First Amendment News

Borja Lozano and Irene Larraz in Poynter, April 3, 2023, write that the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT can write a coherent, persuasive, misspelling-free text but when tested filled in gaps with false information. It can muddle fact and fiction and still seem convincing. There is a need for greater transparency on how the chatbot works and also a greater need to verify information, actually something that could be done by ChatGPT if it were improved.

A Trump appointed federal judge put a temporary restraining order on Tennessee’s law prohibiting drag performances. The judge ruled that the law, slated to go into effect April 1, was too vague. (USA TODAY. April 2, 2023, by Micaela A. Watts) The law criminalized drag shows in public venues or where children could see them. Federal district judge Thomas Parker wrote, “If Tennessee wishes to exercise its police power in restricting speech it considers obscene,

A parent sued the Orange Unified School District for alleged violations of the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law, by failing to give adequate notice for a meeting on January 5, providing an inadequate description of the items up for discussion and conducting serial meetings. (The Orange County Register, April 1, 2023, by Roxana Kopetman) State Senator Anthony Portantino introduced SB 411 to allow neighborhood councils, boards and commissions in Los Angeles to continue

The Supreme Court was divided in hearing arguments on a federal law that makes it a crime to encourage or induce an immigrant to come to or remain in the U.S. Plaintiffs argue that the law is too broad and may chill speech, an argument that some justices found wanting as the Deputy Solicitor General indicated that there was no history of prosecuting family members encouraging an immigrant to stay in the U.S. (SCOTUSblog, March

Leaked documents show how Russia intelligence is working with a contractor, NTC Vulkan, to launch cyberattacks and distribute false information on the internet. The leak came from a Russian upset about the invasion of Ukraine. The documents reveal programs to create phony social media pages and included a map of the U.S. with what seemed to be clusters of internet servers, presumably identified for possible cyberattack. (The Washington Post, March 30, 2023, by Craig Timberg,