First Amendment Commons^™

Communications Media And The First Amendment: A Viewpoint-Neutral Fcc Is Not Too Much To Ask For, Helgi Walker

Federal Communications Law Journal

In the "new economy" driven by the telecommunications industry, the FCC is a busy agency. Given the myriad legal issues faced daily by agency decisionmakers and the lack of perfect clarity in major communications legislation, a few legal missteps here and there by the FCC might be expected. In one area, however, the public can and should demand a first-rate agency record: regulation of communications media without regard to the viewpoint expressed via that media, as the First Amendment requires. This Article offers two case studies in which the FCC arguably took viewpoint-discriminatory actions with regard to regulated broadcasters, and …

Brief Amici Curiae Of Christian Legal Society And Union Of Orthodox Jewish Congregations Of America In Support Of Petitioners, Richard W. Garnett, Nathan J. Diament, Carl H. Esbeck

Court Briefs

No. 99-2036
The Good News Club v. Milford Central School

On Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The Second Circuit

From the Summary of the Argument

The parties agree that Milford's Community Use Policy creates a limited public forum. See, e.g., Pet. A13 ("We think it clear that the Community Use Policy has created a limited public forum in the Milford school facilities."). And the parties agree that any content restrictions in such fora must be "viewpoint neutral" and constitutionally "reasonable." Pet. A14 & n.8 ("If the Club's use is not a 'religious use' but …

Proactive Legislation And The First Amendment, Stuart Minor Benjamin

Michigan Law Review

It is a commonplace that the world is changing rapidly, with whole sectors of the economy being transformed. New forms of communication, like the World Wide Web, e-mail, and satellite television, have risen from obscurity to ubiquity in less than a decade. The speed of these changes has led some to express concern about the ability of governments to respond. The fear is that governments cannot keep up with developments as they occur and thus get hopelessly behind. The solution, according to some, is for the government to act proactively - before a harm has arisen, so that the government …

If You Can't Say Something Nice, Don't Say Anything At All: Hill V. Colorado And The Antiabortion Protest Controversy, Christy E. Wilhelm

Campbell Law Review

No abstract provided.

Bringing Structure To The Law Of Injunctions Against Expression, Christina E. Wells

Faculty Publications

Part I of this Article reviews the Court's cases regarding injunctions against speech, focusing first on the increasing elevation of rhetoric (as opposed to analysis) in the Court's prior restraint decisions. Part I also reviews the Court's other decisions involving injunctions and demonstrates that they too contain little, if any, analysis concerning the appropriateness of injunctive relief against expression. Part II examines Madsen's interaction with the Court's previous decisions and discusses how Madsen furthers the incoherence of the Court's previous cases. Part III explains that content discrimination principles, although superficially attractive, are inappropriate with injunctive relief because the content-based/content-neutral distinction's …

Santa Fe Independent School District V. Doe: The Constitutional Complexities Associated With Student-Led Prayer, Jennifer Carol Irby

Campbell Law Review

No abstract provided.

The First Amendment In The New Millennium: How A Shifting Paradigm Threatens The First Amendment And Free Speech, Sandra F. Chance

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law—Arkansas's Nondelegation Doctrine: The Arkansas Supreme Court Defines A Limit On The Delegation Of Legislative Authority To A Private Party. Leathers V. Gulf Rice Arkansas, Inc., 338 Ark. 425, 994 S.W.2d 481 (1999)., Benjamin Mccorkle

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Annotating The News: Mitigating The Effects Of Media Convergence And Consolidation, Eric B. Easton

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law—First Amendment—Does The Right To Free Speech Trump The Right To Worship? Olmer V. City Of Lincoln, 192 F.3d 1176 (8th Cir. 1999)., Patti Stanley

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The New World Of News Media, David Broder

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Privacy And The Press In The New Millennium: How International Standards Are Driving The Privacy Debate In The United States And Abroad, Jane E. Kirtley

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Digital Replicas Of Celebrities: Copyright, Trademark, And Right Of Publicity Issues, Joseph J. Beard

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Better Means Of Preserving Free Expression: Thoughts On Vigilance, Responsibility, Stewardship, Journalism Education, And The Demise Of Value Systems, Don E. Tomlinson

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

First Amendment—Campaign Finance Reform—The Supreme Court Halts The Eighth Circuit's Invalidation Of State Campaign Contribution Limits. Nixon V. Shrink Missouri Government Political Action Committee, 120 S. Ct. 897 (2000)., Erin Buford Vinett

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Food Lion As Reform Or Revolution: "Publication Damages" And First Amendment Scrutiny, Susan M. Gilles

