First Amendment News

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Trump administration for its attacks on the press at the U.S.-Mexico border. The suit claims U.S. border officials targeted five journalists for detention, interrogation and searches. The lawsuit intends to hold the administration accountable for preventing journalists from informing the public about how the government is treating asylum seekers on the border. (ACLU, November 20, 2019, by Scarlet Kim, Esha Bhandari and Mitra Ebadolahi) The ACLU said

The Supreme Court agreed to consider a 1986 federal law found by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to be a violation of free speech rights. Ninth Circuit Judge A. Wallace Tashima authored an opinion that found the law could be used to chill political speech and prohibit simple statements of support. (The New York Times, November 11, 2019, by Adam Liptak) The case will test the conservative wing of the Supreme court on

The media and open government advocates won a battle over the California Attorney General by gaining access to a list of hundreds of current and former police convicted of criminal acts. Journalists obtained the public record by asking a state agency for it, but Attorney General Xavier Becerra claims the journalists are breaking the law by possessing a document it never should have been given. (techdirt, November 15, 2019, by Tim Cushing) With UC Berkeley

A federal jury in San Francisco found that conservative activists had no right to use hidden cameras to make videos to discredit Planned Parenthood. The jury awarded Planned Parenthood over $2 million. The jury rejected the activist ‘s First Amendment arguments finding “fraud, trespass, breach of contract, illegal recording, civil conspiracy and violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.” The Recorder, November 15, 2019, by Ross Todd) David Daleiden and a co-defendant, Sandra

A federal district judge ruled that the FBI could not maintain its covert domestic social media spying. The judge was unimpressed by the argument that the FBI had to protect the information to keep criminals from knowing the capabilities and techniques used by law enforcement. (Courthouse News Service, November 18, 2019, by Nicholas Iovino) When the FBI refused to confirm or deny the existence of records on social media spying, the American Civil Liberties Union