First Amendment News

Hearings are underway in the United Kingdom to determine if WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be extradited to the U.S. for releasing thousands of secret cables and files related to U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Assange says he should be treated as a journalist with First Amendment protections. President Donald Trump faces a dilemma in that some conservatives want to try Assange for his assault on national defense while others want him free

Conservative talk show host Dennis Prager lost his lawsuit against YouTube charging the company with given his videos lessor circulation than liberal videos. The 9th Circuit U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision that YouTube was a private forum not subject to the First Amendment. (The Hollywood Reporter, February 26, 2020, by Ashley Cullens) Prager had argued that YouTube was a public forum since it invited public use of its site to

A federal district judge dismissed a First Amendment lawsuit against Charlottesville by a “Unite the Right” organizer who claimed the city shut down his event in 2017 after threats and violence. Jason Kessler had a permit to hold an assembly but was shut down on public safety grounds. Norman Moon ruled that it was not practical to expect police to single out violent protesters from others to allow the event to proceed. He also rejected

Tennessee lawmakers are considering two bills that would establish parental oversight boards for public libraries whose decisions on removing material would not be subject to appeal. The boards would focus on inappropriate sexual content. If librarians did not comply with board decisions, they would face misdemeanor charges and fines. (BookRiot, February 24, 2020, by Kelly Jensen) A Missouri bill also aimed at inappropriate sexual material for children would subject librarians out of compliance to jail

Washington Post columnist Margaret Sullivan, February 23, 2020, suggests that given President Donald Trump’s recent triumph in defeating checks and concentrating power, it is not enough for the media to fact check and call out lies and distortions. Given the stakes, Sullivan argues, the media must report the slide to autocratic government without euphemisms, with greater emphasis and urgency. To do less is to mislead the public into thinking there is another side to this,