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What the First Amendment really says — 4 basic principles of free speech
Elon Musk has claimed he believes in free speech no matter what. He calls it a bulwark against tyranny in America and promises to reconstruct Twitter, which he now owns, so that its policy on free expression “matches the law.” Yet his grasp of the First Amendment – the law that governs free speech in […]
Did this joke go too far?
Today is Monday, the 55th anniversary of the finale of the television series “The Fugitive.” Here are some other news items. — Turkish pop star faces trial because of a joke she told. — Pennsylvania medical malpractice lawsuits need not be filed in the county where the harm occurred, state high court rules. — Wisconsin […]
Law banning illegal-immigration encouragement loses free speech challenge
Today is Monday, the 46th anniversary of Nadia Comaneci becoming the first Olympic gymnast to score a perfect 10. Here are some other news items. — U.S. appeals court strikes down as unconstitutional a law against encouraging noncitizens to enter the United States illegally. — Louisiana abortion ban remains on hold as judge seeks further […]
Judge rejects Trump lawsuit challenging ban from Twitter
A San Francisco judge tossed out former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit challenging his permanent ban from Twitter.
Justices deny free-speech challenge to Baltimore’s billboard tax
Baltimore can continue to tax commercial billboard operators.
Frosh appeals decision allowing protester to sue arresting officer
A Maryland Capitol Police officer cannot be sued for having arrested a protester who was filming him attempting to move the protest away from a State House sidewalk, the state’s attorney general told a federal appeals court this week in resisting a free speech challenge lodged by the detained gun rights advocate. In papers filed […]
PETA’s free speech claim against Salisbury agency can proceed, judge rules
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals can proceed to trial on its claim that the Salisbury area transit agency violated PETA’s constitutional right to free speech by rejecting its request to post “Close the slaughterhouses” signs on public buses on the poultry-farm-rich lower Eastern Shore, a federal judge has ruled. Chief U.S. District Judge […]
MSDE violated First Amendment in requiring anti-bias statement, judge rules
The Maryland State Department of Education violated the free speech rights of a Christian school by withholding scholarship money for declining to state in its written admissions policy that it does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, a federal judge in Baltimore ruled Friday. MSDE’s condition for distributing the funds to Bethel Christian […]
Judge will not reconsider ruling to let gun rights activists sue arresting officer
A federal judge will not reconsider her decision permitting gun rights advocates arrested during a peaceful protest near the State House three years ago to sue the arresting Maryland Capitol Police officer for allegedly violating their constitutional rights to speak freely and be free of unreasonable seizure. Citing the state’s lack of diligence, U.S. District […]
Billboard firm hopes Ohio case helps high court challenge to Baltimore tax
A company mounting a constitutional challenge to Baltimore’s tax on commercial billboard operators hopes a recent Ohio high court decision striking down a similar Cincinnati assessment will convince the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its claim that the Maryland city’s tax violates the freedoms of speech and the press. In papers filed with the justices […]
Baltimore urges Supreme Court to reject billboard tax challenge
Baltimore’s tax on commercial billboard operators does not violate their constitutional right to free speech as the assessment applies regardless of the messages they post, the city argued last week in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to decline to hear an operator’s First Amendment challenge to the tax. Baltimore’s filing with the justices followed Clear […]
Critic of Catholic Church alleges Baltimore’s attorney violated its free speech
Baltimore’s chief attorney violated the constitutional rights of an organization critical of the Catholic Church by essentially preventing its members from peacefully protesting the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ convention in the city this November, the group alleges in a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court. St. Michael’s Media Inc. claims Baltimore City Solicitor […]
