News & Opinion

Attorney and law professor David Hudson says that Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s decisions concerning the First Amendment does not reveal a set pattern indicating her direction in future rulings. -DB First Amendment Center Commentary May 28, 2009 By David L. Hudson Jr. Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s record doesn’t show a rigid, ideological outlook on First Amendment issues. Sotomayor — nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Barrack Obama to replace the departing Justice David Souter —

A federal judge threw out Florida’s electioneering law holding that the law blocks political speech of groups discussing issues, even when they are not taking sides. The state plans to appeal the ruling. -DB Orlando Sentinel May 26, 2009 By Aaron Deslatte TALLAHASSEE, Flor. — Federal Judge Stephan Mickle has tossed out Florida’s electioneering communications law, effectively freeing groups that spend unlimited sums of money on attacking candidates from requirements to publicly disclose their donors.

While the Obama administration gets points for making an effect to involve the public in government, open government advocates and others say the effort needs a lot of tweaking especially in designing sites that are open to collaboration and creating web-based software programs so that government information is unified under one online offering. -DB NextGov May 27, 2009 By Aliya Sternstein President Obama was criticized during the presidential campaign for promoting himself as a community

An Australian journalist and university lecturer sees Twitter breaking down traditional structures in the the media, particularly in reporting breaking stories and connecting with the public for information and fresh perspectives on the news. -DB MediaShift May 27, 2009 By Julie Posetti Twitter became big news once journalists realized its power as a tool for breaking stories during the Mumbai Massacre in 2008. In the aftermath of the micro-blogging platform hitting the headlines, there was

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has ruled in favor of right of access in cases about pubic and press access to government records but in Freedom of Information Act cases has ruled in favor of withholding records. -DB Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Press Release May 27, 2009 The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has released a report summarizing the First Amendment and freedom of information opinions of Supreme Court nominee