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First Amendment News

Obama administration unveils 20 open government initiatives for federal agencies

donal brown December 11, 2009

The Obama administration announced that each of 20 federal agencies would provide an initiative to open government records to the public helping to fulfill an inaugural address promise for greater transparency in the federal government. -DB Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press December 10, 2009 By Miranda Fleschert Each of the 20 cabinet departments has unveiled a new open government initiative in response to the directive issued Tuesday by the Obama administration, the White House

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Watchdog group seeks access to long sought White House visitor logs

donal brown December 11, 2009

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

donal brown December 11, 2009

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

donal brown December 10, 2009

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

donal brown December 10, 2009

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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