Archive for January, 2006

Former New York Times reporter Judith Miller spent 85 days in jail for refusing to cooperate with a special investigator. Now that former White House aide Scooter Libby has been identified as her source and charged with lying to a grand jury, he plans to subpoena other reporters’ notes in his defense. More »

We talked a little about this in class last week, but a Florida judge has ruled Daytona Beach’s anti-nudity laws are unconstitutional. More »

Two years ago, the Supreme Court struck down the Child Online Protection Act because it limited adult access to pornography because children could access it, too. But it looks like the federal government is seeking to revive the law. More »

The Supreme Court has already ruled that anonymous speech retains First Amendment protections (Talley v. California). And the court has held the Internet maintains the highest level of protection, along with newspapers and books. More »

The French and several other countries in Europe make it illegal to display Nazi symbols. Yahoo owes a French judgment for selling Nazi paraphernalia. An U.S. appeals court has dismissed Yahoo’s lawsuit arguing enforcement of it in the United States violates the First Amendment. More »

Britain does not have the same standard when it comes to incitement of violence. I’d imagine U.S. prosecutors would have a tougher time convicting Abu Hamza al Masri of incitement to violence.

A Texas appeal court has held “cult” is not necessarily libelous. More »

Howard Stern has made the switch to Sirius Satellite Radio, leaving the restrictions of the Federal Communications Commission behind. The FCC can regulate broadcast content over airwaves, but not over satellite.

O.K. Christmas is over, classes start in a week and Samuel Alito’s Supreme Court nomination hearings start tomorrow. More »