First Amendment Commons^™

Sexual Privacy, Danielle Keats Citron

Faculty Scholarship

Those who wish to control and expose the identities of women and people from marginalized communities routinely do so by invading their privacy. People are secretly recorded in bedrooms and public bathrooms, and “up their skirts.” They are coerced into sharing nude photographs and filming sex acts under the threat of public disclosure of their nude images. People’s nude images are posted online without permission. Machine-learning technology is used to create digitally manipulated “deep fake” sex videos that swap people’s faces into pornography.

At the heart of these abuses is an invasion of sexual privacy—the behaviors and expectations that manage …

Table Of Contents, Editor In Chief

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

Assessing Assisted Reproductive Technology, Raymond C. O'Brien

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

Technological innovation possesses both opportunity and challenge. Because assisted reproductive technology (ART) involves sexual intimacy, parenthood, personhood, gender identity, privacy, legacy, and a plethora of religious, historical, sociological, and ethical underpinnings, the challenges presented in such technological innovation are substantial. Nonetheless, the opportunities are significant and progressive. Because of in vitro fertilization, gestational and genetic surrogacy, posthumous conception, and mitochondrial replacement therapy, humans now have the opportunity to overcome infertility, gender obstacles to parentage, dynastic limitations, and diseases that have long plagued mothers and infants. However, challenges include the exploitation of surrogates, unequal access to ART services, possibilities of cloning …

Privacy Of Information And Dna Testing Kits, Shanna Raye Mason

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

In modern times, consumers desire for more control over their own health and healthcare. With this growing interest of control, direct to consumer DNA testing kits have never been more popular. However, many consumers are unaware of the potential privacy concerns associated with such use. This comment examines the popularity and privacy risks that are likely unknown to the individual consumer. This comment also addresses the shortcomings of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), as well as the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) in regard to protecting individual’s genetic information from misuse. This comment …

Masthead, Editor In Chief

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

The Tortoise And The Hare Of International Data Privacy Law: Can The United States Catch Up To Rising Global Standards?, Matthew Humerick

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

Technological developments spur the development of big data on a global scale. The breadth of data companies collect, maintain, process, and transmit affects nearly every country and organization around the world. Inherent to big data are issues of data protection and transfers to third countries. While many jurisdictions emphasize the importance of protecting consumer data, such as the European Union, others, like the United States, do not. To circumvent this issue, the United States and European Union contracted around data privacy standard discrepancies through the Safe Harbor Agreement, which eased cross-border data transfers. However, the Court of Justice of the …

Michigan's Religious Exemption For Faith-Based Adoption Agencies: State-Sanctioned Discrimination Or Guardian Of Religious Liberty?, Allison L. Mcqueen

Notre Dame Law Review

Historically, most of the legal obstacles faced by gay couples hoping to expand their families through adoption stemmed from prohibitions on marriage. That was until Obergefell. Barriers to same-sex adoption have been steadily falling over the past decade, and, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision, married couples are now able to adopt in every state. However, there remains one pressing barrier to adoption for same-sex couples: “conscience clause” adoption laws enacted to allow faith-based adoption agencies to turn away prospective parents whose sexuality conflicts with their “sincerely held religious beliefs.” Though Ms. DeBoer and Ms. Rowse successfully broke …

The Growing Gender/Religion Divide, Marcia L. Mccormick

Marquette Benefits and Social Welfare Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sympathy For The Devil: Gawker, Thiel, And Newsworthiness, Amy Gajda

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

2017 Trademark Law Decisions Of The Federal Circuit, Anita B. Polott, Rachel E. Fertig

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

"The Way I Felt": Creating A Model Statute To Address Sexual Offenses Which Utilize Virtual Reality, Ryan Esparza

Criminal Law Practitioner

No abstract provided.

Extremist Speech, Compelled Conformity, And Censorship Creep, Danielle K. Citron

Faculty Scholarship

Silicon Valley has long been viewed as a full-throated champion of First Amendment values. The dominant online platforms, however, have recently adopted speech policies and processes that depart from the U.S. model. In an agreement with the European Commission, tech companies have pledged to respond to reports of hate speech within twenty-four hours, a hasty process that may trade valuable expression for speedy results. Plans have been announced for an industry database that will allow the same companies to share hashed images of banned extremist content for review and removal elsewhere.

