Law Commons^™

Bart Cell Phone Service Shutdown: Time For A Virtual Forum?, Rachel Lackert

Federal Communications Law Journal

The balancing act between protecting First Amendment rights and the necessity of law enforcement to maintain the public order is not simple under normal circumstances. On August 11, 2011, San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit ("BART") created a paradigm embodying the very essence of this problem by shutting down cell phone and Internet service to prevent citizens from organizing and planning a protest. Both the constitutional and telecommunications law implications of BART's cell phone and Internet shutdown beg for analysis and reform, especially in an age of rapidly advancing technology. This Note analyzes the legal implications of BART's shutdown, and …

The Fcc’S Sponsorship Identification Rules: Ineffective Regulation Of Embedded Advertising In Today’S Media Marketplace, Jennifer Fujawa

Federal Communications Law Journal

In the contemporary media landscape, the advertising industry is increasingly relying on embedded advertising to reach consumers. The scope of embedded advertising in today's marketplace raises significant concerns and complicated First Amendment questions regarding the type of regulation needed to suit the interests of all parties concerned. In 2008, the FCC released a joint Notice of Intent/Notice of Proposed Rulemaking entitled Sponsorship Identification Rules & Embedded Advertising, which requested comments on the FCC's proposed changes to its sponsorship identification rules in light of this growing prevalence of embedded advertising. Yet, four years later, the FCC's sponsorship identification rules are exactly …

Qualifying Qualified Immunity, John C. Williams

Vanderbilt Law Review

I imagine Leslie Weise and Alex Young had similar feelings when, in 2005, they attended a government-funded speech by President George W. Bush in Denver. But those feelings appear to have been mixed with ones of discontent and dissent toward the President-for the pair arrived in a car with a bumper sticker reading "No More Blood for Oil," an obvious jab at Bush's Iraq War policies. On instructions from the White House Advance Office, a volunteer named Michael Casper approached Weise and Young at their seats and ejected them from the event. The Secret Service later told Weise and Young …

Dueling Values: The Clash Of Cyber Suicide Speech And The First Amendment, Thea E. Potanos

Chicago-Kent Law Review

On March 15, 2011, William Melchert-Dinkel, a Minnesota nurse, was convicted of two counts of assisted suicide, based solely on things he said in emails and online chat rooms. This note examines whether cyber speech encouraging suicide, such as Melchert-Dinkel's, should be protected by the First Amendment. States have compelling interests in preserving life, preventing suicide, and protecting vulnerable persons from abuse, and the majority of them have assisted suicide statutes that could be applied to cyber-suicide speech. However, because cyber- suicide speech does not fit neatly into recognized categories of "low-value" or unprotected speech, punishment may be foreclosed by …

Big Censorship In The Big House—A Quarter-Century After Turner V. Safley: Muting Movies, Music & Books Behind Bars, Clay Calvert, Kara Carnley Murrhee

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

On the twenty-fifth anniversary of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Turner v. Safley, this Article examines how federal courts across the country are applying the Turner standard today in cases involving the First Amendment free speech rights of inmates. Are courts too quick today to support the censorial proclivities of prison officials? Do judges too readily capitulate in deference to the concerns of those tasked with overseeing the incarcerated? Those are the key questions this Article addresses by analyzing inmate access to magazines, movies, books, and other common forms of media artifacts. This Article’s determinations stem from …

Renewing The Chase: The First Amendment, Campaign Advertisements, And The Goal Of An Informed Citizenry, John Stewart Fleming

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Proposal To Expand The Religious Services Exemption Under The Copyright Act, Kevin M. Lemley

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

This article focuses on the religious services exemption to the Copyright Act. The religious services exemption is one of many exemptions that permit certain types of use without first obtaining permission from the copyright owner, or proving fair use. This article argues that the religious services exemption should be expanded to cover any work used in the course of services as well as the recording, broadcast, and transmission of the services.

The first part of this article analyzes the existing religious services exemption under the Copyright Act to define the bounds that uses fall under the exemption. The article then …

Watching The Watchmen: The People's Attempt To Hold On-Duty Law Enforcement Officers Accountable For Misconduct And The Illinois Law That Stands In Their Way, Robert J. Tomei Jr.

