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May 8, 2012

Five Freedoms

Is a click worth a thousand words? Judge says Facebook ‘like’ not protected by First Amendment Exactly what a “like” means — if anything — played a part in a case in Virginia involving six people who say Hampton Sheriff B.J. Roberts fired them for supporting an opponent in his 2009 re-election bid, which he won. The workers sued, saying their First Amendment rights were violated.(AP)

Mo. lawmaker says he is gay, denounces school bill Wyatt was joined by nine other Democratic and Republican lawmakers in denouncing Missouri legislation that would prohibit teaching, extracurricular activities or materials that discuss sexual orientation, unless they relate to the scientific facts about human reproduction.(AP)

The Polka Dot House Next Door: Awesome or Eyesore? Jim Deitz, a retired house painter, is in the process of converting a two-story house into an apartment rental complex, by covering the exterior in brightly-colored dots.(Yahoo News)

City Lays Out Digital Rules For Teachers The Department of Education also is considering asking parents to sign consent forms before children participate in social-media activities and before their children's work or pictures appear online, and informing parents about how social media is being used in schools.(WSJ)

Feds Seized Hip-Hop Site for a Year, Waiting for Proof of Infringement Federal authorities who seized a popular hip-hop music site based on assertions from the Recording Industry Association of America that it was linking to four “pre-release” music tracks gave it back more than a year later without filing civil or criminal charges because of apparent recording industry delays in confirming infringement, according to court records obtained by Wired.(Wired Magazine)

Middleborough Police Chief Proposes $20 Fine For Swearing Public swearing is so bad in Middleborough that they’re considering a plan to start enforcing a longstanding but rarely-used law. Folks in town have had enough of kids and some adults who think it’s OK to drop high-volume obscenities in their otherwise bucolic downtown. (WBZ-TV)

Op-ed: In Missouri, perils and politics of ‘don’t say gay’ If 20 Republican lawmakers in Missouri have their way, it will soon be illegal for administrators, teachers and even students to talk about homosexuality in the state’s public schools.(FAC)

4th Circuit sides with S.C. governor in union case Gov. Nikki Haley won a federal appeal in a lawsuit over anti-union remarks yesterday, with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals saying it agreed with a South Carolina judge’s dismissal of a case by two unions.(AP)

Iowa governor signs open-government measure The Republican governor approved the overhaul of Iowa’s open-government laws at a signing ceremony at the Capitol. The proposal comes after years of debate about enforcing laws that give the public access to government meetings and records.(AP)

Federal suit filed charging violation of first amendment rights A federal lawsuit has been filed naming Allegan City officials and the Council on Islamic-American Relations, claiming they violated the first amendment when they shut down a speech by self-described former terrorist Kamal Saleem.(WKZO)

Federal judge rejects officer's suit A former Weare police officer's refusal to alter a police report is not protected under the First Amendment, a federal judge ruled last week.(Concord Monitor)

Blago Attorney Not Pleased With Jokey Billboard Sorosky, who represented Blagojevich during the former governor's two trials, pointed to the "Right to Publicity Act" that says a person's identity can't be used for commercial purposes without getting written consent first. (NBC Chicago)

Best Buy Employee Wrongly 'Outed' Denver Man A heterosexual man in Denver claims that a Best Buy employee wrongly "outed" him on Facebook after he left his phone for repair.(ABC)

Humphrey Bogart 'Casablanca' Photo on Facebook Prompts Lawsuit Against Burberry The clothing retailer says it has a First Amendment right to tell the history of its brand, and that the use of Bogart's photo is not a commercial exploitation of the actor.(Hollywood Reporter)

Federal court tosses Three Cups of Tea lawsuit A federal judge yesterday dismissed a civil lawsuit against author Greg Mortenson, calling claims “flimsy and speculative” that the humanitarian and his publisher lied in his best-selling Three Cups of Tea and Stones Into Schools books to boost sales.(AP)

Fla. governor putting some state e-mails online Scott’s decision to make public his e-mails comes nearly nine months after he ordered an investigation into how and why e-mails he wrote before he became governor were deleted.(AP)

Corrupt Kentucky sheriff brought down by reporters There had long been suspicions that Sheriff Hodge was dirty, but nobody - not even federal agents - could prove it. That's when two local journalists -- both in their 20s -- launched their own investigation. And they soon discovered poking into the affairs of a powerful county sheriff can be risky business. (CBS News)

