free speech

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Court: Call to Shoot Obama Is Free Speech

Court clears Walter Bagdasarian for exhorting people to 'shoot the [racial slur]'

(Newser) - The First Amendment protects even racists calling for the president’s assassination, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today, overturning the conviction of Walter Bagdasarian. Bagdasarian was convicted of threatening to kill a presidential candidate two weeks ahead of the 2008 election for an online rant in which he...

Food Blogger Jailed for Complaining About Noodles

Judge ruled Taiwan woman didn't have the evidence to declare them salty

(Newser) - Be careful what you blog about in Taiwan. One woman, identified only as Mrs. Liu, learned that lesson the hard way recently, after she complained on her little-read blog about the Sichuan Flavor Beef Noodle Restaurant in Taichung. The place, she wrote, was full of cockroaches, the owner was a...

MySpace Parody Case: Court of Appeals Rules in Favor of Free Speech
Teens Can't Be Suspended for MySpace Parodies
court rulings
Jun 14, 2011 9:36 AM CDT

Teens Can't Be Suspended for MySpace Parodies

Schools cannot discipline students for offensive actions in their homes

(Newser) - Two Pennsylvania teens cannot be disciplined at school for MySpace parodies of their principals created on home computers, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday in a high-profile case involving students and free speech. The postings, however lewd or offensive, were not likely to cause significant disruptions at school and are...

Tennessee Makes Posting 'Distressing' Images Illegal

Constitutional scholars question updated law

(Newser) - Constitutional scholars are raising their eyebrows over a new Tennessee law that makes it illegal to “transmit or display” an image online if it would “frighten, intimidate or cause emotional distress.” Doing so is punishable by almost a year in jail or $2,500 in fines. The...

Man Slams Ex for Aborting His Baby—Via Billboard

After his ex-girlfriend allegedly aborted their child, Greg Fultz got drastic

(Newser) - Hell hath no fury like this guy: Greg Fultz lashed out at his ex-girlfriend with a billboard featuring a picture of him holding the outline of an infant reading, "This Would Have Been A Picture Of My 2-Month Old Baby If The Mother Had Decided To Not KILL Our...

Iran Blasts Cannes for Punishing Director Von Trier

His Nazi jokes are a form of free speech, says letter

(Newser) - Iran is suddenly all about free speech, criticizing the decision of the Cannes Film Festival to ban Nazi-joking director Lars von Trier. Iran's deputy culture minister wrote that Cannes had smirched its history and rendered its claims to defend free speech "a meaningless slogan." Cannes declared von...

Illinois Senate Approves Anti-Westboro Bill

Bill would require funeral protesters to stay extra 100 feet away

(Newser) - Westboro Baptist Church could soon find itself foiled in Illinois. The state Senate passed a measure yesterday that broadens the protection granted to funerals, requiring any protesters to remain at least 300 feet away from the site rather than the currently required 200 feet. The original House bill, proposed by...

Syria Charges Hundreds With ‘Maligning the State’

Hundreds face three-year stints in jail

(Newser) - Hundreds of the Syrians rounded up in recent days have been charged with “maligning the prestige of the state,” an offense punishable by a three-year prison term, a human rights group tells Reuters . “Mass arrests are continuing across Syria in another violation of human rights and international...

At NYC Libraries, Porn Is A-OK

Your right to watch it is apparently protected by the first amendment

(Newser) - Some New Yorkers are enjoying an illicit perk at their local library: porn. Not just porn but, in the words of the New York Post , the most "extreme, hard-core Internet smut this side of the old Times Square." Turns out you can watch the aforementioned smut in the...

Judge Backs 'Boobies' Bracelets

School can't ban breast cancer bracelets, judge decides

(Newser) - It's OK for middle school students to wear bracelets proclaiming "I (heart) boobies!"—at least in the context of breast cancer awareness, a federal judge has decided. The popular fundraising bracelets "can reasonably be viewed as speech designed to raise awareness of breast cancer and to...

