First Amendment News

A Mississippi administrator found himself canned for reading a book to second graders that referred to farting and described rear ends in various colors, shapes and sizes. (The New York Times, March 11, 2022, by Maria Cramer and Isabella Grullon Paz) Prosecutors decided not to pursue charges against a woman who accused a nurse employed at a college with making misleading public statements against mask-wearing and vaccinations. (The Livingston Post, March 10, 2022, by Jon

Reporters and photojournalists have been killed covering the war in Ukraine. Beyond dodging lethal force, they have had difficulties embedding with Ukrainian forces and convincing villagers they are not spies. As with others in battle zones, they endure the emotional toll of seeing the dead. (Committee to Protect Journalists, March 14, 2022, by Natalie Gryvnyak) Small Ukrainian news outlets are continuing to report the news founded through online contributions and stocking up on bulletproof vests,

Free Press’ Nora Benavidez, Georgia Recorder, March 8, 2022, slammed SB 171 for its potential to violate citizen’s free speech rights. The law requires a permit for any protest leaving the choice of protests up to enforcement agencies. It would restrict the free speech rights of state employees. Local governments would be liable for damages resulting from failure to provide protection during protests and expands the definition of “unlawful” assembly.”This is a recipe for disaster,

In a ruling favoring the election technology company Smartmatic, a justice of the New York Supreme Court ruled that company could proceed in its libel lawsuit against Fox News. Fox hosts and guests alleged Smartmatic fixed the election to defeat former President Donald Trump. “…Fox News turned a blind eye to a litany of outrageous claims about plaintiffs, unprecedented in the history of American elections, so inherently improbable that it evinced a reckless disregard for

George Freeman and Lee Levine, The Washington Post, March 8, 2022, cite a comprehensive study of Times v. Sullivan by the Media Law Resource Center that mounts a staunch defense in favor of keeping Sullivan in place. Freeman and Levine write that there has been an increase in libel lawsuits brought by politicians, officials and corporate figures, not usually for injury to reputation or loss of earnings but to punish the media for speaking the