Law Commons^™

Tollbooths And Newsstands On The Information Superhighway, Brad A. Greenberg

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Countering the perception that speech limitations affecting distribution necessarily reduce access to information, this Essay proffers that copyright expansions actually can increase access and thereby serve important copyright and First Amendment values. In doing so, this discussion contributes to the growing literature and two recent Supreme Court opinions discussing whether copyright law and First Amendment interests can coexist.

Getting Down To (Tattoo) Business: Copyright Norms And Speech Protections For Tattooing, Alexa L. Nickow

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

What level of First Amendment protection should we afford tattooing? General public consensus formerly condemned tattoos as barbaric, but the increasingly diverse clientele of tattoo shops suggests that tattoos have become more mainstream. However, the law has struggled to adjust. The recent proliferation of municipal near-bans on tattooing has brought tattooing to the forefront of First Amendment debates, with cases such as Anderson and Coleman leading the way toward recognizing tattooing as pure speech. Tensions between formal and informal copyright norms in the tattoo industry further highlight the collaborative and expressive nature of the artist-customer relationship and its resulting products, …

Religion And Group Rights: Are Churches (Just) Like The Boy Scouts?, Richard W. Garnett

Richard W Garnett

What role do religious communities, groups, and associations play - and, what role should they play - in our thinking and conversations about religious freedom and church-state relations? These and related questions - that is, questions about the rights and responsibilities of religious institutions - are timely, difficult, and important. And yet, they are often neglected.

It is not new to observe that American judicial decisions and public conversations about religious freedom tend to focus on matters of individuals' rights, beliefs, consciences, and practices. The special place, role, and freedoms of groups, associations, and institutions are often overlooked. However, if …

Pro-Whistleblower Reform In The Post-Garcetti Era, Julian W. Kleinbrodt

Michigan Law Review

Whistleblowers who expose government ineptitude, inefficiency, and corruption are valuable assets to a well-functioning democracy. Until recently, the Connick–Pickering test governed public employee speech law; it gave First Amendment protection to government employees who spoke on matters of public concern—-such as whistleblowers-—so long as the government’s administrative concerns did not outweigh the employees’ free speech interests. The Supreme Court significantly curtailed the protection of such speech in its recent case, Garcetti v. Ceballos. This case created a categorical threshold requirement that afforded no protection to speech made as an employee rather than as a citizen. Garcetti’s problematic rule has forced …

Flemming Rose's Rejection Of The American Free Speech Canon And The Poverty Of Comparative Constitutional Theory, Robert Kahn

Robert Kahn

In the fifteen page English language excerpt of his recent memoir The Tyranny of Silence, Danish publisher Flemming Rose gave an extended defense of his decision to run the cartoon images of the Prophet Mohammed. Current First Amendment doctrine almost certainly would treat this act as protected speech. But Rose barely mentions the First Amendment. Instead, he develops a highly personal theory of speech based on his experience in the Soviet Union and discussions with Salman Rushdie. Like many American legal academics Rose opposes bans on hate speech, but he does so for different reasons.

From a comparative law …

Constitutional Law—First Amendment—Social Media Rams The Tinker Schoolhouse Gate: A New Approach For Online Student Speech, S. Kate Fletcher

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Accepting The Court's Invitation, Martha M. Ertman

Martha M. Ertman

No abstract provided.

Lindros V. Governing Board Of Torrance Unified School District , Patrick Callahan

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Comment: First Amendment Rights Of Prisoners To Have Access To The News Media In Relation To Administrative Policy Bans Upon Such Access , Sharon Hass

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

California V. Larue: The Demise Of The “Bottomless” Bar , Doris M. Felman

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sarong Gals: Green Light For The Red Light Abatement Law, Donald Lewis Briggs

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Preying On Playgrounds: The Sexploitation Of Children In Pornography And Prostitution, C. David Baker

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Why Don’T You Take A Seat Away From That Computer?: Why Louisiana Revised Statute 14:91.5 Is Unconstitutional, Eva Conner

Louisiana Law Review

The article analyzes the content of Louisiana Revised Statutes section 14:91.5 which is regarding unlawful use or access of social media and compares it with similar laws across the U.S. It discusses the constitutionality of imposing post-release restrictions on sex offenders who have already completed their sentences. It reflects on Free Speech issues arising from laws restricting Internet access to sex offenders.

