Search

Categories

Total Results

No Record Found

View All Results
DONATE

donal brown

Boston: Federal court hearing case on right to record police actions in public

donal brown June 9, 2011

A Massachusetts man was arrested under Massachusetts wiretap law and accused of aiding the escape of a prisoner and disturbing the peace. The man Simon Glik had used his cell phone to record police arresting a suspect on the Boston Common. Glik contended that his did not make a secret recording as forbidden by the wiretap law, did not interfere with the police arrest and had a First Amendment right to record the event. -db

Read More »

Miami Beach police allegedly confiscate video of police shooting

donal brown June 9, 2011

After Miami Beach police shot and killed a suspect on a public street, they allegedly confiscated a video devise from a witness Narces Benoit and roughed up him and his girlfriend in the process. The police said Benoit was seized as a witness and denied that they stomped on his cellphone. Free press supporters say unless Benoit had posted it on YouTube, the public would never have known the details of the police shooting since

Read More »

Tennesee law bans posting of gratuitous images causing emotional distress

donal brown June 9, 2011

In his blog, Eugene Volokh says a new Tennessee law banning the posting of images causing emotional distress without legitimate purpose is unconstitutional. The law did not specify the meaning of legitimate purpose. Volokh argues that the law would seriously curtail free speech, “…if you post an image intended to distress some religious, political, ethnic, racial, etc. group, you too can be sent to jail if governments decision maker thinks your purpose wasn’t ‘legitimate.’ Nothing

Read More »

California: Santa Barbara City Council restricts open meeting law

donal brown June 9, 2011

The Santa Barbara City Council, citing the need for freer discussion of issues, voted 4-3 to roll back aspects of the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law. The council majority expressed the need for more leeway in discussion before making decisions and argued it was unproductive to restrict private meetings. The mayor who voted against the majority said, “It [deliberating in public] takes longer and it’s not as pretty…but at the end of the day,

Read More »

Sexual attack used as weapon to silence women reporters

donal brown June 7, 2011

A report released this week reveals that women reporters, tired of enduring sexual threats and no longer afraid of losing their jobs for complaining, are now speaking out. The change occurred after CBS News correspondent Lara Logan candidly spoke about her assault by a mob in Cairo’s Tahrir Square while covering the Egyptian uprising. News organizations are beginning to provide help for women in difficult assignments. NBC is starting a course for journalists reporting in

Read More »