Posts by Tony Mauro:
Will Osama bin Laden death photos ever appear?
Outlook for release of photos, video is uncertain in the federal courts, where precedents exist for and against release of sensitive pictures.
Court unlikely to extend speech protection to lawmakers’ votes
But justices may decide that challenged provision in Nevada ethics law is too intrusive and vague.
High court wary of Vt. limits on Rx data mining
Most justices appeared during oral arguments to view law as unconstitutional effort by state to manipulate the marketplace of ideas for its own purposes.
Inmates lose a remedy for religion-rights violations
Supreme Court ruling in Sossamon against lawsuits for money damages under RLUIPA, critics say, means states can avoid court scrutiny.
Court seems to frown on Ariz. campaign regulation
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court seemed ready yesterday to continue its work of dismantling campaign-finance laws in the name of the First Amendment, this time targeting an Arizona public-financing law that helps candidates who face rich opponents.
The Citizens Clean Election Act, passed in an Arizona ballot initiative in 1998 after a series of political scandals, [...]
Court delves into history in rare petition case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court yesterday was treated to an hourlong tour of the history of the rarely invoked petition clause of the First Amendment. By the end of the hour, however, it did not appear the Court was ready to breathe new life into the hoary right of the people to “petition the government [...]
Justices again rein in exemption to FOIA
WASHINGTON — March 2011 is turning out to be a very good month for advocates of maximum disclosure of government documents under the Freedom of Information Act.
Less than a week after an important victory limiting one of the law’s exemptions in FCC v. AT&T, the Court yesterday handed down an even more significant decision narrowing [...]
Despite high profile, few First Amendment disputes settled by high court
Freedom of speech — the hottest clause of the First Amendment in terms of attention paid to it by justices — often steals the spotlight.
Funeral-protest lawsuits won’t end with Westboro ruling
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s landmark March 2 ruling in Snyder v. Phelps gave First Amendment protection to virulent, peaceful protests at military funerals — but it won’t end the angry legal dispute over government efforts to restrict the demonstrations.
And that’s not just the view of Margie Phelps, the determined lawyer for her father’s Westboro [...]
Court’s FOIA decision cheers openness advocates
Oral arguments audio
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s decision yesterday denying the right to “personal privacy” for corporations under the Freedom of Information Act was a cause for celebration — and some laughter — for advocates of openness.
Ruling in FCC v. AT&T, the Court agreed that when Congress said law enforcement records which invade “personal [...]
Violent video games, justice by justice
Oral arguments in Schwarzenegger case show justices making series of calculations that could add up to First Amendment victory.
‘Material support’ ruling may break 1st Amendment ground
Human rights groups had claimed the law’s vague language would chill and punish benign education projects and speech aimed at defusing the conflicts that lead to terrorism.
Justices step directly into cameras-in-court debate
No matter how this week’s episode turns out, it still may serve as an alert to the high court — and to Congress as well — that the issue of access by cameras, microphones, and now Internet video, cannot be easily avoided by the slow dance that has taken place thus far.
Court grills both sides in ‘millionaire’ case
WASHINGTON — For the first half-hour of oral argument yesterday, it seemed that the Supreme Court’s traditional support of campaign-finance laws would hold.
Only Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy voiced skepticism about the law being challenged in the case Davis v. Federal Election Commission, the so-called “millionaire’s amendment,” which eases contribution limits for candidates who [...]
Head-scratching follows Garcetti ruling
WASHINGTON — A day after the Supreme Court took a new direction in its First Amendment jurisprudence concerning public-employee speech, it is almost impossible to predict where the new path will lead.
In its 5-4 ruling yesterday in Garcetti v. Ceballos, the Court seemed definitively to place an entire category of speech outside the protection of the [...]
Note: We cannot provide legal advice.
Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer/First Amendment Center. Previously, Paulson served as editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today and USATODAY.com.
Gene Policinski, senior vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center, is a veteran journalist whose career has included work in newspapers, radio, television and online.
John Seigenthaler founded the First Amendment Center in 1991 with the mission of creating national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment rights and values.
Dr. Charles C. Haynes is director of the Religious Freedom Education Project at the Newseum. He writes and speaks extensively on religious liberty and religion in American public life.
David L. Hudson Jr. is a scholar at the First Amendment Center. Hudson writes for firstamendmentcenter.org and for other publications devoted to First Amendment issues.
Tiffany Villager is director/First Amendment studies at the First Amendment Center, which she joined in 1993. She also served as the center’s research manager and research coordinator, and developed the center’s library.
