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First Amendment

Freedom from Fear

David Sirota | Posted 09.21.2009 | Politics

Read More: Health Care, Guns, Second Amendment, Gun Laws, First Amendment, Health Care Protests, Town Hall Meetings, Guns at Town Halls, Politics News
David Sirota

The rise of gun-toting protesters at town hall meetings has put citizens' right to bear arms in direct conflict with their right to attend public political meetings without fear of physical retribution.

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Guns That Talk

Robert Koehler | Posted 09.20.2009 | Politics

Read More: Second Amendment, Freedom of Speech, First Amendment, Assassination, Racism, Obama, Town Hall Meetings, Guns, Rage, Politics News
Robert Koehler

We must check our weapons, but not our ideas, as we enter the debate.

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Sorry, Glenn Beck's Job is Not Protected by the First Amendment

Henry Blodget | Posted 09.20.2009 | Media

Read More: Glenn Beck, Barack Obama, News Corp, First Amendment, News Corporation, Fire Glenn Beck, Media News
Henry Blodget

The First Amendment does not allow employees of private corporations to say whatever the heck they feel like saying regardless of how much it embarrasses their employers.

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Radio Speech Is Not Free Speech

Sue Wilson | Posted 09.17.2009 | Media

Read More: National Hispanic Media Coaltion, First Amendment, California Common Cause, Rush Limbaugh, Media Alliance, Free Sppech, Glenn Beck, Broadcast Blues, Michael Savage, Media News
Sue Wilson

There is a difference between shouting on the street corner and broadcasting all over the country.

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Comedy Central Saves America with Intelligent Satire

Michael B. Laskoff | Posted 09.15.2009 | Media

Read More: The Colbert Report, First Amendment, Rush Limbaugh, Comedy Central, Drew Altman, Morning Joe, The Daily Show, Kaiser Family Foundation, Astroturfing, Stephen Colbert, Msnbc, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Jon Stewart, Satire, Annenberg Public Policy Center, Fox News, Political Satire, Glenn Beck, Bill Moyers, Media News
Michael B. Laskoff

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert pass themselves off as comedians, but they are really the most influential satirists of the day: they inform and illuminate through ridicule.

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Republicans, Healthcare and Money

Stu Kreisman | Posted 09.03.2009 | Politics

Read More: Senator Max Baucus, Mark Sanford, First Amendment, Dick Armey, President Obama, Jeff Bingaman, Charles Grassley, Bobby Jindal, Olympia Snowe, Tea Baggers, Single Payer, Big Pharma, Politics News, Obama Stimulus Plan, Economic Stimulus Package, John Enzi, Max Baucus Health Care, Health Care, Birthers, Rick Perry, Health Care Reform, Kent Conrad, Pharmaceutical Industry, Politics News
Stu Kreisman

All but three Republicans voted against the stimulus, yet they all are gladly taking the money. Seeing a trend here?

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A Matter of No Middle Ground

Harvey Grossman | Posted 08.29.2009 | Politics

Read More: James Crowley, Right to Free Speech, First Amendment, Henry Louis Gates, Police, Police Officers, Politics News
Harvey Grossman

Everyone knows that as prudent people we ordinarily should not get "lippy" with a police officer, but Professor Gates is not guilty of violating that maxim. He was standing up for his rights.

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Gates's Arbitrary Arrest: It Happens in New York Too

Michael Henry Adams | Posted 08.27.2009 | New York

Read More: First Amendment, Mayor Bloomberg, Barack Obama Racism, Rnc, Williams Sisters, Police Brutality, Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Change, Ophrah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, False-Arrest, Racism, NY Times, Congressman Charles B. Rangel, Henry Louis Gates Arrested, Henry Louis Gates, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court Justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, New York News
Michael Henry Adams

Irrespective of how educated or rich one might be, to be a black man in America is still a condition in which one feels he has no rights that any police officer is bound to respect.

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Obama Backtracks Calling Police Action Stupid: Was It Moderation or Is Obama Becoming the First Wimp?

