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Peter Scheer

Taxpayers Going Postal Over Public Employee Pensions, Perks. Unions’ miscalculation: Opting for secrecy.

Peter Scheer June 10, 2010

BY PETER SCHEER—For public employee unions–those representing police, firefighters, teachers, prison guards and agency workers of all kinds at the state and local level–these are the worst of times. Despite record high membership and dues, and years of unparalleled clout in state capitols, public sector unions find themselves on the defensive, desperately trying to hold on to past gains in the face of a skeptical press and angry voters. So far has the zeitgeist shifted

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Digital strip-search: Case of lost iPhone prototype shows the danger of using search warrant to seize journalists’ information

Peter Scheer April 30, 2010

BY PETER SCHEER—Search warrants have always been a blunt instrument for finding evidence of crime. Think of television cop shows from the 70s and 80s: A police search of an apartment for drugs was, de facto, a license to ransack all closets, cabinets and dressers. A warrant to seize a letter or other specific document was a green light to overturn desks and dig through all files and writings, no matter how personal. But on

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Court says NO to request by FAC and others for State Bar records needed for research on affirmative action

Peter Scheer April 7, 2010

A California Superior Court judge has ruled that the State Bar Association, which regulates the legal profession, is not required to release data requested by the First Amendment Coalition and researchers’ studying the effect of law school affirmative action policies. The Court’s ruling in the controversial litigation will be appealed. Judge Curtis E.A. Karnow of the California Superior Court for San Francisco ruled March 29, 2010 that the State Bar is not legally obligated to

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Supreme Court’s much-maligned First Amendment decision will, in fact, expand freedom of speech

Peter Scheer April 5, 2010

Prediction: The Citizens United holding dooms IRS curbs on political advocacy by “dot-org” news media and other nonprofits. BY PETER SCHEER—Forty-six years ago, the Supreme Court announced its decision in New York Times v. Sullivan, rewriting centuries of “common law” on libel and defamation, in order to boost constitutional protection for criticism of government policies and government officials. One of the most important free speech decisions in Supreme Court history, New York Times was heralded

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If China unplugs Google, it will be the first time China’s people will know what they are not being allowed to see. This should give the censors pause.

Peter Scheer March 23, 2010

BY PETER SCHEER–Google’s high-stakes confrontation with China’s government has entered a new, and uncertain, phase. Making good on its threat to cease censorship of search results on its China-based site, Google.cn, Google has begun redirecting users in China to its uncensored Chinese-language site based in Hong Kong, google.com.hk. China’s censors now face a difficult choice. They could move quickly to block access, within China, to the Hong Kong site. This is not a problem for

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