Pay attention to what's happening in this case: the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals just essentially ruled that it's fully legal to jail journalists for reporting leaked information, or any information they obtain from government officials without going through "proper channels."
I've been drawing strips for years about attacks on students' right to protest, yet strangely I've never been invited to give a TED Talk, speak at an "ideas festival," or pen a column for the Atlantic.
Some jails allow book shipments from Amazon and big-box chains, while denying book shipments from independent bookstores. Now, an independent bookstore, Avid Bookshop, has filed a lawsuit alleging that this is unconstitutional.
TL;DR: The Wikimedia Foundation is urging the US Supreme Court to strike down laws in Texas and Florida that threaten Wikipedia's community-led governance model and freedom of expression.
Another troublesome ruling by the 5th Circuit, which held (over the dissent of Judge Willett) that a nonviolent protest organizer can be sued by a police officer if the officer is hit by a rock thrown by a rogue protester, disregarding SCOTUS #FirstAmendment rulings to the contrary. The chief distinction seems to be this was a #BlackLivesMatter protest, so those guys don’t get 1A rights. https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/17/17-30864-CV4.pdf
“This is very, very unsettling if you are a journalist ... because they are basically saying you can’t do certain things that are obviously something you would do as a journalist.”
As Washington Post media reporter Paul Farhi points out, while it is illegal to leak grand jury information, it is not illegal for a news outlet to publish a story based on that leaked information. An outrageous breach of the First Amendment in Atmore, Alabama, where a reporter and the publisher of the weekly Atmore News face criminal charges for committing journalism. #FirstAmendment#journalism Free link: https://wapo.st/3sO8hyD
“We are up against a bunch of rich people who don’t want to see #homeless people anywhere near their stuff.”
Volunteers with #Houston Food Not Bombs are going to court to fight an anti-food sharing ordinance which they say violates their First Amendment rights, reports Staff Writer Michelle Pitcher in our latest article: https://www.texasobserver.org/houston-food-not-bombs-trial/
Florida interprets it ban on DEI initiatives as " apply[ing] to all campus programs and activities in which the college or university “endorses or promotes a position” on “topics that polarize or divide society among political, ideological, moral, or religious beliefs, positions, or norms.”" https://newrepublic.com/article/176402/desantiss-war-woke-colleges-absurd-dangerous
It is hard to overstate how unconstitutional this is.
Hearing more and more about the police seizure of a newspaper's office IT equipment in Kansas, and several things are becoming clearer than ever:
The US should not be entrusted to guard the free world. If local police are doing this, imagine what our military can do when it starts to favor the autocratic tendencies of this country over the wished of the people.
Police will also fall back on "we were just trying to keep you safe" excuse. In this case, they claim to be investigating identity theft. If you called the police about your identity theft, do you think they would respond this way? No. Do you think there is a way to prevent identity theft while allowing a newspaper to function? Of course. They are up to something else, but hiding behind the authority they think they deserve.
If the police continue to go rogue and militaristic, and they circle the wagons whenever they do something wrong, what value do they add to our communities? This question's importance is as clear as ever.
DENVER (AP) — Attorneys for former President Donald Trump argue that an attempt to bar him from the 2024 ballot under a rarely used “insurrection” clause of the Constitution should be dismissed as a violation of his freedom of speech....
Last Monday, @foodwpb & community partners protested the City Commission’s ongoing repression against sharing food and the 7 citations issued so far @fau_sol@palmbeachdsa@greenbackdistro
Those peaceful #Christians intentionally destroyed a #holiday display by #TheSatanicTemple in the #Iowa State Capitol. Just imagine how these same people would react if #Satanists had trashed a #Christmas display. It would be wall-to-wall emergency coverage on #FoxNews, and Y'all Qaeda would get in their trucks and gather under the town Christmas tree for public acts of outrage. The #FirstAmendment protects us all, not just Christians.
Just in: Priscilla Villarreal, the controversial journalist known as La Gordiloca, says she'll appeal her case to the Supreme Court after a ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals which could threaten journalists across three states.
[News] Trump argues First Amendment protects him from 'insurrection' cases aimed at keeping him off ballot (apnews.com)
DENVER (AP) — Attorneys for former President Donald Trump argue that an attempt to bar him from the 2024 ballot under a rarely used “insurrection” clause of the Constitution should be dismissed as a violation of his freedom of speech....