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Public School Teachers Who Refuse To Use Preferred Names And Pronouns: A Brief Exploration Of The First Amendment Limitations In K-12 Classrooms, Suzanne Eckes Mar 2023

Public School Teachers Who Refuse To Use Preferred Names And Pronouns: A Brief Exploration Of The First Amendment Limitations In K-12 Classrooms, Suzanne Eckes

ConLawNOW

This article focuses on whether a teacher has a First Amendment right under both the free speech and free exercise clauses of the U.S. Constitution when refusing to use a student’s preferred name or pronoun in a public school classroom. The article begins by briefly summarizing a recent case from Kansas and then examines prior precedent involving teachers’ classroom speech and teachers’ rights to freely exercise their religious rights in public schools. It then briefly highlights how these issues have been addressed in previous pronoun cases and concludes with a discussion of related constitutional issues.


You Have The Duty To Remain Silent: How Workplace Gag Rules Frustrate Police Accountability, Frank D. Lomonte, Jessica Terkovich Apr 2022

You Have The Duty To Remain Silent: How Workplace Gag Rules Frustrate Police Accountability, Frank D. Lomonte, Jessica Terkovich

Akron Law Review

This Article traces the First Amendment caselaw that, for more than half a century, has sided with speakers facially challenging overbroad workplace policies that forbid sharing information with the press and public. The Article then reports on the results of a nationwide survey of police and sheriff’s department policies by the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, concluding that well over half of the nation’s biggest law enforcement agencies have rules on the books that resemble—or are identical to—those struck down as unconstitutional when challenged, at times in defiance of binding circuit-level precedent. The Article examines why these legally dubious …


Paying The Piper But Not Calling The Tune: Litigation Financing And Professional Independence, W. Bradley Wendel Jan 2019

Paying The Piper But Not Calling The Tune: Litigation Financing And Professional Independence, W. Bradley Wendel

Akron Law Review

Most commercial litigation financing agreements are designed to create distance between the funders of the litigation and legal counsel. Our legal system demands that third party litigation financiers refrain from interfering with a client’s decisions in their matter, and traditional third-party litigation financing is merely a passive profit-making opportunity. There are cases, however, where the litigation financier is not interested in making a profit, but instead wishes to participate in the litigation for political, ideological, or personal reasons. In this article, I will explore whether what I call “interested litigation financing” is an exercise of First Amendment rights or is …


Unmasking The Teen Cyberbully: A First Amendment-Compliant Approach To Protecting Child Victims Of Anonymous, School-Related Internet Harassment, Benjamin A. Holden Nov 2017

Unmasking The Teen Cyberbully: A First Amendment-Compliant Approach To Protecting Child Victims Of Anonymous, School-Related Internet Harassment, Benjamin A. Holden

Akron Law Review

In proposing a new rule under the First Amendment to adjudicate anonymous Cyberbullying cases, this Article first reviews and summarizes the First Amendment precedents governing regulation of speech by minors and student speech in the school environment. Second, it reviews and discusses the prevalence of minors’ online harassment or Cyberbullying, including pre-litigation disputes reported in the press. Third, it reviews and summarizes the First Amendment precedents governing the “unmasking” of anonymous speakers. Finally, the Cyberbully Unmasking Test is proposed and applied.


A Missed Opportunity To Clarify Students' First Amendment Rights In The Digital Age, Elizabeth Shaver Jan 2017

A Missed Opportunity To Clarify Students' First Amendment Rights In The Digital Age, Elizabeth Shaver

Akron Law Faculty Publications

In the last decade, the federal circuit courts have grappled with the issue whether, and to what extent, school officials constitutionally may discipline students for their off-campus electronic speech. Before 2015, three federal circuit courts had extended school authority to off-campus electronic speech by applying a vague test that allows school officials to reach far beyond the iconic “schoolhouse gate” referenced in the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969) Two other federal circuits had avoided the issue altogether by deciding the cases before them on other grounds. In 2015, …


If Hip-Hop Were Classified And The Pentagon Papers Had Been Copyrighted: An Analysis Of Whether The Fair Use Defense In Copyright Law Is Broad Enough To Protect First Amendment Concerns, Sean Buchanan Mar 2016

