The 9/11 attack suspects are up for hearings this week on whether certain testimony will be made public and the ACLU is opposing a government request to censor some of the defendants’ statements about their treatment saying the public has a Constitutional right to open trials. Read the story in The Wall Street Journal: ACLU to argue for 9/11 suspects’ testimony to be public
An editorial that suggests in all the media coverage of Assange’s legal problems, “it’s easy to lose sight of all Wikileaks has accomplished.” Read the story on Gigaom: Why Wikileaks is worth defending despite all its flaws
A self-described “political activist,” is suing Los Angeles and its Parks Commission for tossing him out of a public meeting last year for wearing a T-shirt that said : “Fuck White Niggar Too,” on the grounds that the shirt was a political message and part of his challenge to amend a law against vending on the Venice Beach boardwalk. Read the story on Courthouse News Service: T-Shirt was rude but legal, man insists
The ACLU will file a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Twitter’s appeal of the a June decision requiring the company to give the Manhattan D.A. detailed information on the Tweets of user Malcolm Harris, an Occupy Wall Street protester charged with disorderly conduct during the march on the Brooklyn Bridge. Read the story at ACLU: Twitter Appeals Ruling in Battle over Occupy Wall Street Protester Information
Can a government agency control comments posted to its Facebook page? That is the issue raised after the Hawaiian Police Department banned to pro-gun commenters from the HPD Facebook page. They are now being sued on constitutional grounds. If the Facebook page is found to be a “public forum,” then the government agency running the website, unlike owners of private websites, cannot curtail the public’s right to speak freely. Read the story at the Citizen