First Amendment News

Watchdog group seeks access to long sought White House visitor logs

Judicial Watch is suing the Secret Service for access to unreleased visitor legs requested under the Freedom of Information Act. The government cited national security concerns for some of the logs. -DB Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press December 10, 2009 By Miranda Fleschert Mere weeks after the White House began publishing select visitor logs online, the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch has sued the U.S. Secret Service for access to still-unreleased visitor logs

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England considering changes in libel laws

British lawmakers are conducting hearings and proposing legislation concerning their libel laws considered  to strongly favor those bringing defamation suits and consequently hazardous to free speech. -DB The New York Times December 11, 2009 By Sarah Lyall LONDON — England has long been a mecca for aggrieved people from around the world who want to sue for libel. Russian oligarchs, Saudi businessmen, multinational corporations, American celebrities — all have made their way to London’s courts, where

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Federal shield bill for reporters passes major hurdle

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send the federal media shield bill to the full Senate after months of debate and amendments. The contentious issue of whether bloggers and other citizen journalists will be covered by the bill has yet to be determined. -DB Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press December 10, 2009 By Cristina Abello The Senate Judiciary Committee today voted to present the federal media shield bill to the full Senate, a

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Movie star must show allegations of homosexuality actionable defamation

Movie star Ron Livingston will have no slam dunk in his defamation suit against an anonymous Internet user who falsely claimed Livingston was romantically involved with a man. CMLP’s Sam Bayard says there is no firm legal precedent supporting Livingston’s lawsuit. -DB Citizens Media Law Project Analysis December 9, 2009 By Sam Bayard Maybe I’m a big dork, but I think Office Space is a totally hilarious movie. And based on his starring role in the

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Secrecy News cites two agencies that need to get with the program on new federal transparency

The director of the Program on Government Secrecy says that key government departments are responding to the new open government directive but that two agencies stand out for blocking public access, the CIA and the Open Source Center. -DB Secrecy News Federation of American Scientists Commentary December 10, 2009 By Steven Aftergood The Obama Administration’s new open government policy has begun to elicit a response from executive branch agencies. The Department of Defense, the Department of

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