donal brown

Law professor Steven K. Green in Church & State Magazine, May 2019, describes how the Minnesota Prayer Caucus tried to pressure the Minnesota Historical Society into cancelling his lecture on the myth that the United States was founded on the Christian religion. Green gave the speech, but says that the society made a disturbing concession, “To the disappointment of many regular attendees, the society self-censored by deciding not to distribute an accompanying brochure containing quotations and

To combat extreme and inaccurate information on its platforms, Facebook and its prodigy Instagram are banning Alex Jones, Infowars, Milo Yiannopoulos, Louis Farakhan, the latter for making anti-Semitic remarks. The company is also banning the lessor knowns Paul Joseph Watson, Laura Loomer and Paul Nehlen. The company said they have always banned accounts that promote or engage in violence and hate. (The Atlantic, May 2, 2019, by Taylor Lorenz) Observing that the First Amendment protects

A federal judge dealt a blow to a Texas law that banned state agencies from doing business with contractors boycotting Israel. A Texas speech pathologist contested the law after her school contract required her to sign an agreement not to boycott Israel. She claimed the law violated her free speech rights. (The Texas Tribune, April 26, 2019, by Elizabeth Byrne) In issuing a temporary injunction against the law, Judge Robert Pittman found that since a boycott was

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is employing a new procedure, trolling public social media for threats to the agency’s personnel, operations and facilities. The federal agency was under fire recently for its databases on activists, attorneys and journalists working for immigrant rights. (FCW, March 27, 2019, by Adam Mazmanian) Brennan Center researcher Rayua Koreh in Just Security, April 26, 2019, writes, “Collecting information in emergency situations and to ensure public safety undoubtedly are important, but CBP

Prominent Los Angeles physician and entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong is gradually revealing his plan to resurrect the Los Angeles Times that suffered losses of $50 million over the last year. But rather than cut the newsroom, the new owner added almost 100 new reporters this last year. The new hires are essential in maximizing core reporting with a transmedia operation, “video, TV, audio, VR, games, and plain old-fashioned social media management…” The Times this week is