Law Commons^™

Does “The Freedom Of The Press” Include A Right To Anonymity? The Original Meaning, Robert G. Natelson

Robert G. Natelson

This Article examines relevant evidence to determine whether, as some have argued, the original legal force of the First Amendment’s “freedom of the press” included a per se right to anonymous authorship. The Article concludes that, except in cases in which freedom of the press had been abused, it did. Thus, from an originalist point of view, Supreme Court cases such as Buckley v. Valeo and Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which upheld statutes requiring disclosure of donors to political advertising, were erroneously decided.

A "Bare ... Desire To Harm?" Marriage And Catholic Conscience Post - Windsor, Helen M. Alvare

helen m alvare

No abstract provided.

Demonstrators' Right To Fair Warning, Caleb Hayes-Deats

Caleb Hayes-Deats

Protesting has become an integral part of American politics, so much so that federal courts of appeals have recently restricted police officers’ power to arrest demonstrators who have concededly violated otherwise valid statutes and regulations. Specifically, courts have found that, where demonstrators may reasonably, yet mistakenly believe that police officers have permitted their conduct, officers must give “fair warning” before arresting or dispersing those demonstrators. In § 1983 suits, courts have even found that demonstrators’ right to fair warning is “clearly established.” While the right to fair warning may be clearly established, its doctrinal roots are not. Ordinarily, the requirement …

The Evolution Of The Digital Millennium Copyright Act; Changing Interpretations Of The Dmca And Future Implications For Copyright Holders, Hillary A. Henderson

Hillary A Henderson

Copyright law rewards an artificial monopoly to individual authors for their creations. This reward is based on the belief that, by granting authors the exclusive right to reproduce their works, they receive an incentive and means to create, which in turn advances the welfare of the general public by “promoting the progress of science and useful arts.” Copyright protection subsists . . . in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or …

An Imminent Substantial Disruption: Towards A Uniform Standard For Balancing The Rights Of Students To Speak And The Rights Of Administrators To Discipline., Allison G. Kort

Allison G Kort

ABSTRACT An Imminent Substantial Disruption: Toward a Uniform Standard for Balancing the Rights of Students to Speak and the Rights of Administrators to Discipline. By Allison Kort Twenty-five years before the Supreme Court’s landmark school speech decision in Tinker v. Des Moines, 393 U.S. 503, 504 (1969), the Court cautioned against placing too much discretion in the hands of school boards. In Tinker, when students wore black armbands to protest the Vietnam War, the Supreme Court determined that student speech may not be censored when the record demonstrates no facts which would reasonably have led school authorities to forecast a …

Of Locke And Valor: Why The Supreme Court's Decision In United States V. Alvarez Does Not Foreclose Congress's Ability To Protect The Property Rights Of Medal Of Honor Recipients, Timothy J. Geverd

Timothy J. Geverd

No abstract provided.

A Matter Of Context: Casey And The Constitutionality Of Compelled Physician Speech, Scott W. Gaylord

Scott W. Gaylord

The last few years have seen an increasing number of States seek to regulate abortion procedures—from heart auscultation statutes to admitting privileges to minimum facility standards. One such regulation has involved “speech-and-display” statutes, which require physicians to conduct an ultrasound, display the sonogram images to a woman considering an abortion, and describe the anatomical features that are visible in the image. In addition to asserting traditional due process claims, physicians have challenged these ultrasound requirements on First Amendment grounds, arguing that speech-and-display laws compel physicians to engage in speech activity against their will and (sometimes) against their medical judgment.

Although …

When Open Government And Academic Freedom Collide, Jonathan Peters

Jonathan Peters

Uneasy is the balance between open government and academic freedom. Scholars have argued that using public records laws to obtain their emails is a form of harassment and intimidation. Nonprofits and political parties have argued that the public has a right to know that scholars are following university rules and properly using public resources. Against that backdrop, we have explored whether public records laws apply to faculty members and whether an exemption in those laws for academic freedom would be conceptually sound and consistent with other exemptions for communications and work product.

New York's Taxable Lap Dancing...At A Strip Club Near You!

Harvey Gilmore

In today’s difficult economic times, state gov-ernments are more hard pressed than ever to come up with new sources of revenue to at least stay reve-nue neutral. Leave it to the perpetually money-hun-gry State of New York to come up with this gem of an idea for generating tax revenues: In 2005, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance at-tempted to impose sales tax on a nightclub’s offering of exotic dancing to its customers. This resulted in the matter of 677 New Loudon Corp. v. State of New York Tax Appeals Tribunal, ultimately decided by the New York …

Anonymous Speech On The Internet: Why Current Efforts By States To Regulate Anonymous Speech Fail Constitutional Scrutiny, And How Courts Should Protect First Amendment Rights, Conor Francis Linehan

Conor Francis Linehan

The legislatures in New York and Illinois have attempted to regulate the speech of individuals on the Internet and threaten to void their anonymity. The legislatures are trying to reach the actionable or harmful speech that often shows up on websites like Reddit.com. However, the bills have reached too far, and encompass much speech that is absolutely protected. This note argues that the right of anonymous speech on the Internet should be protected from government encroachment, and the proper way to protect the interests of individuals who are the subject of libelous or damaging speech should be through a re-working …

The Church Of Animal Liberation: Animal Rights As “Religion” Under The Free Exercise Clause, Bruce Friedrich

Bruce Friedrich

In this article, I do two things: First, I argue that a belief in animal liberation constitutes religion under constitutional jurisprudence interpreting the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Thus, every time a prison warden, teacher or school administrator, or government employer refuses to accommodate the ethical belief of an animal liberationist, they are infringing on that person’s religious freedom, and they should have to satisfy the same constitutional or statutory requirements that would adhere were the asserted interest based on more traditional religious exercise. Second, I suggest that one possible solution to the problem of widespread violation of …

Lethal Injection And The Right Of Access: The Intersection Of The Eighth And First Amendments, Timothy F. Brown

Timothy Brown

The Spring and Summer of 2014 have witnessed renewed debate on the constitutionality of the death penalty after a series of high profile legal battles concerning access to lethal injection protocols and subsequent questionable executions. Due to shortages in the drugs traditionally used for the lethal injection, States have changed their lethal injection protocols to shield information from both the prisoners and the public. Citing public safety concerns, the States refuse to release information concerning the procurement of the drugs to the public. Such obstruction hinders the public’s ability to determine the cruelty of the punishment imposed and creates the …