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First Amendment News

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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Judge rules no TV for transit police murder trial

donal brown December 3, 2009

To put the lid on excessive publicity, Los Angeles Judge Robert Perry ruled that there would be no TV for the trial of Johannes Mehserle for shooting an unarmed rider January 1 in Oakland, California. -DB San Francisco Chronicle November 3, 2009 By Demian Bulwa LOS ANGELES — Hours after being assigned to preside over the murder trial of former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle, a veteran Los Angeles County judge made his first big decision,

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