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  • Posts

    First Amendment

    FAC Urges L.A. City Council to Reject Ban on Certain Epithets at Council Meetings

    […] City Council urging it to reject a ban on using the "C-word" or "N-word" at city council meetings. FAC writes: "While public officials and private persons are free to express their disagreement with certain speech, the government may not silence speech simply because it finds the speech offensive, degrading, or upsetting to some or many."

    April 28, 2025

  • Cases

    Newsgathering

    FAC Defends Fresnoland Reporter Against Subpoena

    […] begin April 10, 2025. Representing Orihuela, FAC sent a letter to the city attorney’s office on April 7, 2025, explaining that California’s reporter shield law prohibits the government from compelling a reporter to testify about any information not contained in a published story. The letter also noted that a reporter’s testimony is not necessary […]

    April 15, 2025

  • Asked and Answered

    First Amendment

    How do I know whether a city retaliated against me for criticizing it?

    […] 940 F.3d at 1054 (quoting City of Houston v. Hill, 482 U.S. 451, 461 (1987)). In particular, as the Supreme Court has noted, "the First Amendment prohibits government officials from subjecting an individual to retaliatory actions, including criminal prosecutions, for speaking out." Hartman v. Moore, 547 U.S. 250, 256 (2006). As another court said, […]

    April 1, 2025

  • Latest News

    Press Release

    Community Group and Huntington Beach Residents Sue City Over Library Censorship

    […] learn—to see one’s experience reflected by others or to imagine oneself in the shoes of another," said David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition. "The government has no business standing in the way of young people as they grow into adulthood by reading about the diverse experiences of the world around them." […]

    February 27, 2025

  • Latest News

    Blog

    The Bryan Carmody Story In-Depth

    […] more clear: Authorities may not use a search warrant to seize material protected by the state’s journalist shield law. That law, among the nation’s strongest, generally prevents government officials from obtaining journalists’ unpublished materials, including confidential sources. And yet police obtained five warrants from five different judges to search Carmody’s property and phones. Then […]

    September 3, 2019

  • Latest News

    FAC News Press Release

    FAC Welcomes Four New Members to its Board of Directors

    […] Gin, Antonia Hernández, and Irene Lee bring decades of experience and leadership to FAC as it continues expanding its impact in defense of a free press, open government, and free expression. Ashley Alvarado is the newly appointed President and CEO of Texas Public Radio (TPR), a nonprofit media organization that serves South Central Texas. […]

    October 29, 2024

  • Latest News

    Advocacy Blog

    Criticism Is Not Defamation. It’s Free Speech.

    […] that "derogatory comments against district employees or others made in a board meeting can be actionable as defamation under certain circumstances." This statement violates the First Amendment and California law. Today FAC sent this letter to the school board informing it that such threats are unconstitutional, emphasizing that "critique of government is democracy, not defamation."

    October 28, 2024

  • Posts

    First Amendment Public Meetings

    FAC Urges Merced School Board President to Stop Threatening Speech Rights

    […] immunity for statements made in legislative proceedings such as school board meetings whenever the statements have some relation or connection to the proceeding." "More fundamentally, critique of government is democracy, not defamation," Cappetta wrote. The letter asks Brooks to disavow the statement and publicly affirm the board’s commitment to the First Amendment. As of […]

    October 28, 2024