First Amendment News

President Donald Trump’s lawyers claimed the president is within his First Amendment rights to instruct followers to use “reasonable force” in ejecting protesters at his campaign rallies. The claim was part of an emergency motion asking the U.S. court of appeals in Ohio to dismiss a lawsuit filed by three people who alleged they were assaulted at a Trump rally in March of 2016. The lawyers wrote that it mattered not that the followers used

The U.S. Congress is considering a bill to make it a felony to boycott Israel with maximum civil fines of $250,000 or twice the amount of money at issue and a maximum criminal penalty of $1 million and 20 years in prison. The bill specifically prohibits joining boycotts led by foreign powers and does not restrict American citizens who choose to boycott Israel on their own. The ACLU says the bill would punish citizens for

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of The Slants to register their rock band name as a trademark, writing that given First Amendment protections, speech could not be banned for merely offending people. The Asian-American band wanted the name as a move to “reclaim a stereotype.” (Hollywood Reporter, June 19, 2017, by Eriq Gardner) With the ruling the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will not be able to deny disparaging trademarks. The court found

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a wildlife activist had a right to a jury trial to determine if a county sheriff had violated his First and Fourth Amendment rights when he was arrested while observing the federal government coaxing wild bison back into Yellowstone National Park. (Courthouse News Service, July 24, 2017, by David Reese) Activist Anthony Reed moved his car back when confronted by a sheriff’s deputy but did not move

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of of Appeals has stated its intention to decide an important free speech issue on the rights of anonymous speakers on the internet in secret without the benefit of amici briefs. The case arose when the United States served a subpoena on Glassdoor, an employer-rating site, that sought the identities of over 100 psuedonymous accounts that posted reviews on an employer subject to federal criminal investigation. Glassdoor refused to comply