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First Amendment News

Court hears arguments against government penalization of false statements

donal brown November 5, 2009

A federal court of appeals heard arguments this week on whether the government can impose criminal penalties on a man for falsely claiming he served in the military and earned the Congressional Medal of Honor. The man was convicted of violating the Stolen Valor Act which prohibits lying about military service. -DB Metropolitan News-Enterprise November 5, 2009 By Kenneth Ofgang A federal act making it a crime to falsely claim that one holds the Congressional

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No First Amendment defense in suit over man’s ejection from public meeting for making a Nazi salute

donal brown November 5, 2009

A federal court of appeals ruled that the City of Santa Cruz could eject a man from a city council meeting for a Nazi salute since the salute contributed to disrupting the meeting. The man’s attorney argued that the salute could not have been disruptive since no one noticed it. -DB Metropolitan News-Enterprise November 4, 2009 By Sherri M. Okamoto A man who was ejected from a city council meeting for giving a Nazi salute in

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California appeals court rejects arguments justifying racist remarks in East Palo Alto police department

donal brown November 5, 2009

A California district court of appeal ruled that East Palo Alto could discipline a police officer for his racist remarks, rejecting the argument that an alleged “culture of racism” in the department was sufficient to justify the officer’s discriminatory remarks to subordinates. -DB Metropolitan News-Enterprise November 4, 2009 By Kenneth Ofgang A police department’s alleged culture of racist remarks by officers did not justify a supervisory officer’s use of such language in publicly referring to

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Help available for government watchdogs

donal brown November 5, 2009

Citizens and organizations seeking information about the relationships between officials, corporations and policy makers can tap into a myriad of resources. Here is a description of ten of the most helpful watchdog projects. -DB MediaShift November 3, 2009 By Katie Donnelly With the 2010 U.S. elections coming into view, many people are looking for more information about the people running for office — and the individuals and organizations funding these candidates. Fortunately, there are dozens

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Newspaper claims constitutional protection in withholding jailhouse interview notes from county attorney

donal brown November 5, 2009

A Kansas county prosecutor has issued a subpoena to the Dodge City Daily Globe and reporter Claire O’Brien to obtain her notes, testimony and the identity of an anonymous source concerning a Labor Day shooting that left one man dead. The prosecutor says he is trying to obtain the information from other sources so O’Brien and the newspaper does not have to become, in the newspapers’  words, “an investigative agent for the government.” -DB Dodge City

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