If Hip-Hop Were Classified And The Pentagon Papers Had Been Copyrighted: An Analysis Of Whether The Fair Use Defense In Copyright Law Is Broad Enough To Protect First Amendment Concerns, Sean Buchanan

Akron Intellectual Property Journal

This paper will show that copyright law conflicts with the First Amendment in that the fair use doctrine is insufficient to protect the fundamental rights and interests that underlie the First Amendment's protection of speech. To do this, the paper will examine three primary justifications of the First Amendment: individual liberty, the marketplace of ideas, and political participation. The paper will also analyze multiple situations, in which parties bring copyright suits and the defendants claim fair use, to determine whether the fair use doctrine protects the First Amendment. This paper will show that if one accepts either a marketplace of …


Reconciling The "Moral Rights" Of Authors With The First Amendment Right Of Free Speech, John T. Cross Mar 2016

Reconciling The "Moral Rights" Of Authors With The First Amendment Right Of Free Speech, John T. Cross

Akron Intellectual Property Journal

The article concludes that the First Amendment does not significantly limit the enforcement of those moral rights recognized by state and federal law. Several features of moral rights laws support this conclusion. First, many acts that infringe moral rights do not qualify as speech, and therefore receive no First Amendment protection. For example, the droit de suite, or resale right, is clearly constitutional under this rationale, as it involves no speech whatsoever. Second, even when the offending act is speech, most moral rights laws can be justified, depending on the circumstances, by one or more of several arguments. Indeed, many …


The Nlrb's Restrictions On The Employer's Right Of Free Speech, D. Richard Froelke Aug 2015

The Nlrb's Restrictions On The Employer's Right Of Free Speech, D. Richard Froelke

Akron Law Review

In fiscal year 1968 more than a half million employees cast ballots in NLRB-conducted representation elections. Over the years more than twenty-five million employees have cast ballots in NLRB-supervised elections. Consequently, it seems worthwhile to review, in the light of the First Amendment, the NLRB's attempt to regulate the conduct of elections in which employees choose whether to become organized.


The Protection Accorded Picketing By The First Amendment, Joseph J. Corso Aug 2015

The Protection Accorded Picketing By The First Amendment, Joseph J. Corso

Akron Law Review

In the context of labor law, the origin of the relationship between free speech and peaceful picketing is the case of Thornhill v. Alabama. The speech aspects of picketing and the necessarily accompanying First Amendment protections were stressed by the Supreme Court in holding unconstitutional a state statute which constituted a broad ban on all picketing. The Court expressly limited the holding by recognizing that a narrowly worded statute, such as one merely interdicting picketing en masse or picketing portending imminent danger may be valid. An additional limitation of the decision is the fact that it was reached under a …


Constitutional Law - Flag Desecration Statutes - Freedom Of Expression; Parker V. Morgan, Bruce C. Heslop Aug 2015

Constitutional Law - Flag Desecration Statutes - Freedom Of Expression; Parker V. Morgan, Bruce C. Heslop

Akron Law Review

Viewed in its broad perspective, Parker v. Morgan has further clarified and circumscribed the constitutional limits of the state's power to protect the American flag from public acts of desecration. In this respect it may be considered to provide further insight into the constitutional questions involved in this relatively untouched area of the law. However, until authoritative consideration has been given to the nature and source of those protective powers which are reserved to a state, Parker v. Morgan cannot be regarded to have drawn the ultimate lines of demarcation for the constitutional validity of flag desecration statutes. A meaningful …


Obscenity - New First Amendment Standards; Miller V. California, Stacy E. Wolfe Aug 2015

Obscenity - New First Amendment Standards; Miller V. California, Stacy E. Wolfe

Akron Law Review

It has been over fifteen years since the Supreme Court embarked on its precarious course of determining the Constitutional boundaries for control of obscenity by the state and federal governments. The Court's first attempt to define the meaning of obscenity and ultimately determine the Constitutional protection afforded this expression was in Roth v. United States. What has followed can only be characterized as a series of irreconcilable conflicts and discrepancies that have left the law in this area in total confusion. Recently, the Court in Miller v. California has again attempted to provide "concrete guidelines to isolate 'hard core' pornography …


