First Amendment News

Senator urges Senate role in declassifying documents Holding that the public is being misled about the abusive interrogations of terrorists, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) says that it is imperative to release documents to the public. That will not be done, he says, while the executive branch has a monopoly on the declassification process. -DB Secrecy Federation of American Scientists June 10, 2009 The public has been significantly misled and misinformed concerning the practice of

Army reverses ban on social networking sits Whereas the Army used such sites as Facebook, Flickr, Delicious and Vimeo as venues for stories about the troops, the subjects of the stories, regular army personnel, were not allowed on the sites using military networks. This changed in May through an order from the Signal Brigade. -DB Wired June 10, 2009 By Noah Shachtman The Army has ordered its network managers to give soldiers access to social

‘Back Door Wiretap’ the target of federal suit The Electronic Frontier Foundation and other civil liberties groups are seeking a ruling protecting e-mail against government seizure without warrant. -DB Electronic Frontier Foundation Press Release June 11, 2009 Cincinnati – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and other civil liberties groups filed an amicus brief in Warshak v. United States urging the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday to hold that the government’s seizure of email

French panel rejects internet ban for those accused of copyright violations invoking the French constitution, Article 11, the right of freedom of speech, a French panel charged with measuring laws against the constitution, ruled that the government could not ban citizens from the internet just from allegations that they violated copyrights. -DB Electronic Frontier Foundation Commentary June 10, 2009 By Danny O’Brien Before legislation becomes law in France, it must pass the muster of the

Front page exposé leads to theft of UC Riverside newspaper Nearly 2,000 copies of the University of California at Riverside student newspaper, the Highlander, were stolen from the distribution racks after an article about the former student government president. Without authorization, she allegedly spent $5,000 flying to a conference. The newspaper staff was disappointed by the university’s investigation into the newspaper theft. -DB Student Press Law Center June 4, 2009 By Catherine MacDonald CALIFORNIA — Staffers