First Amendment News

The San Jose Mercury News is asking the police to release a 911 tape of the fatal shooting of Daniel Pham, but a city council committee voted to withhold the tape until after a grand jury investigation. -DB San Jose Mercury News June 4, 2009 By Sean Webby and Lisa Fernandez For now, San Jose police won’t be forced to release the 911 audiotapes documenting the fatal police shooting of a knife-wielding man last month,

According to a study by the non-profit Freedom House, only 17 percent of the world enjoys a free press and the trend is for a continuing decline. -DB The Epoch Times June 3, 2009 By Ivailo Anguelov The freedom of the press continues to decline and the environment in which journalists work is deteriorating in every corner of the world, shows a recent study by the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization Freedom House. Out of the

Concerned about preventing gun violence on campus, some college administrators are censoring student speech that protests the banning of guns on campus. -DB FOX NEWS June 04, 2009 By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos WASHINGTON, D.C. – The First Amendment guarantees Americans the right to free speech. The Second Amendment guarantees the right to possess firearms. Now the first two clauses in the Bill of Rights have come together in an ongoing debate over the right of

A doctor has created forms for patients to sign prohibiting them from rating their doctors online. Critics are saying a better remedy for reckless speech is more speech. -DB ABA Journal June 2009 By Leslie A. Gordon Once consumer websites began rating everything from restaurants to dog groomers, it was only a matter of time before doctors found their care and bedside manner critiqued online. As many as 40 websites, including Zagat, Angie’s List and

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants Congressional expense reports online so citizens can track member spending. OMB Watch blogger Roger Strother says if it’s done right, it could improve transparency. -DB OMB Watch Commentary June 4, 2009 By Roger Strother On June 3, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered the House’s administrative manager to put Congressional quarterly expense reports online as soon as possible. These reports, traditionally available only in the form of three-volume bound sets, contain