Archive for September, 2005

Yes, copyright violations can be criminal as well as civil

by   |  09.29.05  |  Current Events

From the Associated Press: More »

Roberts has been confirmed

by   |  09.29.05  |  Current Events

More on Libel and Headlines

by   |  09.28.05  |  Current Events

A California court has ruled inaccuracies in a deck head doesn’t make something defamatory. However, it’s often the headline that gets newspapers in trouble. And often it’s a single word that leads to a lawsuit. A paper I worked for once paid thousands of dollars over the word absconded. More »

The 2005-06 SCOTUS Docket

by   |  09.28.05  |  Current Events

The U.S. Supreme Court has accepted six First Amendment cases to decide this term. More »

More on the predictions

by   |  09.28.05  |  Current Events

Tomorrow we’ll finish libel. About the same time, Judge John Roberts will be confirmed as Chief Justice Roberts. It looks like my initial prediction of 61-39 will be off by about 15. More »

SCOTUS takes state election spending limits

by   |  09.27.05  |  Current Events

The Supreme Court has ruled on the consitutionality of limits on campaign spending, but it’s taken another case on state limits on spending. More »

Roberts and Libel

by   |  09.27.05  |  Current Events

The New York Times has an interesting story on the libel views of Supreme Court Chief Justice apparent John Roberts. In addition to managing to use the word insouciance, it also includes a pretty accurate discussion of public figure status and actual malice. More »

The latest from Cindy

by   |  09.26.05  |  Current Events


War protester Cindy Sheehan is quickly becoming the Patron Saint (if you will) of Comm Law this semester. Here’s the latest on her exploits.

John Roberts may be No. 2 More »

Intelligent Design and the Establishment Clause

by   |  09.26.05  |  Current Events

We’ll get into freedom of religion late in the semester, but here’s an interesting story on the debate over Intelligent Design. More »

Texas High Court upholds headline libel rules

by   |  09.22.05  |  Current Events

I’m behind the curve here, but the Texas Supreme Court on Sept. 2 refused to rehear a libel case in which The Brownsville Herald was accused of libel in a headline. In a story about a political debate days before the 2000 election, the Herald ran the headline: More »