Chipping Away At The First Amendment: Newspapermen Must Disclose Sources, Michael F. Buchicchio Aug 2015

Chipping Away At The First Amendment: Newspapermen Must Disclose Sources, Michael F. Buchicchio

Akron Law Review

This Comment will explore the background and history of the journalistic privilege in light of case law and early constitutional argument. It will analyze the recent Supreme Court decisions denying a privilege to newsmen to conceal their sources, and attempt to explain how this privilege can best be maintained.


Obscenity - Liquor Regulations; California V. Larue, Richard Bernstein Aug 2015

Obscenity - Liquor Regulations; California V. Larue, Richard Bernstein

Akron Law Review

The state has the power to regulate the distribution of liquor and enforce health and safety regulations, but the state may not broadly stifle First Amendment freedoms when doing so. "The breath of legislative abridgement must be viewed in the light of less drastic means for achieving the same basic purpose." s The Court has consistently held that only a compelling state interest in the regulation of a subject within the state's constitutional power to regulate can justify limiting First Amendment freedoms.


The "Compulsory School Attendance" Case: Wisconsin V. Yoder, Michael Buchicchio Aug 2015

The "Compulsory School Attendance" Case: Wisconsin V. Yoder, Michael Buchicchio

Akron Law Review

It is an important constitutional doctrine that a law generally constitutional "on its face," may be unconstitutional "as applied" in specific instances. The Amish case marks the first occasion that the Court has clearly articulated that exception in favor of a minority religious group. It would appear that compulsory education laws are-"on their face"--within a state's constitutional powers, but under the facts of this case, the First Amendment requires that the Amish be exempt.


Corporations; First Amendment Rights; State Ex Rel Grant V. Brown, Theodore David Itzkowitz Aug 2015

Corporations; First Amendment Rights; State Ex Rel Grant V. Brown, Theodore David Itzkowitz

Akron Law Review

IN AUGUST 9, 1972 the Relators, Greater Cincinnati Gay Society, tendered articles of incorporation for a non-profit corporation to the Secretary of State of Ohio, under provisions of the Ohio Revised Code. The Secretary of State refused to accept the incorporation papers, however, claiming that the purpose of the group, which was to promote acceptance of homosexuality as a valid life style, was contrary to public policy, since homosexuality was then a criminal act.


A Reappraisal Of The Indigent's Right Of Access To Bankruptcy Proceedings, Timothy E. Gammon Aug 2015

A Reappraisal Of The Indigent's Right Of Access To Bankruptcy Proceedings, Timothy E. Gammon

Akron Law Review

IN 1963, Robert F. Kennedy stated, "To a serious extent, the scales of justice in this country are weighed against the poor"' One year later, the Office of Economic Opportunity was created, which helped balance the scale in some areas by providing legal service programs2 for indigents. Nevertheless, the enormous need of legal service for indigents has not and cannot be met under present programs.' The 1964 legal service program failed to provide money for fees and court costs in judicial and administrative proceedings so petitioners who could not proceed in jorma pauperis were denied access to those proceedings. No …


Proof Of Scienter In Criminal Obscenity Prosecutions, James P. Edmiston Aug 2015

Proof Of Scienter In Criminal Obscenity Prosecutions, James P. Edmiston

Akron Law Review

Beginning in 1957 with the landmark case of Roth v. United States, and continuing to the present, the courts and legislatures of this country have embarked on a determined, if somewhat confused, effort to prove Milton wrong. The social demand for the enactment and strict enforcement of obscenity laws, designed to remove both the material and its purveyors from society, has placed an enormous burden on the courts, which are charged with interpreting the vagaries of this country's obscenity laws as well as balancing the need for control of obscenity with constitutional freedoms.


