First Amendment Commons^™

Incendiary Speech And Social Media, Lyrissa Lidsky

Faculty Publications

Incidents illustrating the incendiary capacity of social media have rekindled concerns about the "mismatch" between existing doctrinal categories and new types of dangerous speech. This Essay examines two such incidents, one in which an offensive tweet and YouTube video led a hostile audience to riot and murder, and the other in which a blogger urged his nameless, faceless audience to murder federal judges. One incident resulted in liability for the speaker even though no violence occurred; the other did not lead to liability for the speaker even though at least thirty people died as a result of his words. An …

Betraying Truth: Ethics Abuse In Middle East Reporting, Kenneth Lasson

All Faculty Scholarship

This article presents a brief overview of press freedom under the First Amendment, attempts to create a working definition of media “objectivity,” examines various codes of professional ethics for journalists, and analyzes specific cases in which such standards have allegedly been abused or abandoned in Middle East reporting.

A House Divided: Earl Caldwell, The New York Times, And The Quest For A Testimonial Privilege, Eric Easton

All Faculty Scholarship

In the 1972 case of Branzburg v. Hayes, the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment does not protect journalists who refuse to reveal their confidential sources or news gathering product in response to a federal grand jury subpoena. That decision has remained vital for 35 years and has reverberated through a number of recent high-profile cases. Despite some form of protection in nearly every state court, reporters haled before a federal judge may have no recourse save prison. Devastating as Branzburg has been for the so-called journalist's privilege, its negative impact has been far broader. Branzburg is one of …

The Colonel's Finest Campaign: Robert R. Mccormick And Near V. Minnesota, Eric Easton

All Faculty Scholarship

Today, media corporations and their professional and trade associations, along with organizations like Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the American Civil Liberties Union, carefully monitor litigation that implicates First Amendment values and decide whether, when, and how to intervene. It was not always so. Litigation by an institutional press to avoid or create doctrinal precedent under the First Amendment really began with the appointment of Col. Robert R. McCormick to head the ANPA's Committee on Freedom of the Press in the spring of 1928 and his involvement in Near v. Minnesota beginning that fall. Because of McCormick's …

In Search Of Regulatory Equilibrium, Lili Levi

Articles

No abstract provided.

Defining Freedom Of The College Press After "Hosty V. Carter", Jessica B. Lyons

Vanderbilt Law Review

The application of the First Amendment to public universities has long been a source of confusion and frustration for both universities and courts. In particular, application of the First Amendment to student publications such as newspapers, magazines, and yearbooks has led to a great deal of litigation and controversy. The protection afforded by the First Amendment to these publications at the university level is extremely unclear and the circuit courts' inconsistent treatment of the college press has further confused the issue.

How should the First Amendment apply to public universities? An instinctive response is that a college student should enjoy …

Small Hope Floats: How The Lower Courts Have Sunk The Right Of Privacy, Stephanie D. Taylor

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Holding Media Responsible For Deceptive Weight-Loss Advertising, Chester S. Galloway, Herbert Jack Rotfeld, Jef I. Richards

West Virginia Law Review

In Fall 2002, the Federal Trade Commission held a Workshop exploring the problem of misleading weight-loss promotional pitches. After the agency spent decades cleaning up deceptive advertising, the weight-loss industry continues to be replete with such tactics. In an attempt to more aggressively attack those deceptions, the FTC used the Workshop as a forum to suggest that media should play a more active role in screening ads for diet products and programs. Some saw this as an implied threat that the agency may begin holding media liable for publishing those ads. Media protest that this forces them into the de …

The Classified Information Protection Act: Killing The Messenger Or Killing The Message, Mitchell J. Michalec

Cleveland State Law Review

The purpose of this Note is to discuss the adequacy of existing statutory and administrative protections for classified information, examine how the agencies responsible for protecting this information implemented controls, and how the courts interpreted these existing protections. This Note argues that the failure of the government to prevent "leaks" is not necessarily a failure of the existing scheme, but rather a failure of the government to apply current controls. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the Classified Information Protection Act is an unnecessary, overbroad, and in some cases, ineffective alternative to the existing protections, with a great potential for abuse. If …

Public Importance: Balancing Proprietary Rights And The Right To Know, Eric Easton

