donal brown

Grayson Clary, of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, July 26, 2023, writes that with the U.S. Supreme Court docket this year, the First Amendment “gained important ground.” Clary cited the decision in Counterman v. Colorado making it more difficult to bring meritless harassment allegations against journalists. And Twitter v. Taamneh and United States v. Hansen clarified that the justices will consider the First Amendment rights of reporters in interpreting aiding-and-abetting liability. Other

In admitting he defamed election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani is resting his defense on arguing that his statements about voter fraud in Georgia were protected speech. He also denied his statements caused harm to Freeman or Moss. (CNN, July 26, 2023, by Katelyn Polantz and Shawna Mizelle) Giuliani’s lawyer said that they were not so much admitting the defamation but acting strategically to keep Moss and Freeman

Bookstores and national bookseller associations are contesting a Texas law on sexually explicit books in school libraries. The law requires book sellers to rate books on the basis of sexual references. (The Texas Tribune, July 25, 2023, by Rebecca Schneid) Tennessee teachers are suing in federal court claiming that a law restricting what they can teach about race, gender and bias is unconstitutionally vague. The law was passed in the wake of protests after the

First Amendment lawyer Clay Calvert in The Hill, July 27, 2023, notes that many states are adopting buffer-zone laws to restrict how close a citizen can be to police while recording their actions. Calvert argues that the laws are unnecessary in that many states already have laws making it a crime to interfere or obstruct officers performing their duties. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards vetoed a law in June that made it illegal to stand

A federal district judge said he was leaning toward dismissing most of a lawsuit brought by artists against AI firms, citing the need for more facts about alleged copyright infringement. (Reuters, July 19, 2023, by Blake Brittain) Mike Masnick in techdirt, July 19, 2023, argues that it is futile for artists to use copyright to fight off AI since AI companies when training are doing the equivalent of reading a book and no one can