free speech

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High Court May Lift Restrictions on Corporate Cash in Politics

Firms could be allowed to spend freely on ads

(Newser) - September 9 could mark a watershed in campaign finance, as the Supreme Court hears a special argument for overturning long-standing rules that restrict corporations from buying political advertisements, the Los Angeles Times reports. The court has used the case of Hillary: The Movie, a documentary that a lower courts decided...

Flickr Cowardly for Taking Down Obama Joker
Flickr Cowardly for Taking Down Obama Joker
OPINION
Aug 22, 2009 1:50 PM CDT

Flickr Cowardly for Taking Down Obama Joker

Website caved too easily: image isn't a copyright violation

(Newser) - Flickr is catching fire for its decision to take down the now-infamous image of Barack Obama photoshopped to look like the joker. Flickr says it received a takedown notice under the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act for the Time cover mockup, but that excuse doesn’t fly for Michael Arrington...

Blogger's Case Tests Limits of Free Speech

Far-right critic remains in jail after calling for judges' deaths

(Newser) - When three federal judges rejected an NRA lawsuit, Internet radio host Hal Turner got angry. “These judges deserve to be killed,” he wrote on his blog. “Their blood will replenish the tree of liberty.” Then he posted photos of the judges, maps to their courthouse, and...

Sex Party Enters Aussie Political Fray

Sex Party gains official recognition

(Newser) - Australia’s “Sex Party” has been certified as a political party after receiving approval from the Electoral Commission, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The commission’s approval is a victory for free speech and “democratic rights,” says the Sex Party’s convenor. The party hopes to “...

US Army Evangelism: Is It a 'Crusade'?
US Army Evangelism:
Is It a 'Crusade'?
glossies
Jun 19, 2009 8:30 PM CDT

US Army Evangelism: Is It a 'Crusade'?

(Newser) - US Army chaplains have distributed Arabic-language Bibles in Iraq, told soldiers to "hunt people for Jesus," and speculated that President Obama is a secret Muslim. Enough already, says a religious rights watchdog: Led by Air Force veteran Mikey Weinstein, the group is suing the Pentagon over alleged religious-based...

Town's Dress Code Mandates Deodorant, Underwear

(Newser) - A Florida town is requiring its employees to wear underwear and deodorant under a new dress code passed this month, the Tampa Tribune reports. Aimed at promoting “strict personal hygiene,” the rules ban “sexually provocative” apparel and forbid “the observable lack of undergarments and exposed undergarments....

Nev. Newspaper Defends Commenters' Anonymity

Review-Journal , ACLU fight subpoena for commenters' identities

(Newser) - A tax-evasion trial has sparked a free-speech controversy at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The paper has declined to honor a federal subpoena demanding the identities of everyone who commented on an article on the trial. Businessman Robert Kahre faces tax-fraud charges for hiding the real value of sales of gold...

Falwell's Liberty U. Quashes Campus Dems

(Newser) - Jerry Falwell’s conservative Christian Liberty University has suspended the student Democratic Club for supporting candidates “directly contrary to the mission” of the school, the Lynchburg News Advance reports. Virginia Democrats are up in arms. “I urge the leadership of Liberty University to reverse this attack on the...

Toxic Teen Website Infuriates Parents, Cops

On anonymous message board, free speech becomes personal attacks

(Newser) - The creator of the online message board Peoplesdirt.com says he's just providing an "avenue for people to express their feelings," but parents and teachers disagree. The website allows teenagers to anonymously post slurs and false rumors about fellow students. Although it's legal, it's also hateful and humiliating,...

Press Freedom Declines Worldwide

New report sees losses in all regions for first time ever

(Newser) - Press freedom declined worldwide last year for the seventh year in a row, and for the first time suffered losses in all regions, according to a new report by Freedom House. Slipping from “free” to “partially free” were Israel, Italy and Hong Kong, while Cambodia fell to “...

1st Amendment v. Dogfight Video: High Court to Decide

Conviction rests on First Amendment status of animal abuse tapes

(Newser) - The Supreme Court agreed today to hear that pits the First Amendment against the production and sale of dogfighting videos, the Chicago Tribune reports. The case involves a man jailed for selling several brutally explicit videos of pit bulls fighting. A federal appeals court overturned his conviction on grounds that...

Controversial Muhammad Cartoon Goes on Sale

Some copies are signed by artists in hiding

(Newser) - Three years after political cartoons of the prophet Muhammad sparked violent riots in Muslim countries, the Denmark Free Press Society is selling prints of the controversial art. Some of the 1,000 copies, priced at $250 each, are signed by the artist, who remains in hiding due to death threats,...

Despite Cartoon Flap, Danish PM to Head NATO

Turkey shoots down Danish candidate

(Newser) - NATO named Anders Fogh Rasmussen as its new secretary-general today, overcoming a contentious stalemate with Turkey, the AP reports. Turkey had strongly opposed the Danish prime minister because he’d supported the newspapers that printed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2005. Turkey argued that Rasmussen’s selection wouldn’t...

School Fired Prof Over 9/11 Essay: Jury

He wins case after calling victims 'little Eichmanns'

(Newser) - A jury decided today that the University of Colorado unjustly fired one of its professors after he called 9/11 victims "little Eichmanns" in an essay, the Denver Post reports. Jurors, however, awarded Ward Churchill only $1 in damages. A judge will now determine whether the school must reinstate Churchill...

ACLU: Lobbyist Rules Restrict Free Speech

(Newser) - The ACLU and other watchdog groups on both the left and right think President Obama is carrying his crusade against lobbyists too far, Politico reports. Obama's recent directive forbidding government officials from discussing how to spend the stimulus with lobbyists infringes on free speech, they say. The groups plan to...

Supreme Court Rules Against Utah Sect

Monument won't fly; public statues are 'government speech'

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today denied a Utah sect the right to erect a monument in a public park, settling a case that had serious implications for free speech and freedom of religion, the New York Times reports. Members of the Summum religion are free to espouse their beliefs in the...

Misguided Cartoonist Has 'Right to Fail': Parker

Image was easily misread, but it's just a cartoon

(Newser) - The New York Post cartoon that has Al Sharpton up in arms was poorly thought out, to be sure, writes Kathleen Parker in the Washington Post. It "was offensive for reasons unrelated to race," she argues, but it’s important to remember that “outrage is out of...

Calif. Court Blasts Violent Game Ban

(Newser) - A federal appeals court ruled today that violent video games can be sold to minors in California, GameSpot reports. Upholding a lower court's decision, the judges struck down a state law that sought to ban the sale of violent games to those under 18. The law violated free speech rights,...

Limbaugh to Obama: Don't Touch Talk Radio

Following suit with some Dems would mean violating free speech

(Newser) - There’s been talk among Democrats that government should intervene to ensure balance in talk radio. But government weighing in on content is a direct violation of the First Amendment, writes Rush Limbaugh in the Wall Street Journal, and as a former law prof, our new president knows that. President...

Mexico's Drug Lords Target Reporters

Station attack comes with clear message to drop coverage

(Newser) - The epidemic of violence related to Mexico's drug trade has spilled over into media coverage of the situation, with drug lords attempting to scare journalists out of doing their jobs. Mexico is one of the most dangerous places in the world for reporters, reports the Christian Science Monitor: Eleven died...

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