donal brown

Federal court rules against student wearing message T-shirt

A federal appeals court ruled that a Texas school district dress code did not deprive students of the First Amendment rights of expression. A student sued after the school banned his shirt supporting John Edwards for president. -DB First Amendment Law Prof Blog August 24, 2009 By Kathleen Bergin The First Amendment doesn’t prohibit a dress code that prohibits The ‘First Amendment’. So said a three judge panel of the Fifth Circuit this month in Palmer v.

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Public denied details of bids for failed banks

Banking insiders are wondering why the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is no longer disclosing information on bids for failed banks. The information is needed to formulate future bids and should be available under the Freedom of Information Act. -DB American Banker August 24, 2009 By Marissa Fajt For decades, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. disclosed all bids on failed banks to the public. That was then. This is now: no disclosure on losing bids, no explanation

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Federal judge dismantles Connecticut campaign finance law

A federal judge ruled Connecticut’s public finance law unconstitutional, saying that it put an unfair burden on minor party candidates in obtaining public financing for their campaigns. -DB Fresno Bee August 28, 2009 By John Christoffersen NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) – A federal judge has ruled that Connecticut’s public campaign finance law, seen by some as a possible national model, is unconstitutional because it discriminates against minor party political candidates. Judge Stefan Underhill ruled late Thursday

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Don’t ban anonymity urges one legal expert

While siding with Google against the blogger who defamed the model by calling her a “skank”, a First Amendment advocate argues that it is important to protect anonymity of some contemptible speakers to safeguard the freedom of others such as whistleblowers and dissenters in totalitarian regimes to remain anonymous. -DB Citizen Media Law Project Commentary August 26, 2009 By Dan Gillmor Here we go again—a new attack on anonymous speech, misusing the facts ripped from the

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Blogger of venomous insults sues Google for outing her

Legal experts think that a fashion student’s suit against Google has little chance of success. She had anonymously called a model a “shank” and was subsequently identified by Google. -DB San Francisco Chronicle August 28, 2009 By James Temple The blogger who anonymously tarred a fashion model as a “skank” before being outed by Google Inc. under court order generated considerable public outrage when she announced plans to sue the company for $15 million, but few

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