First Amendment News

California Superior Court judges have been told to adopt security procedures that assure that courtrooms will not be closed to the press and public. The directive from the California Judicial Council responds to an incident last summer in which reporters and the public were barred from a Yolo County court hearing in a case involving the murder of a police officer. At the time, the Yolo County judge, while not defending the closure, said the

A Superior Court judge in San Diego has ruled that firefighters suffered no breach of their First Amendment rights when ordered to attend a gay rights parade. The firefighters had argued that their appearance, in uniform, at the parade constituted “coerced speech,” protected by the First Amendment. The court held that firefighters, like other government employees, accept some limitations on their free speech rights when they go to work for the government. 10/13/08 Dana Littlefield,

A seller on eBay reportedly has initiated libel proceedings in a British court based on the online feedback given by the customer. The customer wrote that the cell phone yet purchased through eBay was damaged. The seller claimed that this feedback was “unreasonable” in view of the fact that the customer had received a full refund. The Telegraph By Jon Swaine Oct 23, 2008 Chris Read used the auction website’s feedback facility to claim that

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Craiglist, the online classified advertising service, will begin charging for listings in its “erotic services” category, which includes many ads placed by prostitutes. The policy change is part of a deal that Craigslist has struck with law enforcement agencies to crack down on the use of the internet to promote prostitution. By charging for these listings, buyers will be required to submit a credit card and to give identifying

The Federal Bank has been sued under the freedom of information act to disclose the securities that the bank is accepting for loans made to banks as part of the federal government’s rescue plan for the financial system. The suit, brought by Bloomberg News Service, tests the government’s claims, made at the time the rescue plan was enacted by Congress, that loans and other transactions using tax dollars would be highly “transparent.” Nloomberg News Service