News & Opinion

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers argued in federal appeals court that when Trump made his speech to followers before the January 6 attack on the capitol, he was acting within his official role as president and could not be sued by Democratic members of Congress and Capitol police officers. The appeal judges were skeptical that when Trump said “if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” that he was

With oral arguments, the U.S. Supreme Court seemed to lean toward ruling that a web designer in Colorado could refuse to serve same-sex couples given her Christian ideals. Their ruling could establish a First Amendment right to put religious beliefs above a state’s interest in restricting discrimination based on sexual orientation. (The New York Times, December 6, 2022, by Adam Liptak) Berkeley law dean Erwin Chemerinsky, Los Angeles Times, December 4, 2022, warns that a

Law professors Michele Goodwin and Mary Ziegler, The New York Times, December 3, 2022, document the way anti-abortion advocates are trampling free speech rights to advance their cause. State legislature are passing laws making it a crime to provide information about abortions or to promote them. There is no love for free speech in laws that would outlaw speech that “encourages or facilitates efforts to obtain an illegal abortion.” For related FAC coverage, click here,

The Internet Archive launched Democracy’s Library, a searchable online collection of the world’s government publications. Recently documents were often for sale through commercial databases or in collections aging and deteriorating with little or no standards for accessibility. The new library is expected to be a boon for reporters trying to hold politicians accountable and for reporters working on international affairs. (Columbia Journalism Review, December 5, 2022, by Maria Bustillos) For related FAC coverage, click here,