free speech

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Judge: Blogger Is Not a Journalist

Woman ordered to pay $2.5M for online defamation

(Newser) - In what could end up being very bad news for outspoken bloggers across America, a federal judge has decided that a blogger was not acting as a journalist when she accused an Oregon lawyer of acting unethically and illegally as a trustee in a bankruptcy hearing. The judge denied Crystal...

Teen Tweeter Won't Apologize to Dissed Kan. Governor

'I raised my kids to be free thinkers,' says mom of Emma Sullivan

(Newser) - A Kansas teen who blasted her conservative governor in a tweet is refusing to apologize—even though she has been ordered to do so by her school. "Just made mean comments at Gov. Brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot," Emma Sullivan, 18, tweeted to pals...

NPR Freelancer Canned for Joining Occupiers

Lisa Simeone hosted show on opera

(Newser) - A freelance radio host has lost her NPR World of Opera gig after an outcry over her involvement with a group affiliated with Occupy DC. Baltimore resident Lisa Simeone is acting as spokesperson for protesters under the October 2011/Stop the Machine banner; NPR responded to her involvement in a memo,...

UC Muslims Appealing Free-Speech Conviction

They got fines, community service for disrupting speech by Israeli ambassador

(Newser) - Ten Muslim students are appealing a conviction for disrupting a speech by an Israeli ambassador presented at a Unversity of California campus. The controversial case is seen as a test of the right to dissent. The students last year shouted out preplanned phrases to interfere with the ambassdor's speech...

'Psycho Ex-Wife' Blogger Battles Court to Keep Site

Judge tells divorced dad to take down 'cruel' blog

(Newser) - A dad who created a blog called " The Psycho Ex-Wife " to document his bitter divorce and custody battle is balking at a court order to take down the site or risk losing joint custody of his two sons. Anthony Morelli—whose descriptions of his ex-wife on the blog...

Law Bars Kid-Teacher Facebooking, Row Erupts

Missouri passes first major social media speech restriction

(Newser) - Missouri has passed a law barring private Facebook messages between children and teachers, and lots of people aren't happy about it. The first law of its kind in the nation will still allow messages easily viewed by the school community between teachers and children concerning assignments, but all exclusive...

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...

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