First Amendment News

ACLU loses challenge to surveillance law

A federal judge dismissed a challenge to a law allowing the government to examine without warrants the international e-mails and phone calls of U.S. citizens. -DB American Civil Liberties Union Press Release August 20, 2009 NEW YORK – A federal court today dismissed an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit challenging an unconstitutional government spying law. The ACLU and the New York Civil Liberties Union filed the landmark lawsuit in July 2008 to stop the government from

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Broadcom co-founder tries to keep appeal hearing secret

Accused of securities fraud, a co-founder of Broadcom Corp. wants to bar the public from his hearing before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. -DB The National Law Journal August 20, 2-009 By Amanda Bronstad Henry Samueli, the co-founder of Broadcom Corp., is fighting to keep the public out of a pending hearing before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in which he is seeking to reinstate a plea deal that he reached last year

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Social networking ban on convicted sex offenders deemed unconstitutional

A blogger for the Citizen Media Law Project says that the new Illinois law making it illegal for convicted six offenders to use social networking websites is probably unconstitutional and certainly unenforceable. -DB Citizen Media Law Project Commentary August 20, 2009 By Andrew Moshirnia The memory of pain can be one of the best painkillers. Anyone who has had the misfortune of enduring acute physical agony has later repurposed that nightmare as a psychic analgesic. “This

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Lawyer of right wing blogger claims FBI paid client to make threats

The lawyer for a New Jersey hate blogger charged with threatening to kill judges and lawmakers said his client was paid by the FBI to make his online rants. -DB Wired August 19, 2009 By David Kravets A notorious New Jersey hate blogger charged in June with threatening to kill judges and lawmakers was secretly an FBI “agent provocateur” paid to disseminate right-wing rhetoric, his attorney said Wednesday. Hal Turner, the blogger and radio personality,

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Obama administration making headway in transparency efforts

While its efforts have been criticized, the Obama administration has launched promising initiatives to bring accountability and transparency to government and continues to work on improvements. -DB OMB Watch Commentary August 18, 2009 At the close of President Obama’s first 200 days in office, the administration has demonstrated a willingness to experiment with new technologies and their potential role in making government more participatory and accountable. New e-government tools have been deployed to keep track of

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