News & Opinion

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that policies limiting subpoenas and search warrants against journalists are now codified. Justice Department lawyers will be trained in the new policies. The department must now avoid using investigative tools against journalists with exceptions for national security and public safety. (CBS News, October 26, 2022, by Robert Legare) Garland solidified policies in place in July of 2021 after it was revealed that former Attorney General Bill Barr secretly sought the

An internet industry association asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a 2021 Florida law that interfered with the editorial prerogatives of social media companies. The association said, “The law openly abridges the targeted companies’ First Amendment right to exercise editorial judgment over what content to disseminate on their websites via requirements that are speaker-based, content-based and viewpoint-discriminatory.” (CBS News, October 24, 2022, by CBS Miami Team)The case is attracting its share of amicus briefs

A California superior court judge ruled that a baker who conducts a Christian-based bakery was protected by the First Amendment in denying service to a lesbian couple. The court, in a tentative decision issued Oct. 21, deemed the creation of a wedding cake as “pure speech” so the baker was protected in refusing the service even though state law forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Law & Crime, October 24, 2022, by Colin Kalmbacher) The