First Amendment News

In a suit that claimed tobacco companies ran fraudulent ads, by a 4-3 vote the California Supreme Court rejected the argument that every plaintiff in the class-action suit – millions of people – had to show they had seen an allegedly deceptive ad and relied on it to make a purchase. -DB San Francisco Chronicle May 19, 2009 By Bob Egelko Consumers have the right to sue as a group over advertising they believe misled

It’s not easy for public agencies to balance the need to get things done in a timely fashion and the need to give the public adequate time to address issues. In an attempt to satisfy everyone, the Redding City Council voted to adopt a 30 minute public comment period on items not on the agenda at the start of council meetings then allow unlimited comment at the end of the meeting. -DB Redding Record Searchlight

A U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the White House Office of Administration is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act and does not have to release records pertaining to the disappearance of millions of Bush administration e-mails. -DB CBS News May 19, 2009 By Stephanie Condon A White House office will not have to publicly release its records relating to the disappearance of millions of e-mails from the Bush administration, a federal appeals

The American Civil Liberties Union has brought a suit in federal court that asserts that two Tennessee school districts are unconstitutionally blocking students from accessing web sites that provide information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. -DB American Civil Liberties Union May 19, 2009 Press Release NASHVILLE, TN – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Tennessee sued two Tennessee school districts in federal court May 19, charging the schools are unconstitutionally

A new Electronic Frontier Foundation white paper makes suggestions to site developers for protecting themselves against being shut down by the subjects of their criticism and parody. -DB Electronic Frontier Foundation May 15, 2009 By Corynne McSherry Here’s a story we hear a lot at EFF: You think BadCo, Inc. is a bad actor and you’ve developed a really cool site to tell the world why. Maybe just by griping about them or maybe through