First Amendment

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In Geller v. de Blasio et al, 2020 WL 2520711 (S.D.N.Y. May 18, 2020), the court denied plaintiff’s motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to enjoin the City of New York from enforcing an Executive Order of March 25, 2020 and its restriction on non-essential gatherings. This decision provides a primer of how…

Read More Court Rejects First Amendment Challenge to NYC Executive Order Restricting Non-Essential Gatherings
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A California federal court recently dismissed (with prejudice and wthout leave to amend) Tulsi Gabbard’s campaign’s lawsuit against Google. In this case, captioned Tulsi Now, Inc. v. Google, LLC et al., 2:19-cv-06444-SVW-RAO (C.D. Cal. March 3, 2020), plaintiff primarily asserts that Google violated plaintiff’s First Amendment rights by briefly suspending its verified political advertising account for…

Read More Court Dismisses Tulsi Gabbard’s “First Amendment” Lawsuit Against Google; Clarifies That Google is Not the Government
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From Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University v. Trump, 2019 WL 2932440 (2d CIr. July 9, 2019): Considering the interactive features, the speech in question is that of multiple individuals, not just the President or that of the government. When a Twitter user posts a reply to one of the President’s tweets, the message…

Read More Trump Twitter Blocking Violates the First Amendment, Second Circuit Holds
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Today, March 3, 2019, marks the 100th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919), an important First Amendment case setting the stage for the modern interpretation of the First Amendment. The unanimous Court, in an opinion authored by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., upheld the convictions, under…

Read More “Shouting Fire in a Theatre”: Schenck v. United States Turns 100
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President Trump attracts lawsuits like a magnet attracts iron filings. In a lawsuit filed November 13, 2018 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit, captioned Cable News Network, Inc. et al v. Donald J. Trump et al (U.S. Dist. Ct. D.C. Cir. filed Nov. 13, 2018), plaintiffs CNN and Jim Acosta accuse…

Read More CNN & Jim Acosta File First Amendment-Based Lawsuit Against Trump et al
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Today is “Flag Day,” which according to one source “commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress.” Some legal tidbits about Old Glory: The U.S. Flag Code, codified at Chapter 1 of Title 4 of the United States Code (4 U.S.C. § 1 et…

Read More Happy Flag Day 2018
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In a 7-2 decision issued today, Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (U.S. No. 16-111 June 4, 2018) (J. Kennedy), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to create a cake for a gay couple’s wedding because of his claimed religious opposition to same-sex marriage. Importantly,…

Read More SCOTUS Issues Narrow Decision in Baker’s Favor in “Gay Wedding Cake” Case
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In a decision issued today, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia Univ. et al v. Donald Trump et al, 17-cv-5205 (S.D.N.Y. May 23, 2018), U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald held that Donald Trump may not, consistent with the First Amendment, “block” Twitter users from his @realDonaldTrump Twitter account based on their political views. From…

Read More Trump Twitter Ban Violates the First Amendment, SDNY Judge Holds
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