The Control Of Seditious Libel As A Basis For The Development Of The Law Of Obscenity, Ronald W. Eades Aug 2015

The Control Of Seditious Libel As A Basis For The Development Of The Law Of Obscenity, Ronald W. Eades

Akron Law Review

In the United States there are government controls of at least two types of press, seditious libel and obscenity. Even though the first amendment protects speech and press, libels against the government and obscenity have not been given free reign, and have been consistently controlled. Although the conflicts over seditious libel aided the development of current standards of freedom of the press, the controls of obscenity have not yet completed that development and are inconsistent with those first amendment standards.


First Amendment; Freedom Of Speech; Obscenity; Pinkus V. United States, Cary Douglass Caesa Jul 2015

First Amendment; Freedom Of Speech; Obscenity; Pinkus V. United States, Cary Douglass Caesa

Akron Law Review

“In its latest attempt to define a workable standard for obscenity rulings, the United States Supreme Court has held that children may not be included in a court's instruction as to the social group to whom the material would or would not be obscene. However, the Court held that sensitive persons and deviant groups may be included without unduly lowering the threshold of a finding of obscenity. Thus, Pinkus v. United States clarified the "community" whose judgment should define obscenity.”


First Amendment; Freedom Of Speech; Commerical Speech And Advertising; Metpath, Inc. V. Imperato, Sheryl S. Kantz Jul 2015

First Amendment; Freedom Of Speech; Commerical Speech And Advertising; Metpath, Inc. V. Imperato, Sheryl S. Kantz

Akron Law Review

"The decision of Metpath, Inc. v. Imperato is indicative of the growing trend of the judiciary toward affording "commercial speech" the protective shield of the first amendment. As shown by Metpath, where the concern is advertising by a medical clinic, speech with commercial overtones is afforded protection where a public interest in the subject and content of the speech is demonstrated. However, the perimeters of such protection have not been defined by this or previous decisions."


First Amendment; Freedom Of The Press; Access Of News Media To County Jail; Houchins V. Kqed, Inc., Thomas W. Renwand Jul 2015

First Amendment; Freedom Of The Press; Access Of News Media To County Jail; Houchins V. Kqed, Inc., Thomas W. Renwand

Akron Law Review

"Although United States history is replete with struggles over the rights and prerogatives of the press, until recently these disputes rarely made their way to the nation's highest court.' In the last several years the Supreme Court has been confronted with a number of important, complex questions dealing with the role of a free press in a free society.'"


First Amendment; Freedom Of Speech; Broadcasting; Obscenity; Fcc V. Pacifica Foundation, James E. Moliterno Jul 2015

First Amendment; Freedom Of Speech; Broadcasting; Obscenity; Fcc V. Pacifica Foundation, James E. Moliterno

Akron Law Review

“ ‘I was thinking about the curse words and the swear words, the cuss L words and the words you can't say . . .the words you couldn't say on the public, ah, airwaves... the ones that will curve your spine [and] grow hair on your hands ....’ While this is the satiric opinion of George Carlin, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and a bare majority of the United States Supreme Court have embraced it as their genuine opinion.' They have decided to protect the public from the fate of hearing Carlin's social criticism regarding seven ‘dirty’ words.”


The Supreme Court And The Press: Freedom Or Privilege?, Sandra Bradley Jul 2015

The Supreme Court And The Press: Freedom Or Privilege?, Sandra Bradley

Akron Law Review

This comment will examine the Supreme Court's spring, 1978 decisions as they affected first amendment rights, and will assess their impact upon the press. Particular emphasis will be placed on Zurcher v. Stanford Daily as it affects first amendment, as well as fourth amendment, protections.


Unwanted Publicity, The News Media, And The Constitution: Where Privacy Rights Compete With The First Amendment, Ernest D. Giglio Jul 2015

Unwanted Publicity, The News Media, And The Constitution: Where Privacy Rights Compete With The First Amendment, Ernest D. Giglio

Akron Law Review

It is ironic that while recent legal history records the emergence of a constitutional right to privacy, the Supreme Court, in a line of cases from New York Times to Firestone, has restricted the common law tort of privacy. The legal issues are particularly complex and admittedly difficult to reconcile when the public disclosure tort comes in conflict with first amendment privileges. Expansion of the privacy tort need not necessarily impose an unreasonable burden on the news media, provided the Supreme Court distinguishes between defamation and privacy invasion and establishes and applies to the latter wrong its own legal principles.


