Twenty protesters, including civil rights leader and Princeton professor Cornel West, were found guilty of disorderly conduct when they stood in front of a police station to protest the new York City police policy of stop-and-frisk. -db From ABC News, May 4, 2012, by Jennifer Peltz, Associated Press. Full story
Together with Occupy protesters and journalists, the New York City Council is asking a federal court to appoint a monitor for the policy department on First Amendment rights. The request followed the beating of a council member who had gone to the Occupy site, complied with a police directive but was still attacked and arrested. -db From the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, May 3, 2012, by Chris Healy. Full story
A mayor lost a round in federal appeals court over the firing of an employee, Keri Williams, and an attempt to muzzle the employee’s colleague, Lindsey Whitney, whom he ordered not to speak out for Williams. The appeals panel ruled that, in fact, the mayor committed prior restraint in violating Whitney’s First Amendment rights. -db From the First Amendment Center, May 2, 2012, by David L. Hudson Jr. Full story
Chicago police won’t enforce Illinois’ controversial eavesdropping law during the NATO summit in May. The law makes it a felony to record a police officer without his or her consent. Thousands of protesters are expected to descend on Chicago to protest the summit, and civil rights advocates feared that police could use the eavesdropping law to arrest otherwise law-abiding protesters. -db From the Chicago Tribune, April 28, 2012, by Ryan Haggerty. Full story
A federal judge ruled that the University of California, Berkeley students were possibly the victims of discrimination when, rather than just receiving citations, they were arrested for protesting budget cuts and tuition hikes while sitting in at Wheeler Hall. The students claimed they were jailed for exercising their First Amendment rights to protest. -db From the Courthouse News Service, April 27, 2012, by Chris Marshall. Full story