protected speech

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Judges Find Administration Probably Violated Free Speech
Administration Can Fight
Online Posts for Now
updated

Administration Can Fight Online Posts for Now

Supreme Court says it will consider lawsuit over efforts to take down COVID, election posts

(Newser) - The Supreme Court said Friday it will take up a lawsuit accusing the Biden administration of unconstitutionally trying to silence political views it disagrees with on social media, the AP reports. In the meantime, the court said it's blocking a lower court order curbing those efforts to have posts...

Judge Delivers What GOP Calls a 'Blow to Censorship'

Limits Biden administration's contact with social media companies

(Newser) - A judge on Tuesday prohibited several federal agencies and officials of the Biden administration from working with social media companies about "protected speech," a decision called "a blow to censorship" by one of the Republican officials whose lawsuit prompted the ruling, the AP reports. US District Judge...

Amazon Defends Alexa's 1st Amendment Rights in Murder Case

Police want recordings from the suspect's Amazon Echo

(Newser) - Does Alexa have First Amendment rights? That's one of the questions at the heart of a legal battle between Amazon and Arkansas police. Victor Collins was found dead in James Bates' hot tub back in 2015, and Bates has been charged in his friend's murder. Believing an Amazon...

ACLU Defends Cussing at Cops

Lawsuits fault police for arresting potty mouths

(Newser) - Swearing is legal, but some institutions—including Pennsylvania law enforcement agencies—need a reminder, the ACLU tells the Philadelphia Inquirer . The organization is suing on behalf of two Pennsylvanians who were arrested and charged with scofflaw offenses for swearing in public; one of them called a police officer a "...

Noonan: OK, Now He's President
Noonan: OK,
Now He's President
OPINION

Noonan: OK, Now He's President

President showed "Someone is in the kitchen"

(Newser) - Presidents don’t become presidential when they’re inaugurated, writes Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal. “Every president has a moment when suddenly he becomes what he meant to be.” For Barack Obama, that moment came during his speech on Tuesday. “He put on the cloak,...

Column Deriding Gay Marriage Riles Campus

U. of Wash. students fume over column's bestiality illustration

(Newser) - An opinion column denouncing gay marriage—and illustrated with an image of a man adjacent to a sheep—has many University of Washington students beside themselves and demanding sensitivity training for their student newspaper, reports The Seattle Times. The editor of The Daily has refused to apologize, citing the need...

Supremes Let Up on Political Ad Limits

in 5-4 reversal, court rules 'issue ads' don't count as endorsements

(Newser) - Conservatives on the Supreme Court weakened one of the major strictures of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Law today, relaxing the definition of prohibited ads in the run-up to federal elections. An increasingly familiar 5-4 majority declared that "issue ads," which stump for political platforms without explicitly endorsing a...

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