All Faculty Scholarship

Articulating a coherent, all-encompassing First Amendment doctrine for freedom of speech and of the press has so far eluded every scholar who has tried, not least because of the variety of analytical approaches and potentially dispositive factors in Supreme Court jurisprudence. For example, the same regulation might be enforceable in one medium, but not another; in one forum, but not another. Enforceability may depend on the regulator's purpose and drafting skill, or not, depending in turn on whether the speech deserves full protection, some protection, or no protection at all. Sometimes enforceability depends on the speaker's intent, or knowledge, or …

The "Ultimate Question": A Limited Argument For Trafficking In Stolen Speech, Matthew J. Coleman

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

The New World Of News Media, David Broder

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Wilson, V Layne: Bans Press With Police In The Home, But Leaves Media Ride-Alongs Intact, Kathy A. Brown

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Nelson V. Mcclatchy Newspapers: What Happens When Freedom Of The Press Collides With Free Speech?, Adam Horowitz

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reporting The Official Truth: The Revival Of The Fcc's News Distortion Policy, Lili Levi

Articles

No abstract provided.

Qualified Intimacy, Celebrity, And The Case For A Newsgathering Privilege, Rodney A. Smolla

Scholarly Articles

Not available.

Newsgathering After The Death Of A Princess: Do American Laws Adequately Punish And Deter Newsgathering Conduct That Places Individuals In Fear Or At Risk Of Bodily Harm, Alissa Eden Halperin

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

Review Of Free Speech In Its Forgotten Years, Terrance Sandalow

Reviews

The gulf that separates contemporary understanding of the First Amendment from that which prevailed in earlier years emerges with striking clarity in this absorbing book by David Rabban,a former AAUP staff counsel who is now professor of law at the University of Texas and the AAUP's general counsel.

Is There A Right To View The Dead At Dover - Jb Pictures V. Department Of Defense: Limits On The Media's Right To Gather Information, Scott A. Macnair

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

Mine Accident Investigations: Does The Press Have A Right To Be Present, O. Marie Anderson

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Post Constitutionalism, Lawrence Lessig

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Robert C. Post, Constitutional Domains: Democracy, Community, Management

Hinerman V. Gazette: A Pro-Victim Shift In West Virginia Libel Law, Carole Lewis Bloom

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reporting The Truth And Setting The Record Straight: An Analysis Of U.S. And Japanese Libel Laws, Ellen M. Smith

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note argues that U.S. courts and lawmakers should adopt some aspects of Japanese libel law. Part I compares the balances struck in U.S. and Japanese libel law between promoting press freedoms and protecting individual interests. Part II focuses on the extent to which each system succeeds in addressing the objectives of encouraging aggressive, accurate reporting, and compensating libel victims. Finally, Part III proposes a new U.S. libel standard that would adopt, with some modifications, key elements of Japanese libel law without running afoul of established U.S. constitutional requirements.

Challenging The Autonomous Press (Book Review), Lili Levi

Articles

No abstract provided.

Liberal Visions Of The Freedom Of The Press, Michael Gerhardt

Vanderbilt Law Review

Liberals have long regarded the First Amendment's freedom of the press guarantee as their special plaything.' For most of this century, liberals have dominated the scholarship and the doctrinal debate on the freedom of the press. They have often urged the federal courts to establish the press as "a fourth institution outside the Government as an additional check on the three official branches." Liberal judges have ensured virtual autonomy for the print media through the cumulative effect of their rulings to immunize the press from damages for the publication of falsehoods about public figures unless the publication was done knowingly, …

Imagining A Free Press, Geoffrey R. Stone

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Images of a Free Press by Lee C. Bollinger

Foreword, Lee C. Bollinger

Faculty Scholarship

The mass media are too important to American democracy, too capable of causing injury, and too easy a target for the perennial wish to find a scapegoat for the country's ills ever to be very far from the center of public attention and debate. That is certainly true today. And, though every generation probably thinks that it stands at a crossroads on the question what to do with the media, I would nevertheless venture to say that the issues of our time are more serious, and more complex, than ever before. One can safely predict, in any event, that we …

Banning Broadcasting – A Transatlantic Perspective, Geoffrey Bennett, Russel L. Weaver

Journal Articles

The British Government's decision to prohibit radio and television networks from airing interviews or statements by members of certain Northern Ireland organizations, or by allies and sympathizers of such organizations (the Broadcasting Ban or Ban) is analyzed in context. From an analysis of the Ban, some conclusions are drawn about the nature of judicial review.

Indirect Gag Orders And The Doctrine Of Prior Restraint, Sheryl A. Bjork

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law—Freedom Of Speech And Of The Press—Officials May Censor School-Sponsored Student Speech If Censorship Has Valid Educational Purpose, Charles William Burton

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.