First Amendment News

An abortion foe is asking the Ninth Circuit appeals court to allow the publication of footage illegally obtained in 2014 and 2015 of the proceedings of the pro-choice National Abortion Federation. In arguments to the court, an attorney compared the case to New York Times Co. v United States or the Pentagon Papers case in which the Supreme Court ruled for releasing the papers, citing public interest in the papers and the importance of protecting

Former President Donald Trump has refused to release the search warrant for his Mar-a-Lago residence as he blasted the search as politically motivated. In the meantime, Judge Bruce Reinhart, who issued the warrant, imposed a deadline of August 15 for the Justice Department to respond to a request from the conservative Judicial Watch for the unsealing of the search records. (New York Post, August 10, 2022, by Callie Patteson and Steven Nelson) David French of

The FBI conducted a search at Mar-a-Lago, Florida for highly classified documents that were potentially not turned over to the National Archives when former president Donald Trump left office. If they find documents, it could be a violation of the Presidential Records Act that requires preservation of communications related to official duties. Fifteen boxes of documents were retrieved last January so it is not known why it was necessary to look for more. (The Washington

A study of state laws regulating speech about government and policies revealed that states faltered in protecting the free speech rights of citizens with no laws that burden speakers or groups. Only Wisconsin earned over 80 percent and 35 states earned less than 50 percent with New York at 15 percent. Both blue and red states scored poorly with California at 28 percent and Florida at 29 percent. (Institute for Free Speech, August 8, 2022,

The Defense Department joined the Secret Service and Homeland Security on a list of government agencies that destroyed material related to the January 6 insurrection. Court records show that the government-issued phones of acting defense secretary Christopher Miller and Army Secretary Ryan McCathy were wiped clean when they left the government. Those officials were in charge of mobilizing the National Guard to protect the Capitol. (The Washington Post, August 2, 2022, by Karoun Demirjian and