donal brown

A federal district judge stopped the work of President Donald Trump’s law enforcement panel for breaking an open meeting law requiring public notice when holding closed meetings. The judge’s main objection to the panel centered on its composition. While the law on advisory committees stipulates balance in their make-up, Trump’s panel only included law enforcement officials and excluded voices from the black community suffering the most from poor policing practices. (Politico, October 1, 2020, by

As the the election nears, the Trump administration is enlisting Senate Republicans to pressure social media companies it sees as hostile to their cause. It wants Senate committees to hold hearings on Section 230 exempting platforms for liability for user posts. Republicans claim Section 230 allows social media to discriminate against conservative ideas. (Politico, October 1 2020, by Christiano Lima and John Hendel) President Trump is also engaged in an attempt to ban TikTok and

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education released its rankings of colleges for their support of free speech on campus. They found The University of Chicago ranked first and DePauw University the worst with Ivy League schools under performing. Liberal students were more likely to accept the use of violence to silence campus speakers, and nearly one-third of students in the survey would not allow President Donald Trump to speak on campus. (FIRE, September 29,