In their defense of Fox News in the defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems over debunked claims of election fraud, Fox lawyers are not claiming truth as a defense but rather stating claims made by former president Donald Trump and his followers were newsworthy. The lawyers also said Dominion can’t prove actual malice. (NPR, January 23, 2023, by David Folkenflik) Not to be outdone in novel defenses against defamation lawsuits by Dominion, One America

In asking the Biden administration to weigh in on the constitutionality of Florida and Texas laws preventing social media companies from removing posts based on content, the court is delaying a decision on this key First Amendment issue. The court may now hear arguments no sooner than October. (The New York Times, January 23, 2023, by Adam Liptak) The court asked for the views of the solicitor general on the laws that would restrict Facebook,

A California court of appeals found that UC Irvine can release records under the California Public Records Act pertaining to alleged plagiarism in articles submitted to various academic journals. The assistant professor submitting the articles filed an injunction to prevent release. (Reason, January 14, 2023, by Eugene Volokh) The Los Angeles City Council voted to allow an option for city officials to hold remote meetings. That arrangement would require an amendment to the Brown Act,