First Amendment News

A Pennsylvania doctor lost in federal district court on his claim that a state law preventing him from informing his patients of the dangers of hydraulic fracturing. The judge wrote that the doctor failed to show that the law, in fact, restrained him from communicating with patients. (Courthouse News Service, October 31, 2013, by Rose Bouboushian) Dr. Alfonso Rodriguez filed the lawsuit against state officials i9n 2012 contending that the law forces doctors to sign

David Pozen, Just Security, October 21, 2913, argued that the federal shield law under consideration in the U.S. senate may not work to reporters’ advantage. He reasons that the Justice Department now has to endure public wrath for pursuing journalists trying to protect sources. Under a federal shield law, they can claim that in bringing journalists to task they are following the law. Journalists could still prevail if they won a high percentage of cases

The Associated Students of Chaffey College barred a student newspaper reporter from a meeting held to remove the student body president from office. The reporter protested that under California’s open meeting laws, public bodies may only close meetings to discuss employee issues but that the president was not employed. (Student Press Law Center, October 24, 2013, by Samantha Sunne) The Moreno Valley City Council is attempting to pass a new policy allowing the city clerk

Angered by revelations that the National Security Agency was spying on United States allies, including the e-mails of German Prime Minister Angela Merkel, congressional leaders are proposing new checks on the agency. Senator Dianne Feinstein, one of NSA’s staunch defenders, complained that as chair of the Senate intelligence committee she was not informed about NSA’s activities and called for a review of its programs. (MSNBC, October 28, 2013, by Adam Serwer) Patriot Act authors, Senator

Google’s recent unveiling of three services to promote free expression on the web has been hailed as a major advance in protecting dissidents and progressives working under autocratic regimes, but in reality the services may be less than touted. Google Idea, the Google “think/do tank” based in New York City, announced October 21 that it is developing uProxy, Project Shield and Digital Attack Map. –uProxy allows persons in countries with a repressive government to evade censorship and