News & Opinion

In considering a case to define “true threats,” the U.S. Supreme Court seemed to favor a narrow rule for determining when speech loses First Amendment protection. During arguments in Counterman v. Colorado, about a man convicted of stalking a musician, the court was interested in whether the man intended to cause fear rather than how the musician felt. (Bloomberg Law, April 19, 2023, by Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson) The musician said she “extremely scared” by the

Fox settled with Dominican Voting Systems for $787.5 million as the defamation lawsuit was just underway. Fox released a statement acknowledging “…the court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false” but is not expected to be required to issue an a correction or apology for broadcasting lies about election-rigging during the 2020 presidential election. (Reuters, April 18, 2023, by Helen Coster and Jack Queen) Law professor Catherine Ross says that with the settlement

A Oklahoma county sheriff and other county officials discussed killing two local reporters and lynching Black people, prompting Governor Kevin Stitt to called for them to resign. (The Hill, April 17, 2023, by Cheyanne M. Daniels) The FBI is investigating the officials who expressed their frustrations at not being able to beat up and lynch Blacks and their wanting to hire a hit man to kill two reporters of the local newspaper who had done

Tom Jones in Poynter, April 11, 2023, reports that the State Department designated Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich “wrongfully detained.” The Russians arrested him last month for espionage. The designation means our government is denying that he is a spy and that the case will be handled by the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs that negotiates the release of hostages. The editorial board of the Financial Times, April 4, 2023,