First Amendment News

The Gilroy Unified School District failed to collect millions in property taxes in December then retreated behind closed doors Feb. 5 to discuss the matter in possible violation of the Brown Act open meeting law. -DB The Gilroy Dispatch Feb 19, 2009 By Sara Suddes A paperwork error cost the Gilroy Unified School District $6 million in property taxes and has staff scrambling to find funds for a $5.3 million bond payment due in September.

Legislation is being introduced in Congress to bolster the First Amendment partially in response to British court decision in 2003 that held that a U.S. writer libeled a Saudi billionaire in a book about the funding of terrorism. -DB The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Feb. 17, 2009 By Samantha Fredrickson The so-called “libel tourism” bill that was introduced in the Senate last year is back on the table. The Free Speech Protection

When an Israeli counsel general attempted to give a lecture at San Jose State University on Feb. 5, he was shouted down. But instead of removing those disrupting the speech, campus police ultimately escorted the counsel general from the premises. A professor argues for implementing procedures to safeguard the free speech rights of controversial speakers. -DB San Jose Mercury News Editorial Feb. 19, 2009 By David Meir-Levi Few rights are dearer to the American people

A Massachusetts federal judge ruled that truth can be libelous in some private-figure cases when the statements published are malicious. The decision is thought to be especially disastrous for bloggers. -DB The Reporters Committee on Freedom of the Press February 19, 2009 By Samantha Fredrickson, Truth is no longer a defense in some private-figure libel cases in Massachusetts where the “ill will” of the speaker is established — at least according to a federal appellate