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First Amendment News

Government watchdog asks Senate to investigate use of ‘Secret Holds’

donal brown December 3, 2009

Citizens for Responsiblity and Ethics in Washington has asked the Senate ethics committee to look into the practice of stalling or halting laws or nominations without public announcement given a 2007 law barring the practice. -DB Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Press Release December 2, 2009 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) today asked the Senate Select Committee on Ethics to investigate senators’ failure to abide by a provision

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Court rules anti-SLAPP law not a defense for law firm sued for malpractice

donal brown December 3, 2009

A California appeals court ruled that a law firm could not defend itself in a malpractice suit citing California’s anti-SLAPP laws since the client’s focus was on their attorney’s quality of performance rather than their speech and petitioning activities. -DB Metropolitan News-Enterprise December 3, 2009 By Kenneth Ofgang The anti-SLAPP statute does not protect a law firm from being sued for malpractice based on activities it performed on behalf of the client who later sued

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Corporation’s attempt to out anonymous online critics runs afoul of First Amendment

donal brown December 3, 2009

USA Technologies has filed a lawsuit against two message board posters who criticized the management of the publicly traded company in the light of falling stock prices and high compensation packages. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is defending the critics against subpoenas on Yahoo! seeking the identity of the posters. -DB Electronic Frontier Foundation Commentary December 2, 2009 By Matt Zimmerman A Pennsylvania publicly-traded company has become the latest corporate entity to use the legal system

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Federal judge in Arkansas dismisses defamation suit against Dixie Chicks

donal brown December 3, 2009

A federal district court dismissed a defamation suit against the Dixie Chicks over a letter on their website that asked for support for the “West Memphis Three”, then teenagers, convicted of murdering three eight-year-old boys in 1993. Two HBO documentaries cast doubt on the guilt of the teenagers. -DB Citizen Media Law Project Opinion December 2, 2009 By Sam Bayard Yesterday, a federal district court in Arkansas dismissed Terry Hobbs’ defamation lawsuit against Dixie Chicks

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Connecticut Catholic diocese forced to release documents of allegations of priests’ sexual abuse

donal brown December 3, 2009

After losing a seven-year fight to keep documents of priests’ sex abuse sealed, the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut released the documents that reveal graphic descriptions of abuse and the failure of the Diocese to act on parents’ complaints about the priests. -DB The Hartford Courant December 2, 2009 By Dave Altimari, Edmund H. Mahony, Matthew Kauffman and Alaine Griffin Even as a young seminary student, Raymond Pcolka’s psychiatric problems caused doctors to question whether he

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