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First Amendment News

Redondo Beach city attorney warns of pitfalls to social networking in local government

donal brown August 19, 2010

Redondo Beach has launched social networking pilots to create greater transparency and public participation, but the city attorney warns of complications concerning California’s open meeting law, the First Amendment and the expense of maintaining the sites. -db Redondo Beach News August 18, 2010 By Sascha Bush The City Attorney’s office spoke to the Redondo Beach City Council at its Aug. 17 meeting about the practical uses and potential perils of today’s most popular social networking

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Pa. court bars release of county official’s e-mails

FAC August 18, 2010

Pennsylvania courts’ broad exemption from the Right-to-Know Law shields judicial records from public scrutiny even when they are in the hands of agencies that are subject to the law, a three-judge panel of the state Commonwealth Court has ruled. August 18, 2010 By The Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. — Open-records advocates said enforcement of the 19-month-old law could be hindered by the Aug. 11 decision, which revolves around what Lackawanna County officials have described only

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Immigration judge blasts leak in Obama’s aunt’s asylum case

FAC August 18, 2010

A judge who granted asylum to President Barack Obama’s African aunt ruled she deserved to stay in the United States because a federal government official leaked her status to a news organization, making her a potential target for persecution in her native Kenya. August 18, 2010 By The Associated Press BOSTON — U.S. Immigration Judge Leonard Shapiro blasted the leak by the unidentified official in his 29-page ruling granting asylum to Zeituni Onyango in May.

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Court says lying about Medal of Honor no crime

FAC August 18, 2010

A federal law making it a crime to lie about receiving the Medal of Honor or other military decorations violates freedom of speech, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. San Francisco Chronicle August 18, 2010 By Bob Egelko SAN FRANCISCO –Although a Southern California water board member convicted of violating the Stolen Valor Act made “deliberate and despicable” claims that he had received the Medal of Honor, the Constitution prohibits the government from prosecuting someone

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Federal judge rules against Kansas law prohibiting nonresident petitioning

donal brown August 17, 2010

Citing the First Amendment, a federal district judge struck down a Kansas law that prohibited nonresidents from circulating petitions in Kansas. -db The Winfield Daily Courier August 14, 2010 By Roxana Hegeman Associated Press Writer WICHITA (AP) — A federal judge struck down as unconstitutional on Friday a part of a Kansas law that prohibits nonresidents from circulating petitions within the state. U.S. District Judge Sam Crow ruled that the law violates the First Amendment

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