First Amendment Watch • June 5 2023 Tennessee’s Anti-Drag Law is ‘Unconstitutionally Vague,’ Federal Judge Rules A federal judge found Tennessee’s anti-drag law unconstitutional June 2, ruling it violates the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
First Amendment Watch • June 2 2023 Three Laws Signed by DeSantis at the Center of Florida’s Surge in Book Bans Book bans have been surging across the country, but in Florida, school boards across the state have been purging their shelves following the direction of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
First Amendment Watch • June 1 2023 A Pair of Federal Lawsuits Claim Montana’s TikTok Ban Violates the First Amendment TikTok and five of its Montana-based creators sued the state’s attorney general in two separate federal lawsuits challenging the state’s recently signed legislation which bans the app, claiming it violates the First Amendment.
First Amendment Watch • May 26 2023 Supreme Court Declines to Hold Tech Companies Liable for Hosted Content The Supreme Court ruled in favor of both Google and Twitter in two separate cases May 18, finding that the tech companies can’t be held liable for content their users share on the platforms.
First Amendment Watch • May 22 2023 Trump’s Media Company Sues The Washington Post for Defamation, Requests $3.78B in Damages Donald Trump’s media company which owns his Twitter-like platform, Truth Social, sued The Washington Post May 20 for $3.78 billion in damages, claiming a recently published article on the media company’s finances is defamatory.
First Amendment Watch • May 18 2023 DeSantis Defunds Diversity and Inclusion Programs in Florida Public Higher Education Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation May 15 that defunds diversity, equity and inclusion, (DEI), programs at the state’s public colleges and universities, as well as limits discussions of racism and sexism in required courses and student activities.
First Amendment Watch • May 17 2023 PEN America Sues Florida School District Over Book Bans PEN America, along with Penguin Random House, select authors and parents of children enrolled in Florida’s Escambia County School District filed a federal lawsuit against the district and its board May 17 requesting banned books and those under review be returned to library shelves.
First Amendment Watch • May 15 2023 Disney Sues DeSantis Claiming Retaliation for Denouncing Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Disney sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis April 26, claiming the governor and the legislature “orchestrated” a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” after the company issued a public statement opposing the Parental Rights in Education bill, widely dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
First Amendment Watch • May 9 2023 Jury Finds Trump Liable for Sexual Abuse and Defamation in E. Jean Carroll Trial; Awards $5M in Damages A jury of six men and three women unanimously found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million in damages.
First Amendment Watch • May 4 2023 New York Judge Dismisses Trump’s $100M Lawsuit Against the New York Times A New York judge dismissed Donald Trump’s $100 million lawsuit against his niece, the New York Times and three of its reporters May 3, ruling that the paper’s investigation into the former president’s finances is protected news gathering under the First Amendment.
Being Patient • May 3 2023 In This Region With U.S.'s Highest Alzheimer's Rates, a New Research Center Takes a Fresh Approach In Southern Texas’s Rio Grande Valley, researchers are working to address some of the highest rates of Alzheimer’s in the United States. In some stretches of this economically disadvantaged region, people aged 65 and older are almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s than the national average.
First Amendment Watch • May 2 2023 Supreme Court to Consider Scope of Public Officials Blocking Critics from Social Media Accounts The Supreme Court agreed April 24 to hear two cases that question whether the First Amendment protects users from being blocked from social media accounts run by public officials.
First Amendment Watch • April 25 2023 E. Jean Carroll’s Defamation and Battery Lawsuit Against Trump Begins in Manhattan The trial of former Elle Magazine advice columnist E. Jean Carroll’s defamation and battery lawsuit against Donald Trump began today with jury selection, nearly 30 years after the former president allegedly raped her in a midtown Manhattan department store dressing room.
First Amendment Watch • April 21 2023 Supreme Court Considers 'True Threats' Doctrine in Colorado Social Media Stalking Case The Supreme Court heard oral arguments April 19 in Counterman v. Colorado, a case that questions whether intent is necessary to constitute a “true threat” — a category of speech that is unprotected by the First Amendment.
First Amendment Watch • April 18 2023 Fox Settles for $787.5M, Acknowledges ‘Certain Claims About Dominion to be False’ Fox must pay $787.5 million in a last-minute settlement agreement reached April 18 in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News and its parent corporation, marking the end of a highly anticipated trial before it even began.
First Amendment Watch • April 17 2023 Delaware Judge Delays Dominion Defamation Suit Against Fox One Day The trial in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News and its parent corporation was slated to begin April 17, but has been delayed for one day to allow conversations about a possible settlement agreement, the Washington Post reported.
First Amendment Watch • April 12 2023 Democrats Urge Attorney General Garland to Drop Charges Against Assange Seven progressive Democratic members of Congress sent a letter April 11 urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to drop the charges against WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, marking the day four years ago that he started his confinement on 17 Espionage Act charges in London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison.
First Amendment Watch • April 12 2023 Nebraska High School Newspaper Shut Down for Publishing LGBTQ+ Content, a Federal Lawsuit Claims A lawsuit filed in federal court March 31 by a former Nebraska public high school newspaper reporter and a high school press association claims the shutdown of a student newspaper violated the First Amendment.
First Amendment Watch • April 10 2023 Fox Settles Defamation Suit with Venezuelan Businessman Over Fraudulent Election Claims A settlement was reached April 8 in a defamation lawsuit filed by Venezuelan businessman Majed Khalil against Fox News and Lou Dobbs after the TV host claimed Khalil participated in a scheme to rig the 2020 presidential election.
First Amendment Watch • April 5 2023 Federal Lawsuit Seeks to Block Arizona’s Voters’ Right to Know Act Policy grassroots organization Americans for Prosperity filed a lawsuit in federal court March 17 claiming a voter-approved Arizona statute violates the First Amendment in requiring the disclosure of big-money donors to organizations involved in campaign media spending.