Obscenity Law In Ohio, Richard H. Harris Jul 2015

Obscenity Law In Ohio, Richard H. Harris

Akron Law Review

Ohio's new obscenity statutes enacted in 1972 and made effective on January 1, 1974 are interesting to examine in light of recent Supreme Court holdings. The changes made in Ohio's obscenity statutes over the years reflect the Supreme Court's guidelines in varying degrees. Before looking at some of these recent statutes, as well as the present one in effect today, it is necessary to review the major Supreme Court decisions which have set these guidelines.


First Amendment; Freedom Of The Press; Erosion Of New York Times Co. V. Sullivan; Herbert V. Lando, Edward Howlett Jul 2015

First Amendment; Freedom Of The Press; Erosion Of New York Times Co. V. Sullivan; Herbert V. Lando, Edward Howlett

Akron Law Review

In Herbert v. Lando the Supreme Court announced that the first amendment does not require a constitutional privilege foreclosing direct inquiry into the editorial process. While the decision may seem correct in its overturning of the absolute privilege afforded to the editorial process by the Second Circuit, nevertheless, by refusing to grant even a qualified privilege to the editorial process the Court may have upset the delicate balance between an individual's interest in his reputation and society's interest in a free flow of information recognized in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan.


Conscientious Objection And The First Amendment, Gail White Sweeney Jul 2015

Conscientious Objection And The First Amendment, Gail White Sweeney

Akron Law Review

This comment will examine the possible constitutional consequences of the three other probabilities. 1) that Congress will revive the previous C.O. exemption without amendment; 2) that Congress will amend the statute to narrow the exemption; and, 3) that Congress will eliminate the C.O. exemption altogether. An analysis of earlier statutes is necessary to this end.


Federal Communications Commission, Administrative Law, Cbs, Inc. V. F.C.C., Rochelle K. Seide Jul 2015

Federal Communications Commission, Administrative Law, Cbs, Inc. V. F.C.C., Rochelle K. Seide

Akron Law Review

The broadcast media has an obligation to permit a legally qualified candidate for federal office to purchase reasonable amounts of time on behalf of his candidacy. In so holding, the Supreme Court went beyond a mere codification of the public interest standard. Pursuant to section 312(a)(7) of the Communication Act of 1934, as amended, candidates for federal office have an affirmative right of reasonable access to the broadcast media. In addition, the Court found that the statutory right of access provided by section 312(a)(7), as defined and applied by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), was not violative of the first …


Affirmative Action, Reverse Discrimination Bratton V. City Of Detroit, John T. Dellick Jul 2015

Affirmative Action, Reverse Discrimination Bratton V. City Of Detroit, John T. Dellick

Akron Law Review

In Bratton v. City of Detroit, the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals examined charges of reverse discrimination' arising from a voluntary affirmative action plan adopted by the City of Detroit. These reverse discrimination claims were presented as alleged violations of Title VIP and the fourteenth amendment. The Bratton court reviewed the leading Title VII reverse discrimination case, United Steelworkers of America v. Weber, and the leading fourteenth amendment reverse discrimination case, Regents of University of California v. Bakke. From these cases, the court in Bratton extracted the major guidelines of each, comingled them, and developed …


Book Removal In Secondary Schools: A Violation Of The First Amendment? Board Of Education V. Pico, Cherlyn Pherigo Jul 2015

Book Removal In Secondary Schools: A Violation Of The First Amendment? Board Of Education V. Pico, Cherlyn Pherigo

Akron Law Review

In the American democratic system, it is not uncommon for small, publicly-elected bodies to control the workings of societal institutions. These bodies may be federal, state or local in realm and function, and are usually given wide discretion. But who is it that controls the actions of these bodies This question is paramount to the myriad of recent cases involving the removal of books from secondary school libraries. The body involved is the local school board - an elected unit charged with the duty of managing school affairs. In that process of management, however, local school boards are apparently not …