First Amendment News

Smartmatic settled its lawsuit against the right-wing One America News Network for its broadcast of false claims that Smartmatic tipped the election to President Joe Biden in swing states. The terms of the settlement were confidential. (The Washington Post, April 16, 2024, by Jeremy Barr) Los Angeles County was the only site for Smartmatic activity in the 2020 election. Last year Dominion Voting Systems settled with Fox News for $787 million. (Axios, April 17, 2024,

Publishers are rallying to a challenge to Iowa’s book ban law, now blocked but under appeal to the Eight Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The law banned books with descriptions of sex and instruction and materials involving gender identity and sexual orientation through the sixth grade (Publishers Weekly, April 16, 2024, by Andrew Albanese) In the meantime, Pen America reported that book banning is sweeping the country with over 4,300 books banned in the first

The U.S. Supreme Court passed up an opportunity to safeguard the right to protest in refusing to decide if a demonstration leader could be sued for injury to a law enforcement officer perpetrated by a member of the protest. A police officer hit in the head by a rock or piece of concrete sued Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson claiming he was liable for “the reasonably foreseeable consequences of [his] one’s own negligent, illegal

To fight the lack of transparency in California state government, CalMatters is establishing Digital Democracy: a database with information on state issues; a website to view state agendas and get information about state legislators, their activities, politics, policy interests. campaign finances and personal backgrounds; and a smart AI tool that can search data and provide ideas for journalists. (CalMatters, April 9, 2024, by Sonya Quick) For related FAC coverage, click here.

The UC Berkeley law school dean Erwin Chemerinsky says that a protest staged at his home during a law student dinner was not within the bounds of First Amendment protection. “No one has the right to come into my house, or yours, and disrupt a dinner,” said Chemerinsky. The Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine mounted the protest. (ABA Journal, April 11, 2024, by Debra Cassens Weiss) In his commentary on the incident, Josh