First Amendment News

Federal district Judge Linda Parker of Michigan slammed Sidney Powell and other lawyers who brought lawsuits challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election. She recommended sanctions as a deterrent to lawsuits “designed primarily to spread the narrative that our election processes are rigged and our democratic institutions cannot be trusted.” (CNN, August 26, 2021, by Tierney Sneed with contributions by Paula Reid and Devan Cole)) Parker said many of the lawsuits claims were “fantastical,”

The Reporters Committee with 44 media groups filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of a man assaulted by police who objected to his recording them using excessive force in an arrest. The Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled earlier in the case that a reasonable police officer would not know from their training they were violating the Constitutional when they assaulted the man. The brief explains that there were clear

A federal judge is asking why the new Justice Department policies on targeting journalists should not be applied in a criminal case against a host on Infowars, a far right conspiracy theory website. Federal judge Zia Faruqui said prosecutors would not provide details on their compliance with the DOJ new policy in pursuing an arrest warrant for talk-show host Owen Shroyer for alleged participation in the January 6 insurrection. (Wall Street Journal, August 24, 2021,

The Taliban is raiding the homes of journalists prompting one radio and TV director to go into hiding. The Taliban raided the Kabul home of Zalmay Latifi seizing cars and licensed weapons and then the next day two desktop computers. (Committee to Protect Journalists, August 24, 2021) Journalists are joining the thousands of Afghans trying to flee the country in spite of the Taliban’s pledge to respect the role of the media in correcting the

President Joe Biden is lagging far behind his two predecessors in granting interviews to news outlets. Barack Obama given 133 interviews by mid August, Donald Trump 50. Biden’s tally is nine. This may change as Biden’s popularity is wavering with the Afghanistan debacle and surging variant. (CNN, August 19, 2021, by Chris Cillizza) Biden’s news team is not anxious to put him before the news media and he waited two months into his administration to