A San Clement, California teacher with a sterling reputation sparked a cyclone of contention in her community for her and her husband’s extremist views and her participation in the march on the Capitol on January 6. Many contend that conspiracy theorists and racists should not be allowed to teach young children. Others are saying she has never allowed politics into her classroom and should enjoy First Amendment protections of assembly and expression. (The New York Times, April 10, 2021, by Matthew Rosenberg)
A Lynchburg, Virginia LGBTQ group objected to what they say is a transphobic cartoon on a fire department captain’s social media site. After the captain called for the mayor to resign or defend his rights to free speech, he filed a lawsuit against the city for violating his civil rights. (ABC13 News, April 12, 2021, by Ida Domingo)
The Aurora, Colorado mayor is suing to block new campaign laws that would restrict his activities during elections including preventing him from encouraging friends to donate to a particular candidate. (Colorado Politics, April 7, 2021, by The Denver Gazette editorial board)
A federal judge rejected a free speech lawsuit by a Jacksonville pastor who claimed the city council president turned off his mic during the invocation when the pastor strayed from the religious to the political. (The Florida Times-Union, March 23, 2021, by Steve Patterson)
A federal judge revived a free speech lawsuit by a Castle Hills, Texas council member put in jail for criticizing her local government. The judge ruled that the city had no qualified immunity in the case since they knew jailing the woman was a violation of the First Amendment. (Institute for Justice, March 15, 2021, by J. Justin Wilson)
A Texas college history professor says she was fired for posting a tweet about Mike Pence’s “little demon mouth” during last year’s presidential campaign. (Dallas Observer, March 1, 2021, by Simone Carter)
A former Knightstown, Indiana police chief is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit claiming the city violated his and over 20 other’s free speech rights in banning them from the police department’s Facebook page. (The Indiana Lawyer, March 1, 2021, by Marilyn Odendahl)
A federal appeals court ruled that a federal inmate’s letters to two federal judges constituted real threats not protected under the First Amendment. (The Free Speech Center, February 22, 2021, by David L. Hudson Jr.)
A U.S. resident since he was three-years-old, Joseph Bello was arrested by ICE in 2019 after reading a poem protesting Trump’s immigration policies. (Business Insider, November 16, 2020, by Charles Davis)