Monday, June 18, 2018
#FREESPEECH IN THE NEWS: June 18, 2018
As the Citadel of Free Speech here in Cleveland, we work to protect and promote the basis of our democracy by sharing related stories, commentary, and opinions on free speech in the 21st century. Here's what's making the news – and what you should know about – in the past week.
1.) Supreme Court Strikes Down Law Barring Political Apparel at Polling Places
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Minnesota law barring voters from wearing political wear to the polls.
In the 7 – 2 decision, the justices stated the law was much too broad and thus unenforceable. The primary issue with the law was that it did not effectively establish what was considered acceptable attire, which meant it couldn’t be enforced fairly.
“When the case was argued in February, a lawyer for the state was peppered with questions about what was and was not allowed. His answers, Chief Justice Roberts suggested, betrayed no consistent theme.”
2.) Supreme Court allows retaliatory arrest lawsuit to move forward
A lawsuit over whether or not a man’s first amendment rights were violated has been given another greenlight after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor.
Fane Lozman accused the Riviera Beach City Council of attempting to cut him off at meetings and thus violating his rights to free speech.
“During the public comments of a November 2006 meeting of the city council, Lozman was talking, as he often did, about the subject of political corruption. The presiding council member told him to stop, and Lozman said he would not.”
The council president then had him arrested, and he spent hours in jail.
3.) Journal takes First Amendment case against R.I. judge to federal court
The Providence Journal, a news publication in Providence, Rhode Island, has sued a local judge for violating its first amendment right to free speech and the rights of jurors.
Judge Netti C. Vogel banned jurors and the media from contacting one another after a trial.
“The newspaper withdrew its initial lawsuit in state court and moved the case to federal court ‘because of the fundamental importance of the Constitutional rights of access, to both The Providence Journal and the public it serves,’ said its lawyer Michael J. Grygiel in a telephone interview Tuesday. ‘The federal district court has jurisdiction over the violation of First Amendment rights.’”