Michael Russnow | Posted 08.25.2009 | Politics

Read More: Michael Jackson, Democratic Convention, Abc, First Amendment, Russnow, Twitter, Nbc, Anderson Cooper, Cbs, Brian Williams, Barack Obama, Sgt. Leon Lashley, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Msnbc, Harvard, Cnn, David Gergen, Presidential Election, Charlie Gibson, Harvard Law Review, Sgt. James Crowley, Katie Couric, Michael Russnow, Michael Jackson Toxicology Reports, Youtube, Cambridge Police Department, Fox News, Ram Productions, Henry Louis Gates, 2012 Primaries, Politics News
Michael Russnow

The fact that our president won't stand behind his words when they become controversial makes me quite concerned about his future.

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Lots of Smoke, Little Fire

Shawn Healy | Posted 08.15.2009 | Politics

Read More: Supreme Court, Evan Bayh, Jay Rockefeller, First Amendment, U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Flag Desecration, Harry Reid, David Vitter, Politics News
Shawn Healy

Our elected officials have decided to put national health care and cap and trade legislation on hold to diminish the 45 words of the First Amendment via a flag desecration amendment.

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What Sotomayor Could Mean for Network Neutrality and the First Amendment

Marvin Ammori | Posted 08.12.2009 | Politics

Read More: First Amendment, Fcc, FCC Media Consolidation, Federal Communications Commission, Free Speech, Sonia Sotomayor, Network Neutrality, Barack Obama, Politics News
Marvin Ammori

Here's the question I'd ask Sotomayor: Please tell us about the free speech rights of media, telephone, and cable companies. That is, do their rights trump the rights of citizens and users of media?

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Murder Threats and the First Amendment

Martin Garbus | Posted 08.07.2009 | Politics

Read More: Supreme Court, Right-Wing Bloggers, Hal Turner, Right Wing Radio, First Amendment Rights, First Amendment, Shouting Fire, Politics News
Martin Garbus

The increasing number of threats that emanate from right-wing media present important First Amendment issues anew. Whichever case goes to the Supreme Court will undoubtedly create new law.

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Do you know what a CMU is?

Sheila Shayon | Posted 07.27.2009 | Politics

Read More: Animal Lab Testing, CMU's, First Amendment, Politics of Food, Freedom of Expression, Amy Goodman, Andrew Stepanian, Political Prisoners, Aeta, Politics News
Sheila Shayon

Animal rights activists imprisoned in secret prisons. This actually goes on in America, 2009.

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Why China's Green Dam Proposal Endangers American Technology and Human Rights

Gary Shapiro | Posted 07.24.2009 | World

Read More: Human Rights, First Amendment, Consumer-Electronics-Association, Gary Shapiro, Internet Filtering, Cea, China, Censorware, Hacking, Censorship, Green Dam, World News
Gary Shapiro

When any government demands control of its citizens' computers, the world must take note. I urge the technology community to tell Beijing that control through mandatory software is unacceptable.

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Building a National Innovation Movement

Gary Shapiro | Posted 07.18.2009 | Business

Read More: First Amendment, Consumer-Electronics-Association, Global Economy, Zogby International, Austin, Free Trade, Congress, Immigration, Atlanta, Innovation, US Economy, Gary Shapiro, Silicon Valley, H1B Visa, Entrepreneurship, Technology, Cea, Zogby Poll, R&D, Cuba, China, Research Triangle, Business News
Gary Shapiro

Will we step boldly into the new economic reality with a plan for creating jobs? Or will we look to unsustainable government protections that will force the US to take a backseat in the new era?

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Painting a Bulls-Eye on the First Amendment

Leslie Harris | Posted 07.13.2009 | Media

Read More: Supreme Court, First Amendment, Richard Blumenthal, Communications Decency Act, United States, Attorney General, Craigslist, Classified Advertising, Media News
Leslie Harris

The Connecticut Attorney General's assertion that online speech has lower First Amendment protection than speech in newspapers is shocking. He clearly needs to brush up on First Amendment law.