These changes are less the result of voluntary market …

Music Videos: The Gray Area In First Amendment Protected Speech And The Resulting Trademark Consequences, Lindsey Gold

Cardozo Law Review de•novo

This Note argues for a federal classification of music videos as noncommercial, artistic speech under the First Amendment. As an artistic expression of a singer, music videos are no longer the promotional mini-movies they once were; they are now utilized widely by artists to express their artistic preferences—including the communication of social, political, and cultural doctrine.

Pickering, Garcetti, & Academic Freedom, Mark Strasser

Brooklyn Law Review

While the U. S. Supreme Court long ago recognized that individuals do not lose their free speech rights simply by virtue of being state employees, the contours of their First Amendment protections have been evolving over the past several decades. The proper way to apply these protections in the academic context is confusing, especially after Garcetti v. Ceballos in which the Court suggested that First Amendment protections do not attach insofar as individuals are speaking as employees rather than as citizens. The circuit courts have adopted a dizzying set of rules to determine when First Amendment protections are triggered in …

When The Fourth Estate’S Well Runs Dry, Megan L. Shaw

Brooklyn Law Review

The press is under fire. Members of the press often face subpoenas or similar court orders, compelling the disclosure of a source’s identity. By issuing media subpoenas, the government has effectively censored the press—the exact type of censorship that the Supreme Court held presumptively unconstitutional over eight decades ago in Near v. Minnesota. Yet the least protected—and most complicated—aspect of the newsgathering process is a reporter’s relationship with her source. For decades, journalists have tried to assert defenses to government compulsions on First Amendment grounds as well as by invoking a “reporter’s privilege,” a testimonial privilege similar to that of …

Section 230’S Liability Shield In The Age Of Online Terrorist, Jaime M. Freilich

Brooklyn Law Review

In recent years, “home grown” terrorists—individuals inspired to violence after watching terrorist videos online—have been responsible for devastating attacks in the United States and across Europe. Such terrorist propaganda falls outside the realm of the First Amendment’s protection because it has been proven to indoctrinate attackers, thus inciting imminent lawless action. Seizing on this, victims’ families have brought suits alleging that social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, and Google, provided material support to terrorists in violation of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). The Communications Decency Act (CDA), however, has served as an impenetrable shield against these claims, protecting social media companies …

Reading, 'Riting, And Regulating Speech: Why Schools Can't Punish Off-Campus Speech And How The North Carolina Legislature Has Tried To Fill The Gaps, Hannah Wallace

Campbell Law Review

The intersection between school discipline and free speech has sparked debates over how far a school's authority extends beyond campus. The internet and the nationwide conversation about cyberbullying have only magnified the debate. In Tinker v. Des Moines, the Supreme Court recognized that students do retain their First Amendment rights while under the school's authority. The Court then went on to hold that a school can punish a student for his or her on-campus speech if the speech causes a substantial or material disruption to school activities or if the speech invades the rights of another student. Whether this test …

Group Defamation, Power, And A New Test For Determining Plaintiff Eligibility, Jeffrey Greenwood

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

In the fall of 2014, Rolling Stone Magazine published an article describing the rape of a woman at a University of Virginia fraternity house. The story turned out to be false, and members of the fraternity sued for defamation. The suit raises an interesting question: under what circumstances may anonymous individual members of the fraternity recover? This Note describes the case, related common and constitutional law, as well as differences in group defamation doctrine across jurisdictions. After detailing problems with the existing paradigm, the Note proposes a new method for performing the analysis.

Fearless Speech, Mary Anne Franks

Articles

The American conception of free speech is primarily defined as the freedom to say whatever one wants, with little regard for the quality, context, or impact of the speech. Thus, American free speech doctrine is often characterized as neutral with regard to the speaker and the content of speech; in practice, however, it consistently privileges powerful over vulnerable speakers and harmful over critical speech.

From Philadelphia to Skokie to Charlottesville, the First Amendment has been interpreted to protect speech by white men that silences and endangers women and minorities. As free speech doctrine and practice become increasingly concerned with private …

Religious Exemptions, Harm To Others, And The Indeterminacy Of A Common Law Baseline, Elizabeth Sepper

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.