First Amendment News

Federal immigration authorities opened temporary tents along the Texas border to consider immigrants’ requests to remain in the U.S., but none of the hearings are open to the news media. (USA TODAY, September 11, 2019, by John C. Moritz) A Homeland Security official said the proceedings, mostly asylum requests, were not public and closed to reporters. Another official said the proceedings were unique because of “law enforcement sensitive priorities” at the border. A Human Rights

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Montana law violated the First Amendment by banning political robocalls. The court said the ban was content-based so detrimental to free speech. The 1991 law prevented automated calls to people with messages of five categories, one of which was political. (Route Fifty, September 11, 2019, by Bill Lucia) Courts have consistently upheld bans on robocalls in ruling on laws such as the Telephone Communications Privacy

After citizens packed a town hall meeting in protest, the Alhambra City Council scuttled a plan to change time limits from five to three minutes and prevent speakers from submitting second requests to comment. (Pasadena Star-News, September 10, 2019, by Christopher Yee) The Long Beach City Council is also seeking to speed up its meetings by limiting the speaking time, in their case to 90 seconds if 10 or more citizens sign up to speak

To discover the identities of Trump-related organizations and individuals, several news outlets are challenging Deutsche Bank’s redactions in a letter it filed in the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. . President Donald Trump is attempting to torpedo congressional subpoenas for tax records held by Deutsche Bank. The news organizations including The New York Times, Washington Post and The Associated Press say that the public’s right to know outweighs any privacy concerns or contracts made

In a move to protect the agency’s legitimacy, the National Weather Service director defended his forecasters who refuted President Donald Trump’s assertion that hurricane Dorian was a threat to Alabama. Without knowing the source of the assertion, the forecasters stepped up to defend the public and prevent panic and rumors. The director lauded them for promoting public safety. (PBS, September 9, 2019, by Jay Reeves of The Associated Press) National Weather Service staff were instructed