donal brown

The U.S. Supreme Court indicated they were reluctant to allow states to stop the Biden administration from contacting media companies to persuade them not to publish hurtful speech. The court seemed to support contact so long as there was no coercive threats. (The New York Times, March 18, 2024, by Adam Liptak) In their questioning, conservative justices John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett expressed concerns about limiting the government’s ability to discuss concerns

An immigration judge granted asylum to Mexican Journalist Emilio Gutierrez Soto and his son after a 15-year battle and two rulings against the father and son. They had fled Mexico in 2008 after receiving death threats while reporting on military corruption. (Reporters Committee, March 18, 2024) A FOIA lawsuit decided in favor of the Sotos in December set the stage for the granting of asylum. ICE had refused to search for records on the case

Without comment, the Supreme Court undermined the First Amendment by refusing to hear a case brought by an LGBTQ student group at a public university in Texas. The university president blocked the students from holding a drag show to raise money for suicide prevention, and a federal district judge backed the president. (The New York Times, March 16, 2024, by Adam Liptak) In criticizing the Supreme Court’s decision, Iam Millhiser of Vox, March 15, 2024,

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public officials could block citizens from their social media accounts under certain circumstances. The court determined that speech by government officials was subject to the First Amendment only if the official was authorized to speak for the government and if they were exercising that authority on the social media posts. (WPSD LOCAL 6, March 15, 2024, by John Fritze and Devan Cole of CNN) The court noted the difficulty

The American Library Association reported that book bans were at an all time high in 2023 with 4,250 titles tabbed for censorship, up from 2,571 titles in 2022. (The New York Times, March 14, 2024, by Alexandra Alter) Public libraries bore the brunt of he onslaught, suffering a 92 percent increase in titles up for censorship. Quests for censorship in school libraries was up 11 percent. Forty-seven percent of titles were about experiences of the