Decoding Student Speech Rights: Clarification And Applica-Tion Of Supreme Court Principles To Online Student Speech Cases, Courtney M. Willard

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment identifies the underlying principles of Supreme Court precedent governing student speech rights and applies those principles, as appropriate, to analyze online student speech. Part I provides a background of the four Supreme Court cases governing student speech. Four factors are identified from the Supreme Court decisions that continue to guide the analysis of student speech rights: sponsorship, location, effect, and content. Part II explores lower courts’ confusion in applying the four factors to online student speech cases. Finally, Part III examines the factors applicable to online student speech and provides guidance for future courts to analyze online student …

This Alj Said Too Much: Prison Hearing Officer Charges Michigan Department Of Corrections With First Amendment Violations And Race Discrimination, Carolyn Amadon

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Agencies And The Arts: The Dilemma Of Subsidizing Expression, Jennifer Weatherup

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Muzzling And Caging Administrative Law Judges: The Social Security Administration Attempts To Control Its Most "Notorious" Employees, Allen E. Shoenberger

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

S!*T, P*@S, C*^T, F*#K, C*@!S*&!Er, M*!#$*@!*#^R, T*!S - The Fcc's Crackdown On Indecency, Lindsay Weiss

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Consider The Source: A Note On Public-Sector Union Expenditure Restrictions Upheld In Davenport V. Washington Education Association, Daniel A. Himebaugh

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Redressing The Balance: An Examination Of The Scope First Amendment Protections, Prosecutorial Discretion, And Probable Cause In The Wake Of Hartman V. Moore, Anjoli Terhune

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

When Public Employees Speak Out On Issues Of Public Concern: The Applicability Of Pickering In Garcetti V. Ceballos, Jayne Chen

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

I Want My Mtv, But Not Your Vh1: A La Carte Cable, Bundling, And The Potential Great Cable Compromise, Holly Phillips

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Fair Play: The Tension Between An Athletic Association's Regulatory Power And Free Speech Rights Of Member Schools - The Practical Implications Of Tennessee V. Brentwood, Aaron Echols

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

This case note focuses on the development of free speech rights and how those free speech rights co-exist with the rights of administrative bodies to regulate the speech and behavior of members. In particular, this case note examines the tension between the free speech rights of member schools trying to advertise the benefits of attending their school and the regulatory interests of an athletic association seeking to ensure fair athletic competition and academic priority over athletics.

Unauthorized Televised Debate Footage In Political Campaign Advertising: Fair Use And The Dmca, Susan Park

Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Social Networking And Freedom Of Speech: Not Like Old Times , Zachary Shklar

Missouri Law Review

In Bland v. Roberts, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia was presented with the issue of whether “liking” a page on Facebook is speech protectable by the First Amendment. This Note argues that the court’s holding, that “liking” something on Facebook is not worthy of First Amendment protection, is a disturbing result that endangers one of our most fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. In Part II, this Note analyzes the facts and holding of Bland v. Roberts. Next, in Part III, this Note describes in detail how Facebook operates and explains the legal background …

Back To The Bad Old Days: President Putin's Hold On Free Speech In The Russian Federation, Rebecca Favret

Law Student Publications

This paper addresses new laws promulgated in Russia that restrict freedom of speech. Each implicitly reflects the Kremlin's hostility toward political dissidence in the aftermath of serious protests following President Putin's reelection and elections to the legislature. Disturbed by the outcry, which took place in cities across Russia but also infiltrated the Internet, the Russian legislature passed strict laws censoring Internet speech, prohibiting behavior and speech deemed "extremist," and curbing the size and type of public gatherings.

The new legislation is examined through the lens of some of the Kremlin's most infamous and recent targets: namely, the Internet blacklist and …

Policeman, Citizen, Or Both? A Civilian Analogue Exception To Garcetti V. Ceballos, Caroline A. Flynn

Michigan Law Review

The First Amendment prohibits the government from leveraging its employment relationship with a public employee in order to silence the employee's speech. But the Supreme Court dramatically curtailed this right in Garcetti v. Ceballos by installing a categorical bar: if the public employee spoke "pursuant to her official duties," her First Amendment retaliation claim cannot proceed. Garcetti requires the employee to show that she was speaking entirely "as a citizen" and not at all "as an employee." But this is a false dichotomy - especially because the value of the employee's speech to the public is no less if she …

Long Live The King: United States V. Bagdasarian And The Subjective-Intent Standard For Presidential "True-Threat" Jurisprudence, Kyle A. Mabe

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note argues that the Ninth Circuit found the proper balance between protecting speech and the President by interpreting the true-threats doctrine and the construction of presidential-threat statutes to require a subjective intent to threaten, in addition to one of the traditional objective standards for true threats. The application of a solely objective standard to threats against the President leads to unsettling results that punish speech without need. Harmless but misguided individuals have been held criminally responsible for ludicrous statements based on the sensitivities of the fabled “reasonable person,” regardless of the speakers’ actual motivations for their statements. More importantly, …

First Bank Of Boston V. Bellottii, Corporations Right To Political Speech, Paul J. Zwier

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Deceptive Advertising And The Federal Trade Commission: A Perspective, Larry T. Pleiss

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.