AP apologizes for firing reporter over WWII scoop In World War II’s final moments in Europe, Associated Press correspondent Edward Kennedy gave his news agency perhaps the biggest scoop in its history. He reported, a full day ahead of the competition, that the Germans had surrendered unconditionally at a former schoolhouse in Reims, France. For this, he was publicly rebuked by the AP, and then quietly fired. (AP)

Do-over: N.C. newspaper takes back endorsement North Carolina's largest newspaper rescinded its endorsement in a congressional primary Thursday, saying the Republican candidate "has done nothing but embarrass us and himself" since receiving their backing less than a week ago.(CNN)

Tom Brokaw: 'It Is Time To Rethink' White House Correspondents Dinner Tom Brokaw lamented the media's coverage of politics on Sunday's "Meet the Press," calling out the White House Correspondents Dinner in particular. (HP)

Op-ed: Tom Brokaw’s right -- glitterati have no place at White House dinner With the celebrity factor cranked up higher every year, with commentators and news reporters stumbling over themselves to get an iPhone snapshot with an Oscar nominee, with talk show hosts roasting the president as if he’s David Hasselhoff at the Friars Club, the dinner has become one of the most embarrassing events of the year for journalism.(CST)

Atheists Crash City Hall's National Day of Prayer Observance Mayor Dan Drew said he interpreted the First Amendment to mean "respecting all beliefs as long as we are not singling out one and endorsing it officially." The handful of atheists in attendance disagreed.(Middletown Patch)

R.I. mayor resolves to fight for cross memorial An estimated 1,500 people, many of them veterans, turned out yesterday in Woonsocket to defend a war memorial topped with a cross, the constitutionality of which is being challenged by an atheist group.(AP)

20 activists found guilty in protest of NYC police policy Twenty activists have been convicted of disorderly conduct at a protest over a contentious police policy, ending a trial that they used to spotlight their message. Prosecutors said the trial was about the conduct of the protesters, not the police.(AP)

Kent State survivors seek new probe of 1970 shootings - Survivors of the shooting of 13 students by the Ohio National Guard during an anti-war demonstration at Kent State University in 1970 called on Thursday for a new probe into the incident that came to define U.S. divisions over the Vietnam War.(Reuters)

Student Freedoms

Students who made racist Twitter posts face sports suspensions, more In a prepared statement, Safier said students involved in a stream of racist comments targeting Joel Ward — the Washington Capitals' player whose goal eliminated the Boston Bruins from Stanley Cup play April 18, and one of hockey's few black players — would "lose participation in a sport for a considerable length of time," and any of them with "leadership opportunities in extracurricular activities, or sports," will forfeit those as well.(Gloucester Times)

Colo. boy, 6, suspended for reciting ‘I’m sexy’ lyric A 6-year-old boy was suspended from his suburban Denver school for three days after school officials said he told a girl “I’m sexy and I know it,” a line from a popular song.(AP)

13-Year-Old West Hartford Student Tells Metropolitan: 'Your Map Is Wrong' Every so often, a visitor at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City questions the accuracy of an exhibit, but Helen Evans, one of the museum's curators, says not all of them are right.(Hartford Courant)

Naming of rape victim leads to dispute at Bridgewater State A college newspaper that printed the name of a rape victim who spoke at a recent rally against sexual violence has caused an angry backlash on campus here and touched off controversy over the administration’s response.(BG)

Op-ed: Free press at Bridgewater It’s hard not to sympathize with her, given the circumstances. But she disclosed her name in a public appearance. Her identity was not hidden in any way. A photograph of her standing, bullhorn in hand, appeared with the story.(BG)

Op-ed: Little value, needless harm in printing rape victim’s name If it’s appropriate to publish the identity of a victim because she’s “already known” to the school community, why doesn’t the paper also publish the names of students who get in trouble for underage drinking, drug use, cheating, etc.? Most of these offenses either take place in front of other students or are well-known to students.(Patriot Ledger)

College list pulled from Glen Rock High School paper The traditional listing of Glen Rock High School seniors and colleges that accepted them, published in the final issue of the Glen Echo school newspaper, will definitely not appear this year, as per principal John Arlotta.(Glen Rock Gazette)

Judge to hear case of Commandments in Va. schools The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia is suing on behalf of a student to remove the Ten Commandments from Narrows High School, saying the display violates the First Amendment's protection against government endorsement of religion. The Giles County School Board, represented by Liberty Counsel, has argued that the Ten Commandments are part of a larger presentation that includes other key historical documents.(AP)

