First Amendment News

Facebook handed off a decision on ex-president Donald Trump’s suspension from Facebook and Instagram to an independent Facebook-funded review board. The board is comprised of more than 40 prominent figures including a former prime minister, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and several legal and rights experts. (The Washington Post, January 21, 2021, by Elizabeth Dwoskin) Facebook’s move comes amid calls for action given the role Trump played in the January 6 storming of the Capitol

Princeton professor Keith E. Whittington, Lawfare, January 19, 2021, that if former President Donald Trump’s lawyers cite the First Amendment in a Senate trial, the Senators should not consider it consequential. For one thing, an office holder can be convicted for actions that are lawful. Plus they only have limited First Amendment protection for things said on the job. Articles of impeachment against Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton and recently Trump were are

A Ventura County judge ruled that Senate Bill 1421 requiring police to open records of misconduct, use of force and shootings does not apply retroactively, prompting an appeal to the state Second District Court of Appeals. The police union contends that the California Legislature did not directly say that the law applied to conduct that took place before Senate Bill 1421 was passed. FAC opposed the judge’s ruling and filed an amicus brief with the

President Donald Trump has ridden roughshod over the Presidential Records Act, routinely ripping up documents that workers worked to tape back together. With his term ending, Trump delayed transferring documents to the National Archives and Records Administration while he contested the election, increasing anxiety over whether the public will ever have an accurate and complete record of his presidency. (Associated Press, January 17, 2020, by Deb Riechmann) Access to Trump’s records is not immediate in

Legal experts say that attorney Sidney Powell erred badly in making unfounded and preposterous claims that the Dominic Voting Systems fixed elections. The company charged Powell with defamation per se, and Powell’s statements about the company are clearly rooted in facts rather than opinion. “This case is notable because Powell and her associates made so many provably false statements of fact that can’t be dismissed as mere hyperbole or political rhetoric,” said First Amendment attorney