News & Opinion

The 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge in 2011 can pursuit their lawsuit against the police. A New York police department lawyer objected to the ruling and pointed to the opinion of the dissenting judge that police have to make quick decisions in the field to protect public safety and should not be second-guessed. (Huffington Post, August 22, 2014, by Mat Sledge) The executive

The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against the Hare Krishnas asserting that the group did not have First Amendment protection for soliciting donations at the Los Angeles International Airport. The Court cited airport congestion as a key concern in rejecting the group’s lawsuit.  (Metropolitan News-Enterprise, August 21, 2014, by Kenneth Ofgang) Writing for Courthouse News Service, August 25, 2-14, Milt Policzer criticized the decision, “…we know that donating money is a form of

With mainstream newspapers cutting their international reporting, smaller media outlets are filling the void, raising questions about their ability to protect free lance journalists now proliferating in dangerous war zones. Too many reporters have inadequate protection and training given challenges in the field. (The Guardian, August 21, 2014, by Martin Chulov) Journalist James Foley beheaded by extremist Islamist fighters in Syria worked for GlobalPost that started up in 2009 and has yet to become a

Runa A. Sandvik of the Freedom of the Press Foundation reports that as of Wednesday, August 20, there has been 16 arrests of journalists in Ferguson, Missouri with law enforcement agencies clearly in violation of the First Amendment rights of reporters covering the protests. A national coalition of 48 media outlets sent a protest letter to the Missouri police agencies to make it clear that federal courts and the Justice Department have ruled that reporters

The 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected the Erie County, N.Y. contention that they could withhold from the public reports measuring their progress in complying with a federal government mandate for prison reforms.  (The Buffalo News, August 18, 2014, by Phil Fairbanks) A 2011 settlement with the Justice Department dismissed the case as Erie County agreed to investigate health and medical issues and provide two reports a year to the federal court. In ruling