First Amendment News

A federal appeals court ruled that Charleston could not enforce an ordinance forcing guides to study a guide and pass a test to obtain a license to conduct tours of the city’s historic districts. The court found that the ordinance violates the First Amendment by restricting speech, “…it completely prohibits unlicensed tour guides from leading visitors on paid tours—an activity which, by its very nature, depends upon speech or expressive conduct. Although we acknowledge that

The same sources spreading nonsense about the protests over George Floyd’s killing were the ones disseminating false claims about the pandemic. The contention is that roving gangs of anti-fascist protesters are causing disruption in towns and cities across the nation. As before, older Republican Trump-backers are relaying the nonsense. Those working for police reform must deal with the obstructive messages. (MIT Technology Review, June 10, 2020, by Joan Donovan) Geoffrey A. Fowler of The Washington

Seattle protesters have commandeered a section of the city where they make speeches and organize without police presence. The section called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone also features free food and water, a free movie and free gas masks. It is not known when or if the police will take back the streets or if the occupants will establish any enduring cohesion. (The Seattle Times, June 10, 2020, by Evan Bush) Under pressure for their tactics

After Twitter challenged President Donald Trump’s assertions on their platform, some social media companies are acting to suppress content promoting injustice, racism and violence. Snapchat said recently that they will no longer let false information and hate go unchallenged. (salon, June 7, 2020, by Nicole Karlis) Snapchat announced it would no longer promote President Donald Trump’s account in its “Discover” page of content. The decision came after Trump tweeted messages that promoted violence during protests

A federal sided with the Center for Investigative Reporting, ruling in a Freedom of Information Act case that injury and illness records of employers must be made public thus eliminating the secrecy shrouding worker safety. Under the ruling, employers will now have incentives to improve safety records as they can now more readily be held accountable. The Trump administration had suspended Obama-era rules requiring companies to electronically report injury and illness records. The case was