First Amendment

The Super Heroes vs the Super PACs

Harvey Rosenfield | Posted 06.01.2012

Read More: Supreme Court, First Amendment, Corporate Power, Superpacs, Superheroes, Afghanistan War, Citizens United, Iraq War, Politics News

Looking for the Avengers? If we are going to preserve our democracy against this final assault, citizens are going to have to become the superheroes.

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On Social Media, State Department Stands Alone

Peter Van Buren | Posted 06.01.2012

Read More: Social Media, First Amendment, Army, Cia, Blog, Free Speech, Wikileaks, Aclu, State Department, Compliance, Politics News

If the hyper-classified CIA recognizes the need for an internal review of its pre-clearance process, why doesn't the State Department? If the military can co-exist without pre-clearance restraints on blogs, why can't State?

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Choking Off Coverage of Bradley Manning's Court-Martial

Shayana Kadidal | Posted 05.25.2012

Read More: Julian Assange, First Amendment, Bradley Manning Court Martial, Center for Constitutional Rights, Bradley Manning, Wikileaks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Politics News

None of the court's orders have been published. None of the transcripts have been released. And none of the government filings have been posted. Not even with redactions -- nothing.

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When Reporters Were Allegedly Attacked in Chicago, the Rights of All of Us Were Violated

Richard Schiffman | Posted 05.24.2012

Read More: Journalists, Iraq Veterans, First Amendment, Chicago Police Department, War in Iraq, US Troops Afghanistan, Anti-War, Afghanistan War, Occupy Movement, Media News

The dozens of veterans who tossed their medals in Chicago earlier this week deserve to have their protest recorded. Theirs was an act of valor and courage which was arguably equal if not greater to the deeds which earned them those medals in the first place.

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Laughable Online Censorship Attempt Won't Last a New York Minute

Chris Weigant | Posted 05.23.2012

Republicans in the New York state government are attempting to pass a law that would ban anonymous comments online. Even if they actually passed the act, once it arrived in a federal court it would be tossed out in a "New York minute" (as they say).

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NY Bill Would Eliminate Anonymous Online Comments

Posted 05.23.2012

Read More: Freedom of Speech, First Amendment, Cyberbullying, Assemblyman Dean Murray, Ny News, Anonymous Online Comments, Intnernet Protection Act, Internet Protection Act New York, New York News, Senator Thomas O'Mara, New York News

A new bill in Albany has its sights set on anonymous internet trolls. The Internet Protection Act would require sites to have online commenters identi...

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Standing Up in Wisconsin and Beyond for Our Rights in Radio!

Sue Wilson | Posted 05.22.2012

Read More: Communications Act, Censorship, First Amendment, Private Censorship, Clear Channel, Journal Communications, Media News

There is much talk amongst radio talk show hosts about their rights of Free Speech. I do not condone any kind of censorship (outside incitement to violence,) and agree radio talkers have their rights.

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The New American Order: Using Weapons of Compliance to Stamp Out Protest

John W. Whitehead | Posted 05.22.2012

Read More: Weapons of Compliance, Democratic Convention, Republican National Convention, First Amendment, Non-Lethal Weaponry, Nato, Protest, Chicago, Politics News

In the face of the government's growing power, we are all lumped into the same category: potential nuisances and rabble rousers who must be surveilled, silenced and, if necessary, shut down.

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The Police, the iPhone and Your Right to Record

Timothy Karr | Posted 05.18.2012

Read More: First Amendment, Free Press, Right to Record, Internet Freedom, Nato, Occupy Wall Street, Chicago, Video, Nato Summit 2012, Media News

While the media landscape has changed, our First Amendment rights haven't. Freedom of the press is more important, not less, when anyone with a mobile phone and an Internet connection can act as a journalist.

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ACLU: State Department Violates Constitutional Rights

Peter Van Buren | Posted 05.17.2012

Read More: We-Meant-Well, Aclu, Hillary Clinton, First Amendment, State Department, Free Speech, Politics News

(For those joining our story already in progress, here's the Twitter-length summary: I've worked for the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer...

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Does The National Day Of Prayer Mix Church And State?

HuffingtonPost.com | Jaweed Kaleem | Posted 05.03.2012

Read More: National Day of Prayer, Prayer in Public School, Religion and Politics, Engel v. Vitale, First Amendment, National Day of Prayer Unconstitutional, National Day of Prayer 2012, Establishment Clause, Public Prayer, Religion News

Hundreds of Texans are expected to come to downtown Dallas Thursday for an eight-hour string of faith-based celebrations that will include Sikh drumme...

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Student Photojournalist Beaten and Arrested While Taking Photos of Police in Public

Larry Atkins | Posted 04.26.2012

Read More: Photos, Citizen Journalism, First Amendment Rights, First Amendment, Police, Journalism, Photojournalism, Temple Student Arrested, Ian Van Kuyk, Photographing Police, Media News

Asserting his First Amendment right to take photos of police action in public, Van Kuyk refused the officers' request for him to stop taking the photos, but the officers arrested him and charged him with obstruction, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct.

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On Nugent, Saving a Liberty to Allude and Growl

The Daily Barometer | Posted 04.25.2012

Read More: Free Speech, First Amendment, Ted Nugent, Barack Obama, Secret Service, Politics News

Better safe than sorry, but investigating a public figure with a big mouth and political animosity only promotes a more restricted purview of speech, especially politically motivated forms.

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Constitution Check: Can Reporters Be Barred From Using Social Media During a Criminal Trial?

