Law Commons^™

The Public’S Companies, Andrew K. Jennings

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

This Essay uses a series of survey studies to consider how public understandings of public and private companies map into urgent debates over the role of the corporation in American society. Does a social-media company, for example, owe it to its users to follow the free-speech principles embodied in the First Amendment? May corporate managers pursue environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) policies that could reduce short-term or long-term profits? How should companies respond to political pushback against their approaches to free expression or ESG?

The studies’ results are consistent with understandings that both public and private companies have greater public …

University Trademarks And “Mixed Speech” On College Campuses: A Case Study Of Gerlich V. Leath And Student Free Speech Rights, Nathan Converse

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Higher education has long been a fundamental building block upon which American democracy is based. The guarantee of free speech is itself a revered liberty in the American polity; it has, in turn, served as the catalyst for higher education. Recent events on college campuses continue to reexamine universities’ role in their students’ education and push the legal boundaries on student speech rights. In many instances, however, students’ speech and expressive viewpoint conflicts with that of other students. Other times, students’ speech conflicts with the expressive interests of their university. This Article examines the latter instance in the context of …

Content Providers’ Secondary Liability: A Social Network Perspective, Michal Lavi

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Recent technological developments allow Internet users to disseminate ideas to a large audience. These technological advances empower individuals and promote important social objectives. However, they also create a setting for speech-related torts, harm, and abuse. One legal path to deal with online defamation turns to the liability of online content providers who facilitate the harmful exchanges. The possibility of bringing them to remove defamatory content and collecting damages from them attracted a great deal of attention in scholarly work, court decisions, and regulations. Different countries established different legal regimes. The United States allows an extensive shield—an overall immunity, as it …

Funding Conditions And Free Speech For Hiv/Aids Ngos: He Who Pays The Piper Cannot Always Call The Tune, Alexander P. Wentworth-Ping

Fordham Law Review

The United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act pledges billions of dollars to fund NGOs combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic but requires recipients to adopt a policy explicitly opposing prostitution and sex trafficking. A possible recipient NGO confronts a tough decision: adopt an affirmative statement against prostitution and sex trafficking to accept the funds, alienating a vital partner in its efforts to eradicate HIV/AIDS; or deny the funds to speak its own message, though without the benefit of government assistance.

Courts are split on whether the Leadership Act’s policy requirement places an unconstitutional condition on federal funds that requires …

From T-Shirts To Teaching: May Public Schools Constitutionally Regulate Antihomosexual Speech?, Amanda L. Houle

Fordham Law Review

In applying the First Amendment in the public school context, courts are faced with the challenge of balancing the constitutional rights of students against the discretion of schools to control speech and conduct on school grounds. This Note focuses on the specific issue of public schools regulating antihomosexual speech. Evaluating the First Amendment rights of students expressing antihomosexual sentiment through private and school-sponsored mediums, this Note ultimately argues for a comprehensive standard permitting schools to regulate both private and school-sponsored student speech.

Displacing Dissent: The Role Of "Place" In First Amendment Jurisprudence, Thomas P. Crocker

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Executive Protection: Freezing The Financial Assets Of Alleged Terrorists, The Constitution, And Foreign Participation In U.S. Financial Markets, R. Colgate Selden

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.

Prior Restraints And Intellectual Property: The Clash Between Intellectual Property And The First Amendment From An Economic Perspective, Andrew Beckerman-Rodau

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Freedom Of Expression In New York State: What Remains Of People Ex Rel. Arcara V. Cloud Books, Inc.?, Jeremy J. Bethel

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Note explores the decline of People ex rel. Arcara in New York State jurisprudence over the last decade. It first describes traditional and contemporary methods of testing free expression infringements, including a discussion of federal minimum standards, and protection expansions implemented by the New York Court of Appeals. Next, it describes the effect of federal "secondary effects" jurisprudence upon the People ex rel. Arcara standard, and how that encounter skewed lower court application of that standard for all cases involving "content-neutral" infringement of protected speech. Finally, it examines the illogical consequences of the court of appeals' method of deciding …

The First Amendment, The Right Not To Speak And The Problem Of Government Access Statutes, Anna M. Taruschio

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The dual principles of promoting the marketplace of ideas and protecting individual autonomy lie at the core of the First Amendment. When the government assumes an affirmative role by opening opportunities for public speech, it places individuals' negative liberties, such as the right not to speak, at risk. This conflict cannot be avoided by analyzing compelled speech outside of the First Amendment; the autonomy promised by the Bill of Rights and repeatedly affirmed by Supreme Court jurisprudence protects the right not to speak. Scholars, jurists, and practitioners therefore should pay close attention to the right not to speak when the …

The Constitutionality Of Current Crime Victimization Statutes: A Survey , Debra A. Shields

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Public Employees' Freedom Of Association: Should Connick V. Myers' Speech-Based Public-Concern Rule Apply?, Mark Strauss

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Accomodation Of Reputational Interests And Free Press: A Call For A Strict Interpretation Of Gertz, Tom Wall

Fordham Urban Law Journal

New York Times Co. v. Sullivan provides that states may award damages in defamation actions brought by public officials against media critics of their official conduct only if the plaintiff proves that the defendant acted with "actual malice." Subsequently, the Supreme Court extended this rule to public figures and promulgated standards for identifying public figures. The Court declared unconstitutional the common law standard of strict liability in actions brought by private individuals. Establishing negligence as a constitutional minimum, the Court delegated to the states the responsibility for formulating the proper standard of fault in actions brought by private individuals. This …

Television And Radio Commentators' Freedom Of Speech Not Infringed By Dues Requirement Of Union Shop Agreement. Buckley V. American Federation Of Television And Radio Artists, 496 F.2d 305 (2d Cir.), Cert. Denied, 95 S. Ct. 688 (1974)., Edwin M. Ceccarelli

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Plaintiffs, prominent television and radio commentators, were compelled to pay union dues and join the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) as a condition precedent to their public broadcasts. Plaintiffs sought declaratory and injunctive relief, alleging that this union shop requirement had a "chilling effect" upon the exercise of free speech and thus violated the first amendment. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled in plaintiffs' favor and declared that any provisions requiring plaintiffs to become members of AFTRA, pay dues, and comply with any regulations incident thereto were void and of …

Case Notes

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Constitutional Law- Freedom of Speech- Dismissal of Public School Teacher for Symbolic Expression of Political Opinion in the Classroom Held Unconstitutional. This case note discusses the first amendment issue in James v. Board of Education, 461 F.2d 566 (2d Cir. 1972), and the extent to which schools may limit a teacher's freedom of expression in the classroom. The note reviews the various tests used to analyze freedom of expression in general and then analyzes case law in the school context to infer that a court may permit state or local governments to control classroom expression when a teacher uses his …

Privacy And The First Amendment, Isidore Silver

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.