Northern Illinois University Law Review

In the days when police brutality and public official corruption pump through the veins of society as a fermenting virus, a critical analysis of a controversial law curtailing efforts to intensify public awareness of government official transgressions is undertaken. In the great State of Illinois, legislative amendments to the Illinois Eavesdropping Act have established a moratorium on the audio recording, without prior consent, of any judge, state's attorney or law enforcement officer while in the performance of his or her official duties, regardless of whether or not the public official(s) had any objective, justifiable or reasonable expectation of privacy when …

Religious Monopolies And The Commodification Of Religion, Shima Baradaran-Robison, Brett G. Scharffs, Elizabeth A. Sewell

Pepperdine Law Review

In recent years, the number of countries in which a dominant church receives state aid and other forms of preferential treatment has increased. Dominant religions and their supporters in the former Soviet bloc and elsewhere often argue that special benefits and protection are warranted based upon the unique history and contribution of the dominant church to the identity, history, and culture of the country, and the interests of the state and its citizens. Because of the distinctive status of religion and its importance to national and cultural identity, special protection, especially against foreign and other outside influence, is deemed necessary. …

Building Universal Digital Libraries: An Agenda For Copyright Reform, Hannibal Travis

Pepperdine Law Review

This article proposes a series of copyright reforms to pave the way for digital library projects like Project Gutenberg, the Internet Archive, and Google Print, which promise to make much of the world's knowledge easily searchable and accessible from anywhere. Existing law frustrates digital library growth and development by granting overlapping, overbroad, and near-perpetual copyrights in books, art, audiovisual works, and digital content. Digital libraries would benefit from an expanded public domain, revitalized fair use doctrine and originality requirement, rationalized systems for copyright registration and transfer, and a new framework for compensating copyright owners for online infringement without imposing derivative …

Goading A Reluctant Dinosaur: Mutual Recognition Agreements As A Policy Response To The Misappropriation Of Foreign Traditional Knowledge In The United States, Paul Kuruk

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

How Strictly Scrutinized?: Examining The Educational Benefits The Court Relied Upon In Grutter, Patrick M. Garry

Pepperdine Law Review

In Grutter v. Bollinger, the Court recognized student body diversity as a compelling state interest that justified the use of racial preferences in selecting applicants for admission to public university law schools. Normally, any state action reviewed under a strict scrutiny approach is destined for invalidation. But in Grutter, the Court bucked the trend and upheld the race-based admissions policy against a racial discrimination challenge brought under the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause. Given the rarity of a state action surviving strict scrutiny review, it is instructive to examine the nature of the diversity interest recognized by the Court in …

What Counts As "Speech" In The First Place?: Determining The Scope Of The Free Speech Clause, R. George Wright

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

The First Amendment, Public School Students, And The Need For Clear Limits On School Officials' Authority Over Off-Campus Student Speech, Rory A. Weeks

Georgia Law Review

When, if ever, can school officials punish a student's off-
campus speech? The Supreme Court's student-speech
jurisprudence does not provide a clear answer. But this
much is clear: School officials do not possess absolute
authority over students' on-campus speech. Public school
students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the
schoolhouse gate. And yet during school or school-related
activities, public school students do not have coequal First
Amendment rights with adults in other contexts. During
school or school-related activities, school officials may
proscribe otherwise-permitted speech in order to fulfill the
school's basic educational mission, which includes
instructingstudents in civility. …

Layshock Ex Rel. Layshock V. Hermitage School District, Matthew Beatus

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

To Catch A Lawsuit: Constitutional Principles At Work In The Investigative-Journalism Genre, Michael F. Dearington

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Note examines two causes of action, civil rights violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and II ED claims, in the context of lawsuits against investigative journalists. Examining two recent cases in particular, Tiwari v. NBC Universal, Inc. and Conradt v. NBC Universal, Inc., which arise out of NBC's conduct in its primetime series To Catch a Predator, this Note concludes that legal standards governing conduct by investigative journalists are currently unclear. Investigative journalists are not adequately on notice as to when they might be liable under § 1983 for violating a subject's civil rights. And district courts have failed …

Foia And The First Amendment: Representative Democracy And The People's Elusive "Right To Know", Barry Sullivan

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Municipal Liability And Liability Of Supervisors: Litigation Significance Of Recent Trends And Developments, Karen Blum, Celeste Koeleveld, Joel B. Rudin, Martin A. Schwartz

Touro Law Review

"The purpose of this presentation is to examine two recent Supreme Court decisions, Connick v. Thompson and Ashcroft v. Iqbal with an eye to their impact on how lower federal courts will assess such claims in the wake of new constraints imposed by these cases. The focus of the discussion will be on developments in single-incident liability cases after Connick and supervisory liability claims after Iqbal."

Why The Law Needs Music: Revisiting Naacp V. Button Through The Songs Of Bob Dylan, Renee Newman Knake

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The law needs music, a truth revealed by revisiting the United States Supreme Court’s opinion in NAACP v. Button through the songs of Bob Dylan and the play Music History. This Essay proceeds in three parts. Part I opens with a summary of the Court’s decision in NAACP v. Button, focusing particularly on the expanded understanding of First Amendment rights related to access to the law that flow from this legal opinion. Part II explains the inspiration for this Essay, Seaton’s play Music History, which reveals the influence of music on law and culture during the civil rights movement. Part …