Lyle Denniston | Posted 04.18.2012

Read More: Supreme Court, Twitter, First Amendment, Jennifer Hudson, Judicial Branch, Social Media, Jennifer Hudson Trial, Politics News

If there is going to be a judicial order against tweeting or texting during a trial, it would have to depend upon a neutral justification -- some objective reason to curb this new mode of communicating. It does not appear that judges or the media have given that a lot of thought.

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Marines Return to Being "Crusaders"

Chris Rodda | Posted 04.18.2012

Read More: Military Religious Freedom Foundation, First Amendment, Marines, Separation of Church and State, Mrff, US Marines, Politics News

Under new leadership, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 122 is going back to being the "Crusaders," complete with an insignia of a crusader shield with a big red cross on it and a crusader knight as its mascot.

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Constitution Check: Do Lower Court Judges Have a Right to Criticize the Supreme Court?

Lyle Denniston | Posted 04.17.2012

Read More: David B. Sentelle, Supreme Court, First Amendment, Janice Rogers Brown, Congress, Orin Kerr, Election 2012, Judicial Branch, Economy, Politics News

Is the judicial now becoming, more often, the political? Polls show that the public now believes that this is so.

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Constitution Check: Would the Supreme Court Uphold a Ban on Super PACs Closely Linked to Candidates?

Lyle Denniston | Posted 04.12.2012

Read More: Buckley v. Valeo, Supreme Court, Super Pac, First Amendment, Democracy 21, Federal Election Commission, Fred Wertheimer, Election 2012, Citizens United, Politics News

The theory, of course, will be that, if political spending is a form of speech, there should be no limit on spending that "speaks" directly to a candidate who shares one's policy views.

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State Dept., Florida Lawmakers Cited For Free Speech Violations

AP | ZINIE CHEN SAMPSON | Posted 04.12.2012

Read More: Sam Houston State University, Norfolk Police Department, Catawba Valley Community College, First Amendment, Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, Free Speech, Muzzle Awards, Lake of the Ozarks Camdenton R-III School District, Thomas Jefferson, Shawn Goode, Wayne Garner, State Department, Salem Public Library, Video, Rick Scott, Joe Kirk, Owen North, Censorship, Virginia Department of Corrections, Dylan Thomas, Josh Wheeler, Politics News

RICHMOND, Va. — Enacting a law that bars doctors from discussing gun safety with their patients. Slicing the "f-word" from a designated free-spe...

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How Far Do First Amendment Rights Go?

Aubree Eliza Weaver | Posted 04.11.2012

Read More: First Amendment, Marines, Facebook, Gary Stein, Constitutional Rights, President, First Amendment Rights, US Navy, Freedom of Speech, US Marines, Barack Obama, Armed Forces, Tea Party Facebook Group, Obama Administration, Tea Party, US Army, College News

How are First Amendment rights different for people serving our country? Now, hear me out when I say that I'm rather torn on this issue.

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The War On Religion: A View From The Trenches

Michael Zimmerman, Ph.D. | Posted 04.11.2012

Read More: Intelligent Design, Creationism, War on Religion, Science Literacy, Evolution, First Amendment, The Clergy Letter Project, Separation of Church and State, Thomas Jefferson, Religion and Science, Religion News

The claim by Republicans that there is a war on religion turns reality on its head and attempts to make victims out of perpetrators.

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Easter at Amen Corner

Hayden Bixby | Posted 04.08.2012

Read More: Amen Corner, Easter, First Amendment, Tradition, Jesus, The Masters, The Augusta Chronicle, Social Inequality, Culture News

As an admitted outsider, to both this area of the world and this way of thinking, I confess that it's difficult to fully appreciate the graciousness of tradition when it is in such proximity to economic inequality and neglect.

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Privacy: Ditch the Cell Phone or Prepare to Disrobe

Gary Johnson | Posted 04.05.2012

Read More: Supreme Court, Technlogy, Aclu, Privacy, Cell Phone Tracking, Strip Searches, Surveillance, First Amendment, Politics News

Expecting the government to willingly constrain itself when it comes to violating our privacy is not just foolhardy; it defies everything we know about the very nature of government.

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School Reverses Decision To Cut 'God' From Song

The Huffington Post | Andres Jauregui | Posted 04.05.2012

Read More: First Amendment, God, Establishment Clause, Fox News, Bellingham, Massachusetts, God Bless the USA, Stall Brook Elementary, Lee Greenwood, Religion News

Parents at Stall Brook Elementary in suburban Massachusetts became upset after administrators planned to remove the word "God" from the Lee Greenwood ...

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Student Expelled For Profane Tweet Thrust Into Free-Speech Debate

AP | CHARLES WILSON | Posted 04.03.2012

Read More: First Amendment, Twitter, Student Tweet, Austin Carroll Tweet, Indiana Student Tweet, Garrett High School, Free Speech, Student Expelled for Tweet, Student Expelled, Austin Carroll, Indiana Schools, Freedom of Speech, Indiana High School, Social Media, Video, Center for Democracy and Technology, Social Media in Schools, Student Twitter, Education News

INDIANAPOLIS -- Austin Carroll was fighting insomnia when the Indiana teenager turned to Twitter for relief and casually dropped the F-word multiple t...

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Dave Camp: You Have The Right To Fire Aharon Friedman

Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld | Posted 05.30.2012

Read More: Dave Camp, First Amendment, Aharon Friedman, Judaism, Divorce Laws, Jewish Divorce, Religion News

Dave Camp absolutely has the power to deal with the actions of his employee, Aharon Friedman. If he wanted to, he could fire him today.

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