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prior restraint

Justice Department freezes music blog for a year supposedly for copyright infringement

donal brown December 12, 2011

The Justice Department seized the assets of a popular music blog, Dajaz1, reportedly for violations of copyright, but did not give the blog a day in court to fight the action. Writing in TechDirt, Mike Masnick says it was an outrageous act, “I suspect that nearly all of you [readers] would say that’s a classic case of prior restraint, a massive First Amendment violation, and exactly the kind of thing that does not, or should

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Tribute: Civil rights leader left legacy of First Amendment gains

donal brown October 10, 2011

The civil rights leader, Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth, who died last week, made a lasting contribution to First Amendment law in winning a judgment by the U.S. Supreme Court that Birmingham’s ordinance requiring a parade permit was prior restraint and unconstitutional. -db From a commentary for the First Amendment Center, October 7, 2011, by David L. Hudson Jr. Full story

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A&A: Can my city require six days notice for a permit to picket or is that prior restraint?

FAC October 7, 2011

Q: The city has drafted a new ordinance that requires six days notice and a permit to picket or demonstrate on main drags, and two-to-four days on smaller ones. Is this a violation of free speech rights/ A: Public streets are generally considered public forums — in fact, they have been called “‘the archetype of a traditional public forum.’” Gaudiya Vaishnava Soc. v. San Francisco, 952 F.2d 1059, 1065 (9th Cir. 1991) (quoting Frisby v.

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Washington: Local police seek anonymous creator of cop parody videos

donal brown August 9, 2011

Renton, Washington police are seeking the identity of the creator of some videos critical of their department in what they describe as a cyberstalking investigation. Police are asking Google to reveal the name of the creator using the pseudonym “Mrfuddlesticks.” The videos contain profanity and sexual content and name members of the department. The affadavit for a search warrant says, “Three individuals have came [sic] forward and have identified themselves as being persons targeted by

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Online newspaper refuses to honor federal court order to remove video clips relating to Gulf oil spill

donal brown July 14, 2011

An online newspaper The Daily is refusing to comply with a federal judge’s order to remove video clips of former British Petroleum CEO Tony Hayward testifying on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The judge indicated she may rescind the order. The court had issued a pretrial order forbidding the publication of video or audio records of Hayward’s deposition without the court’s permission. -db From The Reporters Committee for Freedom of

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