Calif. principal seizes student newspaper
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Holder defends subpoenas for AP telephone records
Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress Wednesday that a serious national security leak required the secret gathering of telephone records at The Associated Press as he stood by an investigation in which he insisted he had no involvement.
Senate Dem revives media shield law
A top Senate Democrat plans to revive legislation that would protect journalists and their employers from revealing their sources, days after it was revealed that the Justice Department secretly obtained Associated Press phone records.
Judge refuses to block WWL-TV from airing video
A federal judge has refused to block a New Orleans television station from using surveillance camera video of a confrontation last year inside a supermarket between store employees and an alleged shoplifter who died weeks later.
Dems, GOP raise concerns over subpoenas to AP
The leaders of a House panel told Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday that they had serious concerns about the Justice Department’s gathering of phone records at The Associated Press.
Seizure of AP phone records: An affront to a free press
What The Associated Press calls “a massive and unprecedented intrusion by the Department of Justice”(DOJ) into its news gathering activities is more than an affront to a free press — it’s a direct challenge.
Haslam vetoes bill aimed at animal abuse stings
Gov. Bill Haslam on Monday vetoed a bill that would require images that document animal abuse be turned over to law enforcement within 48 hours, saying his main concern is its constitutionality.
Gov’t probe obtains wide swath of AP phone records
The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative’s top executive called a “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into how news organizations gather the news.
Watergate Era: ‘A’ peak in journalism
Forty years ago this week, The Washington Post – and its self-described “young and hard-digging reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein” – took home a Pulitzer Prize for public service for coverage of the Watergate scandal.
House OKs measure mitigating defamation lawsuits
The Texas House has passed a bill allowing publishers to mitigate the effects of libel lawsuits if the party affected by a mistake doesn’t request a correction or retraction.
Senators reject repeal of Science Education Act
A Louisiana law that allows public school science teachers to use supplemental materials in their classrooms will remain on the books, despite criticism that it’s a back-door way to teach creationism.
Korean vets assoc. president wore brother’s medals
The president of the Korean War Veterans Association admitted Wednesday that he wore combat medals belonging to his late brother to several public functions, including some with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
Hawaii shield law likely dead as chambers differ
Hawaii’s shield law that protects journalists from revealing anonymous sources is likely to expire at the end of June after House and Senate lawmakers moved forward Tuesday with separate plans to extend the legislation.
Parents sue radio station, others over son’s photo
A Nashville family is suing a media company and two others in federal court in Tennessee after they say a Tampa radio show posted an altered photograph of their son with Down syndrome on its website.
Gawker refuses court order in Hogan sex tape suit
Editors at the gossip website Gawker said Friday they’re not complying with a Florida court order to remove material related to a privacy lawsuit involving former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan.
New Hawaii shield law draft cuts out free media
A panel of Hawaii lawmakers on Thursday approved a new draft of the state shield law that removes protections for free newspapers and magazines and requires that newspapers must be printed in order to be covered.
THE EXPERTS
The First Amendment Center is an educational organization and cannot provide legal advice.
Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, D.C. Previously, Paulson served as the editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today.
Gene Policinski, senior vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center and president and chief operating officer of the Diversity Institute, 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 an expert in First Amendment issues who writes for firstamendmentcenter.org and for other publications. Hudson teaches law and was a scholar at the First Amendment Center.
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.
