First Amendment News

A law signed by the Tennessee governor prescribes harsh penalties for protesters including loss of the rights to vote and to bear arms. The law increases penalties for camping on state property to a felony with a possible jail term of one to six years. (USATODAY, August 22, 2020, by Kerri Bartlett of The Tennessean) The American Civil Liberties Union denounced the law that goes into effect immediately as a move to “severely criminalize dissent.”

The U.S. Justice Department is appealing a lower court decision that said in blocking critics on Twitter, President Donald Trump violated the First Amendment. In asking the Supreme Court to reverse the decision, the department claims the lower court erred in finding his Twitter account a public forum since much of his online posts are private rather than official. (The Hill, August 20, 2020, by John Kruzel) A spokesperson for the Knight First Amendment Institute,

A California superior court judge found that the court could not prevent a woman involved in a bitter divorce from blogging about her husband. To calm the waters, Marin County Superior Court Judge Beverly Wood ordered the woman to cease posting information online the judge felt was harassing. Judge Roy Chernus found the order a violation of the woman’s First Amendment rights. Law professor Eugene Volokh said about the case, “Some narrow categories of speech,

Faced with an election that he probably has scant chance of winning fairly, President Donald Trump may use secret powers to overturn the election. The powers are exempt from congressional oversight and provide “extraordinary president authority in response to extraordinary situations.” Since the Eisenhower presidency, administrations have revised the powers while keeping them secret. Former Senator Gary Hart wants to shine a light on these powers called PEADs. “I want them public, because they affect

A reporter for Politico is seeking a report explaining delays in voting last March in a debut of a $300 million voting system in Los Angeles County. The county said it would not release the full report to protect confidential information intended to safeguard and improve the voting system. (Courthouse News Service, August 12, 2020, by Nathan Solis) The American Civil Liberties Union claims the Pomona City Council and the unified school district are breaking