first-amendment
Connecticut Prisoners Protesting 'Unfair' Porn Ban
Lauri Apple · 10/09/11 06:09PMDissent is in the air in America! Even behind bars, the people are rising up against oppression. In Connecticut, prisoners have begun a letter-writing campaign to defend their right to own "pictorial depictions of sexual activity or nudity," otherwise known as Pornographic Magazines. Letters today! Hunger strikes tomorrow!
Woman Forced to Remove Pothead T-Shirt at Pothead's Concert
Lauri Apple · 09/18/11 05:46PMA Nebraska Cannabis Coalition activist who was attending Willie Nelson's concert at the Nebraska State Fair was told by state troopers that she couldn't wear her "Don't Panic, It's Organic" t-shirt because of a vague "fair policy" that doesn't even prohibit pot-themed t-shirts. Or pot-themed musicians, apparently!
Coffee Shop's Stupid Lawsuit Against the New York Times Tossed
Lauri Apple · 08/13/11 01:28PMA judge has thrown out a defamation lawsuit filed by "Brooklyn-born and bred" coffee shop Gorilla Coffee against the New York Times—upholding the paper's right to report on mean things that people say about each other during disputes. Kind of an important part of a newspaper's job, if you think about it.
Woman's 'Obscene' Truck Nutz Land Her in Court
Lauri Apple · 07/27/11 04:13PMSupreme Court Says Videogames and Classical Literature Are No Different
Adrian Chen · 06/27/11 11:07AMGOP Senator: 'Free Speech Is a Great Idea, But We're in a War'
Max Read · 04/04/11 01:37AMWestboro Baptist to Protest Funerals of Tucson Victims
Hamilton Nolan · 01/10/11 11:21AMHere's Fred Phelps, head of "God Hates (Everyone)" Westboro Baptist Church, vowing to protest the funerals of those killed in Saturday's Tucson shootings. Including nine-year-old Christina Green. What a powerful demonstration of America's unparalleled Constitutional freedoms. God bless you, psychos.
Is the Westboro Baptist Church Protected by the First Amendment?
TPM · 10/07/10 06:15PMThere's almost universal agreement that the tactics and message used by parishioners of the small, fringe Westboro Baptist Church are despicable. Does that make their provocative protests near the funerals of dead U.S. soldiers — under the theory that God is punishing the country because it tolerates gay and lesbian Americans — unconstitutional?
Marty Peretz Apologizes For Most Recent Muslim-Hating Comment
Jim Newell · 09/13/10 10:50AMMayor Bloomberg Stands Up for Koran-Burning Pastor
Max Read · 09/07/10 10:13PM'New Republic' Editor Unsure If Muslims Deserve First Amendment Rights
Jim Newell · 09/07/10 01:02PMSarah Palin Doesn't Understand the First Amendment
Max Read · 08/19/10 01:09AMFederal Court Rules FCC Indecency Policies Violate First Amendment
Max Read · 07/13/10 09:32PMJuror Kicked Out of Courtroom for 'Who the F*ck Is Kanye West?' T-Shirt
Max Read · 06/25/10 03:01AMSupreme Court Affirms Our Right to Tape Animal Torture
Pareene · 04/20/10 10:03AMSupreme Court Justice Censors High School Newspaper's Puff Piece About Him
Maureen O'Connor · 11/11/09 02:29AMFloyd Abrams' Spurious First Amendment Excuse for S&P
John Cook · 06/02/09 11:50AMReporter Roughed Up for Questioning Obama's CIA Pick
Owen Thomas · 02/07/09 03:16PMCourt Victory for Dunne, Reckless Speculation Everywhere
Pareene · 07/09/08 10:39AMFantastic news, America-our constitutional right to repeatedly call a man a murderer has been upheld! Former congressmen Gary Condit, who allegedly caused 9/11 (j/k Gary!) sued Vanity Fair scribe Dominick Dunne for defamation, because Dunne kept claiming he knew that Condit knew stuff he wasn't telling about the murder of former Condit intern/paramour Chandra Levy (which Condit is totally responsible for, allegedly). Dunne went on the tee-vee and said "I think he knows more about what did happen than he has ever said," so the judge dismissed the suit becuz "I think" means it was a constitutionally protected statement of opinion, not assertion of fact. Or, as the judge put it, "Dunne does not suggest that his opinion statements are based on any additional facts not known to the public." This is terrible news for everyone, as now we all actually do have to be careful to use those stupid weasel words. Like "allegedly"!