'Bigfoot' Files Free Speech Suit

Costumed filmmaker says NH stomped on his rights

(Newser) - An amateur filmmaker kicked out of a state park while impersonating Bigfoot says his rights have been stomped on. Jonathan Doyle dressed up as the mythical creature, ran around New Hampshire's Mount Monadnock, then shed the disguise and interviewed hikers about what they'd seen. Park rangers barred him from filming...

Supreme Court: Westboro Protests Protected

Pickets might be 'outrageous,' but covered by 1st Amendment

(Newser) - John Roberts' Supreme Court ruled 8-1 today that the controversial Westboro Baptist Church pickets outside military funerals might be "outrageous," but they're also protected under the First Amendment. The ruling upholds a reversal of a lower court's $5 million award to a dead Marine's father, who sued Westboro...

Pennsylvania Cops Now Let You Swear All You Want

Cops will no longer issue tickets for naughty words

(Newser) - Say it with me, foul-mouthed Pennsylvanians: Hot damn! It is officially no longer a crime to utter choice four-letter words in the presence of state police. They've agreed to stop citing the public for cursing as part of a settlement yesterday of a federal free-speech lawsuit. That suit stems from...

Lieberman Floats Bill to Kill WikiLeaks

Naming a US intelligence source would be federal crime

(Newser) - Joe Lieberman and a number of other senators have introduced legislation that would make it a crime to publish the name of a US intelligence source, in an explicit attack on WikiLeaks. The recent release of State Department cables “is just the latest example of how our national security...

Bashing Boss on Facebook Is Protected Speech: Labor Board

Workers have right to complain, say attorneys in ground-breaking case

(Newser) - It just got easier to skewer your boss on your Facebook page. The National Labor Relations Board is calling criticism of workplaces and supervisors "protected speech" on Facebook, as acceptable as grousing around the water cooler. In a ground-breaking case, the organization has filed a complaint against a Connecticut...

Activist on Trial for Abortion Doc 'Wanted Posters'

Flip Benham denies posters are a threat

(Newser) - Is putting up "Wanted" posters with the names, photos, and address of doctors who perform abortions protected free speech, or a threat? A North Carolina court will be faced with that question when anti-abortion activist Flip Benham goes on trial today, charged with stalking and violating a new state...

Guy Who Flipped Cops Off Settles Suit for $4K

Robert Ekas says police violated his free speech

(Newser) - Robert Ekas fought the law, and the law has to pony up four grand: The Oregon man brought himself folk-hero fame when he sued cops for violating his free-speech rights when he flipped them the bird and they slapped him with baloney tickets, reports the Oregonian. Today, he settled the...

More Fallout for Yale Frat's Rape Chant

National board suspends pledge activities, outcry continues

(Newser) - A Yale fraternity is coming under further scrutiny after pledges were heard chanting "No means yes! Yes means anal!" among other gems last week. The executive director of Delta Kappa Epsilon has told the chapter to suspend all pledging activities, and is due to drop by campus for...

Alaska Editor Handcuffed by Joe Miller's Guards

Tea party candidate's security cuffs journo for 'trespassing' at town hall event

(Newser) - An Alaska editor was "arrested" and handcuffed by bodyguards of Tea Party Senate candidate Joe Miller as the journalist attempted to ask Miller questions following a public event. Tony Hopfinger of the Alaska Dispatch was cuffed and held by the guards in the hallway of a public middle school...

'Freedom of Speech' Means Helen Thomas, Too

In wake of 'indefensible' remarks, UK commentator sees double standard

(Newser) - The remark that ended Helen Thomas' career "was, quite simply, a disgraceful, thoughtless and indefensible statement"—but she does have a constitutional right to share her indefensible opinions. That contrarian view comes from across the Atlantic, where Guardian media blogger Roy Greenslade is weighing the "wider implications"...

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