Op-ed: When Is School Drug Testing Legal? Introduced in the late 1980's as part of the war on drugs, school drug testing has become commonplace in public schools across the country. Still, some think school drug testing polices go too far and violate a student's Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. (Reuters)

The Struggle Continues

Native Americans’ lawsuit on Sioux nickname tossed A judge has thrown out a federal lawsuit by a committee of tribal members trying to save the University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux nickname, an issue that has been debated on several fronts since the NCAA in 2005 declared the moniker hostile and abusive.(AP)

Texas again barred from cutting funds to Planned Parenthood A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed May 4 with a lower court that there’s sufficient evidence the state’s law preventing Planned Parenthood from participating in the Women’s Health Program is unconstitutional. The program provides basic health care and contraception to 130,000 poor women.(AP)

Court: Ex-Bush aide protected from ‘torture’ lawsuit The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out a convicted terrorist’s lawsuit against John Yoo. Jose Padilla alleged Yoo’s memos allowed for his captors to subject him to harsh interrogation that amounted to unconstitutional torture.(AP)

Student Abandoned in DEA Cell for 5 Days to Sue for $20 Million A 23-year-old California college student who was left in a dark federal detention cell for five days without food, water, or a toilet has filed a claim against the U.S. government for $20 million.(ABC)

Republicans Challenge Arizona Redistricting Lead plaintiff Wesley Harris claims the new district map violates the "one-person/one-vote requirement of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment" and the Arizona Constitution's equal population requirement.(Courthouse News)

Same-sex marriage measure set for vote in North Carolina On Tuesday, voters casting ballots in North Carolina's Republican and Democratic primaries will also be able to weigh in on a controversial measure known as Amendment 1, which would define marriage as between one man and one woman in the state Constitution.(CBS)

2 Bills and Comments by Officials Stir Debate Over Same-Sex Unions A day after his vice president’s expansive comments all but endorsing same-sex marriage, President Obama faced renewed pressure on Monday to complete his “evolving” on the issue and to take a clear stand despite the unpredictable consequences for his re-election bid.(NYT)

Gov. Rick Scott shoots down Tampa's request to ban guns outside GOP convention Saying he will not allow Tampa to disarm citizens throughout its downtown, Gov. Rick Scott shot down the city's request to ban concealed weapons outside the Republican National Convention.(Tampa Bay Times)

Audit: Illinois FOID card system for buying guns and ammo is broken Safety net to keep guns out of dangerous hands is full of bureaucratic loopholes and erroneous and incomplete data. (CT)

Both sides fire away at idea of gun education in the schools Some liberals and conservatives rally against a suggestion to teach firearm safety in schools, but there is hope it could happen.(Seattle Times)

Maryland AG appeals DNA ruling Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler has asked the state’s highest court to overturn — or at least temporarily suspend — last week’s ruling that prohibits DNA collection from suspects charged but not yet convicted in violent crimes, saying he plans to challenge the decision with the U.S. Supreme Court if the state judges do not reverse themselves.(WP)

FBI Wants Backdoors in Facebook, Skype and Instant Messaging The FBI has been lobbying top internet companies like Yahoo and Google to support a proposal that would force them to provide backdoors for government surveillance, according to CNET.(Wired Magazine)

Vt lawmakers to meet again on use of drug database Vermont lawmakers are expected to meet again to try to work out their differences over Gov. Peter Shumlin's proposal to let police get information from the Health Department's prescription drug database without first getting a search warrant.(AP)

Op-ed: Passing the buck on location tracking The high-stakes privacy debate over law enforcement tracking citizens using geolocational data is one Congress — despite a few bills and a hearing on the horizon — isn’t likely to resolve anytime soon. Lawmakers have left it to the courts, while the Supreme Court seemed to toss it back to the Hill recently. (Politico)

Legislators continue to propose drug testing for welfare recipients Lawmakers in Indiana and across the nation are studying whether to require drug tests of welfare and food stamp recipients, even though there are questions about the constitutionality of the move.(Evansville Courier Press)

Obama administration urges freer access to cellphone records The U.S. Congress should pass a law to give investigators freer access to certain cellphone records, an Obama administration official said on Thursday, in remarks that raised concern among advocates of civil liberties and privacy. (Reuters)

Bill permitting medical use of marijuana clears Conn. Senate Following a passionate debate that stretched on for nearly 10 hours, the Connecticut Senate early Saturday morning gave final legislative approval to a bill that legalizes and regulates the medical use of marijuana. (Hartford Courant)

Justice and the Courts

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