donal brown

Federal court rules California anti-SLAPP law prevails in Utah

A federal district court judge ruled that a California woman sued in Utah may file a motion to strike the defamation charge under California’s anti-SLAPP law. A Utah company sued after the woman’s web site criticized the company for treatment of students at their residential youth treatment center. The judge held that the California anti-SLAPP law applied because it applied most particularly to the case since the speech was published in California where the state

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Reddit and Twitter struggle with maintaining abuse-free forums

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Blogger gets prison sentence for shooting video of senator’s bedridden wife

The First Amendment could not save a blogger who broke into a nursing home to take a video of Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran’s wife who was suffering from Alzheimer’s. A judge sentenced Clayton Kelly to two years in prison.  (The New York Times, June 15, 2015, by the Associated Press) Kelly was attempting to prove that the senator was unfaithful to his bed-ridden wife and entered the nursing home to document the wife’s state of

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New exemption to FOIA in cybersecurity bill advances in Senate

A new exemption to the Freedom of Information Act could be passed by Congress that “all information shared with or provided to the Federal Government” would not be part of the public domain. The cybersecurity bill also requires the government withhold “cyber threat indicators and defensive measures” companies or individuals report to the government. (Politico, June 11, 2015, by Josh Gerstein) Two Senate Democrats had objected to the new exemption in April. They wrote “Government

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Opposition builds to San Diego ‘free speech zone’ for new waterfront park

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is working on a law to regulate demonstrations in Waterfront Park by creating “free speech zones” and requiring permits. On July 21 they will consider changes to the proposed law. A county official said permits were only required to use tables, chairs, a stage or sound amplification equipment. (The San Diego Union-Tribune, June 9, 2015, by Joshua Stewart) A San Diego newspaper called the proposed legislation “rigid, excessive

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