First Amendment News

The Supreme Court skirted the issue of whether the ban on expletives in live broadcasts could run up against First Amendment protections but held that the ban was not arbitrary or capricious. -DB ABA Journal April 28, 2009 By Debra Cassens Weiss The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the power of the Federal Communications Commission to ban so-called fleeting expletives in live broadcasts. At issue is an FCC policy adopted in March 2004 that bans

Mindful of the importance of maintaining a vibrant press, the Washington legislature sent the governor a bill giving the strapped newspaper industry a temporary tax break. –DB First Amendment Center April 28, 2009 OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The Legislature has approved a measure to give the state’s struggling newspaper industry a temporary break on the state’s main business tax. The Senate passed the bill on a 46-2 vote on April 26. It passed the House

When a Missouri blogger ran a fake campaign backing a professional hockey player for mayor of a small town, he published a photo of his ballot with the player’s name written in. This ran afoul of state election laws prohibiting voters from allowing their ballot to be seen by others. Showing disdain for the intended comic nature of the campaign, a prosecutor is now threatening the blogger with criminal penalties. -DB Citizen Media Law Project

Open government advocates were concerned that a judge agreed to keep the existence of a lawsuit against a prominent actress secret. But the judge admitted error, reversed herself and ordered the case unsealed. –DB Los Angeles Times April 25, 2009 By Harriet Ryan A judge who kept a lawsuit involving actress Sharon Stone hidden from public view for six months acknowledged Friday that she made a mistake and ordered the case unsealed. In a statement

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed suit on behalf of the non-profit BlueWiki to protect their right to discuss making Apple iPods and iPhones interoperate with software other than Apple’s. –DB Electronic Frontier Foundation April 27, 2009 Press Release SAN FRANCISCO – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed suit against Apple Inc. today to defend the First Amendment rights of an operator of a noncommercial, public Internet “wiki” site known as BluWiki. EFF and the