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Archive for the ‘First Amendment’ Category

Small victory for The Game in defamation case against him.

Posted in Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Torts, tagged , , on November 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Rapper Jayceon “The Game” Taylor was at a mall in Greensboro, North Carolina, when security guards told one of his entourage to stop filming without permission. He refused. The security guards called police. The Game refused to leave, and a crowd gathered to support him. The police dispersed the crowd with pepper spray and arrested [...]

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Fifth Circuit upholds ban of Confederate flag in school dress code.

Posted in Constitutional Law, First Amendment, tagged , , on October 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Burleson High School (“BHS”) adopted a dress code barring students from displaying the Confederate flag in response to more than 50 race-related incidents since 2002. Because of a fight that broke out between BHS students and fans of a predominantly black high school before a basketball game, the Texas high-school athletics governing body considered sanctions [...]

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Police criticism of supervisor’s management style not protected by First Amendment, according to the Ninth Circuit.

Posted in Constitutional Law, First Amendment, tagged , , on July 15, 2009 | 5 Comments »

Two San Bernadino police sergeants, Michael Desrochers and Steven Lowes, filed retaliation claims alleging that they were demoted as a result of their criticisms of their supervisor, Lt. Mitchal Kimball.  The city claimed it transferred Desrochers because of a botched investigation and Lowes for disobeying orders and endangering a suspect in custody.  Desrochers and Lowes [...]

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Reporting of toddler drinking beer is insufficient to support a claim of defamation.

Posted in Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Torts, tagged , , on June 5, 2009 | 6 Comments »

According to Gladys Bird, she witnessed the two-year-old son of her neighbors, Anthony and Felicia Morgan, drinking from a Bud Light can during a backyard barbecue.  She then saw a man come out of the Morgan home, yell, “Where is my damn beer?”, and then spank the child.  Bird reported the incident to police and [...]

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In the Ninth Circuit, "Yeah…they’re just lying to you" is not defamation.

Posted in First Amendment, Torts, tagged , on April 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Tom Martino of the consumer-advocacy show, “The Tom Martino Show,” invited Melissa Feroglia to call in to discuss her dispute with Mt. Hood Polaris concerning a jet ski she had purchased.  According to Feroglia, the jet ski repeatedly overheated and quit running.  Mt. Hood Polaris replaced the engine, but when that repair did not solve [...]

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Eighth Circuit joins other circuits in holding that specialty license plates are private speech.

Posted in Constitutional Law, First Amendment, tagged on March 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Roach v. Stouffer, No. 08-1429. The State of Missouri allows drivers to obtain specialty license plates that contain a specific message or symbol from a sponsoring organization instead of the state moniker of “Show Me State.”  Under Mo. Rev. Stat. 301.3150, a private organization can apply for a specialty license plate for its organization.  Applications [...]

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California community college cannot restrict student’s access to MySpace.

Posted in Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Internet Law on March 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Patrick Crosby, a 58-year-old student, was detained by campus police for viewing MySpace profiles on the library computer.  The officer referred to MySpace as a kid’s site and stated it was inappropriate for Crosby to be visiting the site.  Crosby brought suit against the school, arguing that the school’s conduct violated state law prohibiting school [...]

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Is the truth a complete defense to libel and defamation?

Posted in Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Torts on March 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

The answer is unclear based on a recent decision from the First Circuit Court of Appeals.  In that case, the court allowed a lawsuit by a former Staples salesman against the company for libel after a vice president sent an e-mail to about employees saying the salesman had been fired for violations of company procedures [...]

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Arkansas joins other jurisdictions and holds that the fair-report privilege covers all information released by the police.

Posted in Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Torts on March 12, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Whiteside v. Russellville Newspapers, Inc., No. 08-313. For information about Ryan Whiteside’s infamy in Russellville, click here. In January 2007, the Courier News in Russellville obtained a witness statement from the Russellville Police Department that a woman had been raped at the home of Whiteside and that Whiteside may have been involved in the rape.  [...]

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Can a reporter be sued for a published story based on the accidental disclosure of police information?

Posted in Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Torts on March 6, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Maybe.  A case with this central issue is currently before the Arkansas Supreme Court.  The Courier of Russellville stated that Ryan Whiteside was being investigated regarding a 2006 rape.  Ryan Whiteside and Kevin Jones are famous/infamous for being the persons who discovered Nona Dirksmeyer’s body after her death.  Kevin Jones was later acquitted of her [...]

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