A Los Angeles artist sued a federal construction contractor who while constructing a section of a wall near the U.S.-Mexico border destroyed his collection of hard cheese blocks he planned to use to build a 1,000-foot wall mimicking Donald Trump’s wall. Cosimo Cavallaro wanted to prompt people to think about the ephemeral nature of walls and the waste in building them. (Courthouse News Service, November 4, 2020, by Bianca Bruno)
A former solid waste supervisor for Hartford, Connecticut sued the town for violating his free speech rights in firing him after he complained that the town erred in hiring an unqualified director of public works. The town accused Bob Vahey of allowing a shooting range on town property, trying to buy marijuana at work, and frequently calling in sick from work. The town later withdrew the last two accusations. (Valley News, August 30, 2020, by Anna Merriman)
The mayor of Englewood Cliffs withdrew his billing of a teenager for police overtime required for a Black Lives Matter rally she organized. The mayor sent her a bill for $2,499.26 but later rescinded the bill telling the teenager, “I was glad that you were able to express your rights to freedom of speech and assembly.” (NBCPhiladelphia, August 30, 2020, by the Associated Press)
A high school reporter was hit by flash-bangs and tear gas without warning during the Portland protests against police brutality and systemic racism even though she was wearing a helmet with “press” written boldly on all four sides. Eddy Binford-Ross was covering the protest for South Salem High School’s newspaper Clypian. Binford-Ross later contributed to a federal lawsuit decision holding that the federal agents could not attack journalists. (Student Press Law Center, July 24, 2020, by Cameren Boatner)
An electrical engineer wrote an Oregon agency for engineering and land surveying to argue that his wife had been unfairly given a ticket for a red light violation. He determined that the timing of the lights did not allow for drivers such as his wife who slowed down to make a turn. The yellow light timing did not allow for that. In response the board fined him $500 for practicing engineering without a license. A federal court upheld his free speech right to protest the ticket, and he was fully vindicated when an organization setting international standards for traffic safety announced it was adopting the engineer’s formula for traffic-light timing. (Institute for Justice, April 2020, by Paul Sherman)