In the News
Facts About PACs Podcast: Ep 70 with Bradley A Smith, Institute for Free Speech
[I]n this episode, Micaela Isler and Adam Belmar are joined by Bradley A Smith, Chairman, and Founder of the Institute for Free Speech for a look at the few bills still percolating in the 117th Congress that aim to do harm to employee-funded and business trade association PACs – directly and indirectly.
The Courts
Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): The Case for Preserving New York Times v. Sullivan
By Eugene Volokh
I haven’t read this new white paper yet from the Media Law Resource Center (it’s about 200 pages long), but it seems quite interesting; here’s the Table of Contents:
Preface • iii Floyd Abrams
Introduction and Executive Summary • 1
Chapter 1: A Response to Justice Thomas • 9 Matthew Schafer
Chapter 2: A Response to Justice Gorsuch • 79 Richard Tofel and Jeremy Kutner
Chapter 3: The Empirical Reality of Contemporary Libel Litigation • 97 Michael Norwick
Chapter 4: The Reality of Contemporary Libel Litigation • 139 Ballard Spahr LLP and Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Chapter 5: English Libel Law and the SPEECH Act: A Comparative Perspective • 169 David Heller and Katharine Larsen
Afterword • 193 Lee Levine
Free Expression
New York Times: I Came to College Eager to Debate. I Found Self-Censorship Instead.
By Emma Camp
I went to college to learn from my professors and peers. I welcomed an environment that champions intellectual diversity and rigorous disagreement. Instead, my college experience has been defined by strict ideological conformity. Students of all political persuasions hold back — in class discussions, in friendly conversations, on social media — from saying what we really think. Even as a liberal who has attended abortion rights protests and written about standing up to racism, I sometimes feel afraid to fully speak my mind.
Amicus with Dahlia Lithwick (Podcast): Why “Cheap Speech” Threatens Democracy
Rick Hasen on the speech that’s undermining elections, and what to do about it.
The States
Courthouse News Service: Facebook suspension
A Republican candidate for Texas governor sued Meta Platforms, the company formerly known as Facebook, over his suspension from the social media site, claiming it is censoring him and hampering his ability to campaign.
Click here to read the complaint.
Baltimore Sun: Sen. Ed Reilly breached standards of conduct for threatening retaliation against Severna Park woman, ethics panel finds
By Dana Munro
A General Assembly ethics committee found that Sen. Ed Reilly broke with the standards of the body when he told a constituent he was planning to pull a bill on which they both had worked because she donated to his opponent’s campaign.
Bloomberg Law: Covid-19 Misinformation Tests Doctors’ Free Speech Rights
By Christopher Brown
Doctors who have called the Covid-19 vaccine a hoax or say it changes people’s DNA infuriate public health watchdogs, but the First Amendment could protect medical professionals from aggressive attempts by state licensing boards to crack down on false information.
Medical professionals speaking outside the context of a one-on-one doctor-patient relationship have traditionally enjoyed the full free-speech protections of the First Amendment.
