The First Amendment notwithstanding, wealthy and powerful litigants in this country often exercise the tactical power “to bully those who publicly criticize them into silence by filing frivolous lawsuits that the critics can’t afford to litigate,” with defamation lawsuits being a particularly favored means of such bullying. The majority of states have moved to enact “anti-SLAPP” laws aimed at curtailing this tactical exercise through the application of sanctions or otherwise, but such laws are often quite weak, sometimes applying only, for example, to speech aimed at petitioning the government on public matters. Now Texas lawmakers are considering what would be one of the nation’s strongest laws, protecting “communication made in connection with a matter of public concern” and including statements made in non-public forums, such as emails. The website SLAPPED in Texas has compiled a list of speech-chilling lawsuits in the Lone Star State, including the oft-criticized suit by a real estate developer against author and eminent domain critic Carla Main. [Arthur Bright/Citizen Media Law, Paul Alan Levy/CL&P]
Tagged as:
free speech,
libel slander and defamation,
online speech,
sanctions
The latest round in the continuing quarrel between Simple Justice blogger Scott Greenfield and academic enthusiast for greater speech liability Danielle Citron. [Simple Justice]
Tagged as:
free speech,
online speech
A California court rules that attorneys who file unjustified suits aimed at speech or political activity can’t be made to pay the other side’s fees. If you’re a victim of such an action, you still might get lucky and collect from the client who instigated it. [Cal Attorneys Fees]
Tagged as:
California,
free speech,
sanctions
A judge declines to toss an employment-law suit against the New York Post by an ex-staffer who — among other grievances — says she was retaliated against after denouncing a cartoon as racially insensitive [Romenesko]
Tagged as:
discrimination law,
free speech,
newspapers
The paper’s pretty good, really, when it comes to arguing for First Amendment protection of violent videogames and depictions of animal cruelty. So let’s be thankful for that. Now if we could only get it to take political speech seriously! [Stoll]
Tagged as:
free speech,
New York Times
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing has agreed to stop investigating citizens on the theory that their political speech in and of itself constitutes a potential violation of housing discrimination laws. I’ve got more on the case at Cato at Liberty. Related earlier here and here.
Tagged as:
California,
free speech,
housing discrimination
- Lawmakers in Georgia vote for bill to forbid forced micro-chipping after listening respectfully to “this happened to me” story [Popehat]
- “Why does the Wall Street regulation overhaul give FTC authority over the Internet?” [Morrissey and WaPo via Gillespie]
- “Woman alleges termination due to gender, not sleeping on the job” [SE Texas Record]
- Writers’ Union of Canada surprisingly unfriendly toward writers’ freedom regarding fair use/fair dealing [BoingBoing]
- Despite purported bar on strategic use, Senate bill to stay deportation of illegal aliens while workplace claims are pending would create incentive to come up with such claims [Fox, Employer's Lawyer]
- “California Magistrate Scoffs at Plaintiff’s MySpace Page, But Awards Damages Anyway” [Abnormal Use]
- State of free speech in Britain: police confront man over political sign in window of his home, arrest preacher over anti-gay remarks [Mail and more, Telegraph via Steyn, related from Andrew Sullivan and MWW]
- “Should Tort Law Be Tougher on Lawyers?” [Alex Long, TortsProf]
Tagged as:
Canada,
copyright,
Federal Trade Commission,
free speech,
Georgia,
MySpace
- France: Scholar faces criminal libel charge over mildly negative book review [Steven Landsburg/The Big Questions; more, Citizen Media Law] U.K. atheist convicted of religious harassment for leaving cartoon leaflets in prayer room [Media Watch Watch and earlier via Secular Right]
- Classic New Yorker writer of 1940s: “St. Clair McKelway on insurance, embezzlement, arson, and counterfeiting” [Freeland, North Mississippi Commentor]
- Bulletin: In hiring new editors, New York Times will stop preferring those with scores of 89 over those who score 65. Oh wait;
- “If I can drive a motorcycle, why can’t I drive a marginally more dangerous car concept? Because Detroit and its lobbyists have built it into the system, that’s why.” [reader at Andrew Sullivan]
- “Jersey Shore Victim Wants DVDs Suppressed” [Above the Law]
- Class action suit against Yelp.com alleges “extortion” [NY Times "Bits", TechCrunch]
- “Some Employers Complain Law Barring Genetic Bias Hurts Wellness Efforts” [ABA Journal]
- “The Criminalization of Almost Everything” [Harvey Silverglate and Tim Lynch, Cato Policy Report]
Tagged as:
France,
free speech,
hate speech,
NHTSA,
United Kingdom,
workplace
- “U.S. Still Won’t Join International Criminal Court” [Julian Ku, Opinio Juris via Adler] International jurisdiction is a bit of a crime in itself [Stuttaford, NRO "Corner"]
- “Tourette’s Sufferer Sues Starbucks for Discrimination” [Seattle Weekly]
- Colorado: “Science Fair Bans Most Science” [Free-Range Kids]
- For best results in lawsuit against “Girls Gone Wild” producer, it helps not to have made X-rated films [OnPoint News]
- New Mexico revolt against Feds’ takeover of community bank [Bank Lawyer's Blog, more]
- Citizen’s United decision continued: “Yes, money is speech” [Rick Esenberg, Point of Law] “When Individuals Form Corporations, They Don’t Lose Their Rights” [Ilya Shapiro, Cato at Liberty]
- Thomas Lenard and Paul Rubin, “In Defense of Data: Information and the Costs of Privacy” [SSRN last year]
- Sex-harassment charge against six-year-old boy will cost Brockton, Mass. taxpayers $180,000 [Brockton Enterprise]
Tagged as:
banks,
Colorado,
disabled rights,
free speech,
harassment law,
international law,
Massachusetts,
nanny state,
privacy,
schools
- Early reactions to Supreme Court’s blockbuster Citizens United ruling striking down ban on independent election advocacy [Point of Law, more, yet more]
- Vision Media Television Group continues its legal push against online critics, Section 230 or no [Consumer Law & Policy, earlier]
- Big FBI sting operation could leave firearms business “wounded”, some say [Point of Law]
- Runaway’s suit against McKeesport, Pa. school district dismissed on statute of limitations grounds [AP/Law.com]
- “Sandra Day O’Connor Backs Campaign to End Judicial Elections” [Schwartz, NY Times, my two cents]
- “Sheriff Joe’s Enabler” [Radley Balko on Maricopa County D.A. Andrew Peyton Thomas; earlier here, here, etc.]
- Why some D.C. lawyers make so much money year in, year out [Hill & Lat, Washingtonian, quotes Ted; Ribstein and more]
- “Hampshire woman jailed for false rape claim” [BBC]
- P.S. At this point, politically, Dems almost have to pass something labeled health care reform whether or not the resulting legislation makes any sense [my comment in National Journal blogger's poll, more]
Tagged as:
campaign regulation,
free speech,
guns,
judicial elections,
online speech,
Phoenix,
Sandra Day O'Connor
