First Amendment News

Rudy Guiliani filed a counter suit against Smartmatic to pay his legal fees in a $12.7 billion lawsuit the company brought against him for false claims over the rigging of the 2020 presidential election. Guiliani claims the Smartmatic litigation blocks his right to speak out on matters of public interest. (U.S.News & World Report, June 14, 2022, by Jonathan Stempel of Reuters) Giuliani argues since a New York state judge dismissed some of Smartmatic’s claims

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) adopted new rules in dealing with journalists that require approval before arresting journalists and issuing subpoenas for their records. The new policies would allow reporters to cooperate voluntarily before using “compulsory tools.” (The Washington Times, June 14, 2022, by Stephen Dinan) Reporters would be notified in advance if a subpoena, court order or search warrant were in the works, and these tools would only be applied when there

The 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals limited the reach of federal cyberstalking law on actions “with the intent to kill, injure, harass, intimidate, or place under surveillance with intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate another person.” The action must also put a victim in reasonable fear of death or injury. The court found that the law was not overbroad in restricting speech in the case U.S. v. Yung. The court reasoned that the

A developer is suing the City of Richmond alleging a violation of the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law, in voting to deny special taxing in relation to a plan for 1,400 homes at Point Molate. The developer claimed there was scant time between meetings and said the expeditious settling of the matter indicated the possibility of secret or serial meetings. (Richmond Confidential, June 9, 2022, byi Madeline Taub) The Cypress town council is

The Sandy Hook families who successfully sued Alex Jones for defamation in two states are anticipating trials to determine his penalties now that his quest for bankruptcy has ended. (newstimes, June 8, 2022, by Rob Ryser) “Initially, writes Dan Solomon in the Texas Monthly, June 8, 2022, “it appeared as if the cases might present some compelling constitutional questions about whether Jones’s speech was protected under the First Amendment. As they progressed, though, it became clear that