Law Commons^™

The Cable-Telco Cross-Ownership Prohibition: First Amendment Infringement Through Obsolescence, Michael G. Oxley

Federal Communications Law Journal

Since 1970, the FCC has prohibited all telephone companies from providing video programming in their local service areas. The primary rationale behind this prohibition was to promote the cable industry. Since 1984, however, the cable industry has seen tremendous growth with very little competition. New technology and market demands have now necessitated a reevaluation of the ban on cable-telco cross-ownership. The Author argues that with the changes that have occurred in the marketplace, the ban is now both an invalid prior restraint and an infringement on commercial expression and thus a violation of the First Amendment rights of telephone companies. …

The Cable Act And Municipal Ownership: A Growing First Amendment Confrontation, Carl R. Ramey

Federal Communications Law Journal

In many communities across the nation cable subscribers depend on government-owned cable television systems for their communication services. This phenomenon may have started out to be fairly insignificant, but as a result of the cable explosion, government ownership of cable systems presents a threat to free expression. Governmental overbuilding and direct competition with private cable service providers have been the subject of unsuccessful First Amendment challenges. The threat of government control of cable systems, though, is potentially dramatic and poses serious First Amendment questions. The Author concludes that private ownership should be encouraged, and public ownership should only be allowed …

The Television Violence Act Of 1990: A New Program For Government Censorship?, Julia W. Schlegel

Federal Communications Law Journal

The Television Violence Act of 1990 is designed to encourage the networks, the cable industry, and independent stations to reduce the amount of violence currently shown on television. To accomplish this goal, the Act grants a three-year antitrust exemption to the television industry so that it may meet and develop joint standards aimed at reducing the amount of violence currently shown on television. The Act's sponsor, Senator Paul Simon, emphasized that the Act simply encouraged the broadcast industry to set standards; it did not require them to do so. However, in December 1992, when the television industry had still not …

Obscenity, Pornography, And The First Amendment Theory, Arnold H. Loewy

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Limitations On Corporate Speech: Protection For Shareholders Or Abridgement Of Expression?, Alan J. Meese

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Contexts Of The Political Role Of Religion: Civil Society And Culture, David Hollenbach S.J.

San Diego Law Review

This Article argues that we need to frame the question of the relation of religion to public life in a way that goes beyond discussion of the direct impact of religious convictions on policy choices. The Article considers religion's public influences, such as its influence on the multiple communities and institutions of civil society and on the public self-understanding of a society called culture. In considering these influences, the author offers a new perspective on the role of religious belief in the decisions of those who draft legislation, reach judicial decisions, administer the domestic and foreign affairs of the nation, …

Braun V. Soldier Of Fortune: Tort Law Enters The Braun's Age As Constitutional Safeguards For Commercial Speech Buckle 'Neath The Crunch Of Third-Party Liability, Timothy J. Tatro

San Diego Law Review

Advertising is more than just a substantial source of revenue for publications. This author contends that advertising embodies the liberties of free speech and free press secured to all of us so fundamentally by the First Amendment. This Casenote analyzes Braun v. Soldier of Fortune Magazine, Inc., in which the Eleventh Circuit held a magazine liable for negligently publishing a gun-for-hire advertisement that allegedly resulted in the death of the plaintiff's father. The author is critical of this decision, noting the detrimental, long-reaching effects of sustaining a negligence action that penetrates so deeply into First Amendment freedoms.

Triangulating The Boundaries Of The Pentagon Papers, John Cary Sims

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Virginia "Son Of Sam" Law: An Unconsitutional Approach To Victim Compensation, Kerry Casey

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Duke V. Cleland: The Eleventh Circuit Neglects The First Amendment Rights Of Political Parties And Allows States To Limit Ballot Access Of Presidential Primary Candidates, Steven A. Kirsch

Vanderbilt Law Review

Notwithstanding H. Ross Perot's strong third place finish in the 1992 Presidential election,' history suggests a successful presidential candidate must be a member of one of the two major political parties to win. As a result, many candidates compete for each major party's nomination. Moreover, the leaders of state Democratic and Republican parties that hold presidential primaries often have attempted to remove the lesser-known, and sometimes politically unpopular, candidates from the ballot. One argument advanced by state party leaders in support of their attempts to prevent some candidates from appearing on the ballot is that the political party has a …

Hunter Harassment Statutes: Do They Shoot Holes Into The First Amendment, John A. Grafton

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Braun V. Soldier Of Fortune Magazine, Inc.: Advertisement For Hit Man Brings Four Million Dollar Hit To Publisher, Mae Charles Babb

Mercer Law Review

In Braun v. Soldier of Fortune Magazine, Inc., the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a district court's holding that the First Amendment does not insulate a magazine publisher from liability for publishing a commercial advertisement that presents a substantial danger of harm to the public. In adopting this affirmative duty to examine an advertisement's language, the court imposed tort liability on Soldier of Fortune Magazine ("SOF") for the criminal acts of its advertiser, a third party not joined in the suit. This decision strikes the correct balance between preserving the free flow of commercial information through advertisement with the need to …

