. 

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Nunes

Federal Judge Moves Two Nunes Libel Suits From Virginia Dockets and Warns Lawyer Against Forum Shopping

"[T]he Court has significant concerns about forum shopping," U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Judge Robert E. Paynes wrote. "As the Court has explained to Plaintiff's counsel on numerous occasions, the Court cannot stand as a willing repository for cases which have no real nexus to this district.”

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Judge Dismisses Suit Filed by “Unite the Right” Protesters, Says State Did Not Engage in Heckler’s Veto

“While Defendants did, of course, have a constitutional obligation to refrain from restricting Plaintiff’s speech on account of the threat, or possibility, of public hostility to their Alt-Right message, the law is clear that Defendants had no constitutional obligation to prevent that public hostility,” Judge Norman K. Moon wrote.

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Virginia Profanity

Virginia Repeals Outdated Ban on “Profane Swearing”

The Virginia code dates back to George Washington’s 1776 “Order Against Profanity” which was used to keep soldiers from engaging in “the foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing.”

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Fairfax

Federal Court Dismisses Virginia Lt. Governor’s $400 Million Defamation Suit Against CBS

In September 2019, Justin Fairfax sued CBS over its interviews and subsequent coverage of two sexual assault claims against him. This week, a U.S. District Judge dismissed his claims, citing no evidence that CBS' coverage would have led a reasonable viewer to assume they were true or that the organization endorsed the women's allegations.

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David Nunes

Virginia Legislature Looks to Strengthen State’s Anti-SLAPP Law

Current loopholes in the state's law have lured a number of individuals into using Virginia courts to intimidate their critics. For example, of the six defamation complaints Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) filed in the past year, four were filed in Virginia.

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