First Amendment News

With the burden of proof on defendants in British libel cases, small newspapers are paying out thousands in libel judgments making it difficult for them to survive. Britain is also a destination for wealthy individuals wanting to sue writers especially American under British law. The government is now considering how to alter the law to allow full expression of free speech rights. -DB The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Feb. 25, 2009 By

In allowing a monument of the Ten Commandments to remain in a city park to the exclusion of a display by another religion, the Supreme Court held that the monument was government speech so could remain. The case now shifts to whether the monument violates the First Amendment under the establishment clause – the state should not establish religion. –DB First Amendment Center Deb. 26, 2009 By Tony Mauro WASHINGTON, D.C. — One way for

In a reversal of a ban established in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush, the Pentagon will allow photos of flag-draped caskets if families agree. Critics criticized the ban as a way to hide the costs of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. -DB The New York Times Feb. 26, 2009 By The Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C – News organizations will be allowed to photograph the homecomings of America’s war dead under a new Pentagon policy,

An artist who admits using an AP photo of Barack Obama as the basis for his “Obama Hope” poster used in the campaign claims that his depiction of Obama was radically different from the photo and should be allowed under the “fair use doctrine”. -DB Stanford News Service Feb.12, 2009 The artist who created one of the best-known images from Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is suing The Associated Press with the help of the Fair

The leading advocate for the scholastic free press says in a guest column in the Des Moines Register that students around the country are being routinely punished, even suspended or worse, for expressing controversial ideas or making statements critical of school administrators or school policies. The promise of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision, Tinker v. Des Moines, in affirming students’ Constitutional right to free speech has not been realized. -DB Des Moines Register By Frank