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Internet Down Under: Can Free Speech Be Protected In A Democracy Without A Bill Of Rights, Robert Trager, Susan Turner

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

All Monica, All Of The Time: The 24-Hour News Cycle And The Proof Of Culpability In Libel Actions, David A. Logan

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Court Decisions As Information Sources For Journalists: How Journalists Can Better Cover Appellate Decisions, F. Dennis Hale

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Paradox Of Professionalism: Journalism And Malpractice, Robert E. Drechsel

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Section 5: First Amendment, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Peaches, Speech, And Clarence Thomas: Yes, California, There Is A Justice Who Understands The Ramifications Of Controlling Commercial Speech, Jennifer R. Franklin

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Petition For Writ Of Certiorari, Richard W. Garnett, Michael Stokes Paulsen, David C. Gibbs Jr., David C. Gibbs Iii, Charlotte A. Cover, Barbara J. Weller

Court Briefs

No. 00-131
K.D.M. v. Reedsport School District

On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

From the Reasons for Granting the Writ

The Ninth Circuit conceded that the regulation at issue below " 'discriminates' against students in religious schools, i.e., treats them differently by denying them state services on the school grounds." KDM, 196 F.2d 1046, 1051 (9th Cir. 1999) (App. B at 11 a). This, then, is a case about admitted discrimination - discrimination against "religious ideas, religious people, [and] religious schools." Board of Educ. of Kiryas Joel v. …

Chandler V. James: Welcoming Student Prayer Back In The Schoolhouse Gate, Sarah Beth Mabery

Mercer Law Review

In Chandler v. James, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the district court's order permanently enjoining enforcement of an Alabama statute that permitted student-initiated religious speech in public schools. The court of appeals concluded that permitting student initiated religious speech did not violate the Establishment Clause and such speech is protected by the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment.

Differentiating The Free Exercise And Establishment Clauses, Carl H. Esbeck

Faculty Publications

The purpose of the Establishment Clause is not to safeguard individual religious rights. That is the role of the Free Exercise Clause, indeed its singular role. The purpose of the Establishment Clause, rather, is as a structural restraint on governmental power. Because of its structural character, the task of the Establishment Clause is to limit government from legislating or otherwise acting on any matter "respecting an establishment of religion." The powers that fall within the scope of the foregoing clause (denied to government, hence within the sole province of religion) and the powers outside this clause (hence, authority vested in …

Constitutional Law And Criminal Procedure—Media Ride-Alongs Into The Home: Can They Survive A Head-On Collision Between First And Fourth Amendment Rights? Wilson V. Layne, 526 U.S. 603 (1999), Deleith Duke Gossett

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Application Of Product Liability Principles To Publishers Of Violent Or Sexually Explicit Material, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

There have been a number of tragic incidents during the past few years in which mentally unstable teenagers have carried guns into school and shot teachers and fellow students. These schoolyard killings have generated an intense debate about the problem of violence in our society. Some social commentators have attributed teenage violence to the widespread availability of firearms, while others blame parental neglect, lack of discipline in the schools, or the declining influence of religion and morality in contemporary culture. However, another source of concern is the popular media, which stands accused of purveying sex and violence on a massive …

On Casebooks And Canons Or Why Bob Jones University Will Never Be Part Of The Constitutional Law Canon, Neal Devins

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Incitement To Violence On The World Wide Web: Can Web Publishers Seek First Amendment Refuge?, Lonn Weissblum

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The purpose of this comment is to analyze the potential First Amendment implications of the appearance of bomb-making instructions on the Web in the United States. Moreover, this comment will ultimately consider the notion that "because Brandenburg allows consideration of all the unique characteristics of the Web, there is no reason to formulate new jurisprudence merely because of new technology." Part II examines the seminal cases in the area of speech action, including Schenck v. United States, Hess v. Indiana, and Brandenburg v. Ohio, and the adulations and criticisms that resulted from these cases. Part III discusses the civil cases …

The United Mall Of America: Free Speech, State Constitutions, And The Growing Fortress Of Private Property, Jennifer Niles Coffin

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Scholars have called the shopping mall the modern replacement for the traditional town square, a claim that is supported by both public investment in infrastructure through municipal and state bond issues and by the presence of public services and events in many malls. Mall owners and tenants have exploited this quasi public character by inviting government agencies to become tenants in the malls ("City Hall at the Mall") despite claiming that malls are private property where constitutionally protected freedoms do not apply. After an initial and shortlived ruling that mall visitors do indeed have free speech rights, the Supreme Court …