The People’s First Amendment: School board members shed muzzle

Three Nashville school board members beat back an attempt to prevent them from saying anything disparaging about a former school director. A Tennessee appeals court said the restriction was a violation of their free speech rights. (Main Street Nashville, June 22, 2022, by Ashley Perham)

Two Wisconsin high school students won a battle in the Seventh Circuit appeals court when the court ruled that a lower court failed to consider Tinker v. Des Moines in upholding a school ban on T-shirts with gun imagery. (Courthouse News Service, June 15, 2022, by Dave Byrnes)

A New Jersey appeals court ruled that a health care corporate director could not sue her employer, AtlantiCare, after they fired her for her posting that Black Lives Matter is “racist” and “causes segregation.”(New Jersey Employment Lawyer Blog, May 24, 2022, by Jonathan I. Nirenberg)

A Minnesota state appeals court ruled that a man was within his First Amendment rights flying a huge Trump flag on a crane over his business. (TribLive, May 2, 2022, by The Associated Press)

A Wisconsin community activist is battling a defamation suit by the Mount Pleasant Village Attorney who claims Kelly Gallaher’s online posts and e-mails to journalists caused him “emotional distress.” (Institute for Justice, April 21, 2022, by J. Justin Wilson)

A federal judge held that a Pennsylvania rule that punishes lawyers for engaging in discriminatory conduct ran afoul of the First Amendment. (JDSupra, April 1, 2022, by Zuckerman Spaeder)

A Texas teacher must pay a $90,00 settlement for trying to force a Black student to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. (Courthouse News Service, March 29, 2022, by Cameron Langford)

Irvington, New Jersey is suing a citizen for what they claim are “burdensome” public records requests, some 75 over a three year period. (NJ.com, March 30, 2022, by Steven Rojas)

The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that Wood Court, Texas officials must answer charges for their actions against a police captain who was exercising his free speech rights. (When the Abuser Goes to Work, February 20, 2022, by Patricia G. Barnes)

A Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against a woman who sued to contest a Florida law preventing unlicensed people from giving advice on diets. She contended the law violated her First Amendment rights. (WFSU, February 19, 2022, by The News Service of Florida)

Spirit Airlines asked a passenger to remove a face mask with the slogan “Let’s Go Brandon” with the letters FJB, standing for f–k Joe Biden. (New York Post, January 31, 2022, by Yaron Steinbuch)

A man who cursed a police officer had his conviction reversed by an Ohio appeals court who ruled that he could only be guilty of disorderly conduct if his speech strayed into fighting words. (The Free Speech Center, January 21, 2022, by David L. Hudson)

A Williamsport, Pennsylvania attorney is suing East Buffalo Township for preventing him from exercising his First Amendment rights to burn a Trump reelection flag with a replica of a Confederate flag. The town said he would violate a ban on burning. (Williamsport Sun-Gazette, January 9, 2022, by Matt Farrand)