First Amendment News

A research report published by Free Press in October of 2013 argues that limiting a shield law to professional journalists ignores the realities of new technology that puts the tools of reporting into the hands of ordinary citizens. In his report Josh Stearns cites a number of instances of people committing acts of journalism including 19-year-old Karina Vargas who recorded the Oscar Grant shooting in the Fruitvale station in Oakland, California and then refused to

The city of Baltimore settled a 10-year-old lawsuit brought by the ACLU to contest rules requiring permits for citizens to protest or distribute leaflets in city parks. The city agreed to rewrite the rules to make them consistent with the First Amendment and paid a $98,000 settlement for ACLU’s legal costs. (Baltimore Brew, Octiber 16, 2013, by Mark Reutter) A press release from the ACLU of Maryland hailed the settlement as a “significant expansion of

The Obama administration lost a battle to censor “Fast and Furious,” an expose of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) failed attempt to sell high-powdered guns to Mexican drug cartels to track and arrest cartel leaders. ATF lost contact with the weapons that were ultimately used in several murders in Mexico. After members of Congress criticized the censorship, the ATF relented to allow publication with some redactions. (Politico, October 17, 2013, by

Minneapolis settled an ACLU lawsuit on behalf of an activist handcuffed and given a trespass order barring her from the property for chalking an anti-war slogan on a sidewalk in front of the Federal Building in 2011. The city settled for $5000 which went to the ACLU to cover costs of litigation. (Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 10, 2013, by Randy Furst) The activist Melissa Hill filed two previous suits against law enforcement, one for writing