Church Of The Lukumi Babalu Aye V. City Of Hialeah, Paul L. Bader

Mercer Law Review

In Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah, a Florida district court has gone further than any other federal court in proscribing a church's right to exercise its religious beliefs. The district court found that the city's interests in public health, child welfare, and animal welfare were sufficient to override the protection provided under the free exercise clause of the First Amendment. After the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in an unpublished opinion the Supreme Court granted certiorari to decide whether the First Amendment protects a religion's practice of animal sacrifice. The Supreme Court has …

Starting From Scratch: The First Amendment Reporter-Source Privilege And The Doctrine Of Incidental Restrictions, Marcus A. Asner

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note examines reporters' claims to a First Amendment reporter-source privilege in light of First Amendment doctrine as a whole. Part I briefly explains the current state of reporter-source privileges and the policies behind them. Part II then attempts to identify doctrinal support for the press's claim to a First Amendment privilege. Part II rejects the notion that the First Amendment affords special protection to the press as an institution. A reporter's status as a member of the institutional media is not irrelevant, however, and the well-established principle that the government may not target or single out the press for …

Where They're Calling From: Cultural Roots Of Rap, Jimmie L. Briggs Jr.

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Music Of Murder, Dennis R. Martin

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Girls Lean Back Everywhere: The Law Of Obscenity And The Assault On Genius, Anne E. Gilson

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Girls Lean Back Everywhere: The Law of Obscenity and the Assault on Genius by Edward de Grazia

Souring On Lemon: The Supreme Court's Establishment Clause Doctrine In Transition, Roald Y. Mykkeltvedt

Mercer Law Review

In his opinion for the Court in the landmark case of Everson v. Board of Education, Justice Black held that the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment erected a high and impregnable "wall of separation" between church and state. Relying primarily on the writings of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson to discern the intentions of the framers, Justice Black maintained that, at the very least, the establishment proscription meant that

rn]either a state nor the Federal Government .. .can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another .... No tax in any …

Lee V. Weisman: No Reason To Give Thanks, William Jonathan Martin Ii

Mercer Law Review

In Lee v. Weisman, the United States Supreme Court held that nonsectarian prayers delivered at public school graduation ceremonies violate the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. In reaching its decision, the Court purposefully disregarded the analytical framework established by Lemon v. Kurtzman, and its progeny, in favor of a coercion test. In so doing, the Court's decision not only failed to solve the problems associated with the Lemon framework, but also left Establishment Clause jurisprudence in a greater state of disarray and uncertainty than previously had existed.

Strangers On A Train, Peirre N. Leval

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Make No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First Amendment by Anthony Lewis

Free Speech For Me—But Not For Thee: How The American Left And Right Relentlessly Censor Each Other, Bradley L. Smith

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Free Speech for Me—But Not for Thee: How the American Left and Right Relentlessly Censor Each Other by Nat Hentoff

State Restrictions On Violent Expression: The Impropriety Of Extending An Obscenity Analysis, Jessalyn Hershinger

Vanderbilt Law Review

A group of minors allegedly attacked a nine-year-old girl at a San Francisco beach and "artificially raped" her with a bottle. The minors attacked the girl after watching and discussing a television network movie that portrayed a similar rape. The victim sued the network, claiming that it was negligent in airing the program.' In Miami Beach, a teenage boy shot and killed his eighty-three- year-old neighbor. Following his conviction, the minor sued three television networks for damages, alleging that a decade of viewing extensive television violence had incited him to imitate the acts that he had seen. Nineteen-year-old John McCollum …

Religion, Zoning, And The Free Exercise Clase: The Impact Of Employment Division V. Smith, Bradley Donald Parkinson

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

No Constitutional Shelter: The Ninth Circuit's Reading Of The Hybrid Claims Doctrine In American Friends Service Committee Corp. V. Thornburgh, Shawn Gunnarson

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

Sex, Violence, And Profanity: Rap Music And The First Amendment, Jon Christopher Wolfe

Mercer Law Review

Lauded by some and condemned by others, rap music does not want for a divergence of views on its nature, meaning, or message. The deluge of profanity coupled with vivid images and themes of sex and violence have provided fertile ground for discussion of rap's merits. Critics have characterized rap as "ugly macho boasting," "bombastic, self-aggrandizing," and "repulsive." Rap artist Ice Cube's Death Certificate album was the subject of a rare editorial comment by Billboard magazine deriding the lyrics as "the rankest sort of racism and hatemongering." Detractors fear that the violently negative messages promote a value system that celebrates …

The Death Knell For Hate-Crime Laws? The Supreme Court Protects Unpopular Speech In R.A.V. V. City Of St. Paul, Gregory Preves

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

People V. Diguida: Freedom Of Expression On Private Property Under The Illinois Constitution, Douglas M. Poland

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Native American Inmates And Prison Grooming Regulations: Today's Justified Scalps: Iron Eyes V. Henry, William Norman

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.

The First Americans And The "Free" Exercise Of Religion, Martin C. Loesch

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.

Freedom Of Speech As A Product Of Democracy, Arnold H. Loewy

University of Richmond Law Review

There are very nearly as many (if not more) rationales for freedom of speech as there are books and articles on the subject. Without attempting to canvass them all, I think that they can be divided into two generic theories. One theory suggests that freedom of speech is essentially teleological or consequentialist, i.e. it exists to serve some other goal, usually effective participation in the democratic process. The other theory, which is deontological or normative, suggests that freedom of speech exists as an end in itself rather than as a means towards accomplishing something else. Of course, these theories are …