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Secrecy Sacrificing National Security

Shahid Buttar | Posted 07.11.2009 | Politics

Read More: Secrecy, Civil Liberties, First Amendment, Government Secrecy, Warrantless Surveillance, Rule of Law, Surveillance, Fbi, Democracy, Racial Profiling, Torture, FBI Surveillance, Nsa, Guantanamo Detainees, Michael Mukasey, Dianne Feinstein, Guantanamo, Cointelpro, Abu Ghraib, American Muslims, Guantanamo Bay, Fisa, Constitution, China, Terrorist Surveillance Program, Politics News
Shahid Buttar

Our nation's most notorious criminals violate our most fundamental laws and remain not only free, but actively engaged in influencing our national security policies.

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Oh, the Hypocrisy: First Amendment Attorneys Would Destroy the Internet to Save Newspapers

Art Brodsky | Posted 06.18.2009 | Media

Read More: Internet, First Amendment, Newspapers, Fair Use, Future of Journalism, Death of Newspapers, Journalism, Media News
Art Brodsky

The sense of entitlement that has characterized the newspaper business for the past 150 years is now going too far, conflating the business of journalism with the freedoms due the practice of journalism.

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Let's Bail Out Newspapers with First Amendment Ads!

Tom Cosgrove | Posted 06.14.2009 | Politics

Read More: First Amendment, Timothy Geithner, Death of Newspapers, Newspapers, Obama, Frank Rich, Newspaper Industry, Politics News
Tom Cosgrove

Some day, the business will sort out its model. And at that point, the federal government can stop subsidizing newspapers. But until then, we need a bridge. Badly.

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Michael Savage Hangs Up on NPR

Sam Sedaei | Posted 06.07.2009 | Media

Read More: Freedom of Speech, Npr, Michael Savage, First Amendment, Hamas, Israel, U.K., England, Neil Conan, Media News
Sam Sedaei

It's ironic that someone like Michael Savage sees no hypocrisy in defending his right to the First Amendment only to show outrage and intolerance toward the views of someone he doesn't agree with.

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The Case of the Compassionate City

Reverend Billy | Posted 06.05.2009 | Living

Read More: First Amendment, Consumerism, Public Space, Compassion, Living News
Reverend Billy

If the bull-horn is seized, the old diner is bulldozed. But if the bull-horn has its free speech, the diner stays. Compassion needs the voices. We solved the crime.

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Is Independent Thought Extinct in America?

Leslie Weise | Posted 05.29.2009 | Politics

Read More: Constitutional Rights, First Amendment, Social Security Privatization, Alex Young, Aclu, Leslie Weise, Denver Three, Politics News
Leslie Weise

Being forcibly removed for the mere possibility of having a difference of opinion was, to say the least, frightening and disturbing

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Jewish Professor Rejects Brandeis Honor To Protest "Pork Eater" Obama Invite

MJ Rosenberg | Posted 05.29.2009 | Comedy

Read More: Notre Dame, First Amendment, Obama, Glendon, Satire, Comedy News
MJ Rosenberg

Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon is rejecting an honorary degree from Notre Dame because President Obama, who supports abortion rights, will deliver the commencement address.

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The Campus Culture Wars in Two Videos

Greg Lukianoff | Posted 05.22.2009 | Politics

Read More: Freedom of Speech, University-of-Delaware, Campus Liberty, First Amendment, First Amendment Rights, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, Valdosta State University, Fire, Greg Lukianoff, Politics News
Greg Lukianoff

In fighting free speech battles on campus, I have been caught up on the front lines of our country's bizarre and cantankerous culture wars.

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Farewell to Judith Krug, Champion for Intellectual Freedom

Patricia Martin | Posted 05.15.2009 | Chicago

Read More: Intellectual Freedom, Banned Books, Banned Books Week, Libraries, Judith Krug, First Amendment, Judith Krug Obituary, Constitutional Rights, Chicago News
Patricia Martin

Ever vigilant about protecting Americans' Constitutional rights, Krug liked to snuff out First Amendment powder kegs before they exploded in people's faces.

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