First Amendment News

Foundation sues for records of illegal acts of intelligence agencies

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed suit in federal court to force the CIA and other government agencies to disclose reports on possible violations of the law by intelligence agencies during the Bush administration. -DB Electronic Frontier Foundation July 22, 2009 Press Release SAN FRANCISCO – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed suit today against the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and a half-dozen other federal agencies involved in intelligence gathering, demanding the immediate release of reports

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Federal judge closes civil trial over prison killing

Constitutional lawyers are saying that when a Los Angeles federal judge closed a two-day trial in the 2005 prison killing of a Jewish Defense League activist, he was likely to have violated the First Amendment. -DB Los Angeles Times July 24, 2009 By Carol J. Williams A Los Angeles federal judge took the highly unusual step of closing a two-day trial this week in a case involving the 2005 prison killing of Jewish Defense League activist

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New laws proposed to save newspaper industry

In the face of the shrinking revenues for print journalism, some are suggesting new laws, including ones that would restrict linking and that would create a federal law enshrining the “hot news” doctrine. -DB MediaShift July 21, 2009 By Jeffrey D. Neuburger As newsroom staffs continue to shrink and newspapers go out of business at an alarming rate, the difficulty newspapers have experienced in gaining economic traction online has been blamed on blogs and websites

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White House releases logs showing visits by medical industry executives

Under pressure, the Obama administration released logs of White House visits of medical industry executives just after the inauguration, fueling speculation that the industry gained concessions in the private meetings. -DB First Amendment Center July 23, 2009 By The Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — Administration officials began talking privately to major players in the health care industry within a few weeks of President Barack Obama’s inauguration, a newly released list of White House visitors shows. During

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Homeland Security first government agency to harness social media

The Homeland Security Department is the first cabinet-level agency to implement Obama directives on social media, offering a YouTube channel and formulating plans to use Twitter in event of disasters. -DB NextGov July 22, 2009 Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Homeland Security Department relaunched its Web site Wednesday and became the first Cabinet-level agency to follow the tech-savvy White House directives on social media. President Barack Obama’s aides have been urging agencies to add interactive components

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