donal brown

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled for the National Rifle Association to limit state authorities’ power to pressure advocacy groups. The NRA will now be allowed to sue a New York official who tried to get banks and insurance companies to shut down operations with the group after the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida. (CNN, May 30, 2024, by John Fritze and Devan Cole) Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the majority, “Government officials cannot attempt

State legislators are threatening free expression in universities by proposing laws that stifle free speech. Arizona is considering a law that prevents public institutions from “formally recogniz[ing] a student organization that…promotes a foreign terrorist organization.” Pro-Palestinian students fear that they may find their freedoms curtailed. (Insight into Diversity, May 28, 2024, by Courtney Mullins) House of Representative Republicans are working on legislation that would protect students’ free speech rights. (Inside Higher Education, March 18, 2024,

UNESCO reports that reporters on the environment have been increasingly attacked, hundreds over the last 15 years. U.S. environmental reporters are also under attack with 36 press freedom violations since 2017. Reporters covering protests are particularly at risk, and their sources need protection. (Freedom of Press Foundation, May 10. 2024) For related FAC coverage, click here and here.

FIRE reports that the Supreme Court is set to rule on important cases regarding online speech and a case involving how governments pressure private groups for political reasons. The cases will decide these questions: Can public officials block users on social media accounts they use for official business?; Can protest organizers be held negligent and liable for acts committed by unidentified people at the protest?; Do laws that regulate social media content moderation violate the

The recent pro-Palestinian protests have led universities to call in local police, eroding their legitimacy as a self-governing entity. Said John Thelin, University of Kentucky College of Education emeritus professor of higher education, “One has to think of an American college or university as a ‘city-state’ in which its legal protections and walls include the campus — grounds, buildings, structures facilities — as legally protected, along with a university’s rights to confer degrees. Calling in