The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech April 27, 2023 Click here to subscribe to the Daily Media Update. This is the Daily Media Update published by the Institute for Free Speech. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]. In the News Austin American-Statesman: Opinion: Bill endangers the ability of Texans to speak freely By David Keating .....Texans should take pride in the fact that their state has one of the strongest free-speech protections against frivolous lawsuits in the country. Unfortunately, a bill currently making its way through the Texas Legislature would remove some of these protections and damage the ability of Texans to speak freely... Under the Texas Citizen Participation Act (TCPA), Texans enjoy robust safeguards against SLAPP suits. These anti-SLAPP provisions allow citizens to exercise rights of free speech and political participation without fear of reprisal from censors who can afford lawyers. In its current form, HB 2781 (and its identical Senate companion, SB 896) would compromise the effectiveness of the TCPA by weakening an essential procedural protection for speakers: the right of an immediate appeal if a trial court denies an anti-SLAPP motion. The measure would remove the stay of a case under appeal if an anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss is frivolous, untimely or subject to an exemption. Put more simply, the proposed change would mean that many more speaker defendants would have to proceed with an expensive litigation process. A defendant now has a right to an immediate appeal of a denied anti-SLAPP motion before the trial itself would commence. Supreme Court Election Law Blog: Paul Clement leads cert petition in Mazo v. New Jersey Secretary of State on ballot speech issue By Derek Muller .....Late last year here at ELB, I highlighted the Third Circuit’s decision in Mazo v. New Jersey Secretary of State. (Disclosure: I filed an amicus brief in that case.) Check out that post for more on the background. Paul Clement is leading the legal team that has just filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court. The docket for the case is here. Here’s how the question presented is framed: The Courts New York Times: Disney Sues DeSantis Over Control of Its Florida Resort By Brooks Barnes .....Last year, under pressure from its employees, Disney criticized a Florida education law prohibiting classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for young students. Almost instantly, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida started calling the company “Woke Disney” and vowing to show it who was boss... Since then, Florida legislators, at the urging of Mr. DeSantis, have targeted Disney — the state’s largest taxpayer — with a variety of hostile measures. In February, they ended Disney’s long-held ability to self-govern its 25,000-acre resort as if it were a county. Last week, Mr. DeSantis announced plans to subject Disney to new ride inspection regulations. Disney has quietly maneuvered to protect itself, enraging the governor and his allies. On Wednesday, however, the company decided enough was enough: Disney filed a First Amendment lawsuit against Mr. DeSantis and a five-member board that oversees government services at Disney World in federal court, claiming “a targeted campaign of government retaliation.” “In America, the government cannot punish you for speaking your mind,” Disney said in its complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida... The lawsuit accused Mr. DeSantis of a “relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint.” Washington Post: Fugees rapper Pras Michél guilty in sprawling corruption trial By Paul Duggan .....Fugees rapper Pras Michél was found guilty in a sprawling criminal corruption trial arising from one of the world’s biggest financial scandals after a three-week trial in federal court. A jury convicted him Wednesday on all 10 counts of the federal offenses he faced, including campaign finance violations, money laundering, illegal lobbying, witness tampering and lying to banks. New York Times: Michigan Students Sue School District Over ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ Ban By Lauren McCarthy .....A mother of two students in Howard City, Mich., filed a lawsuit claiming the public school district violated her sons’ First Amendment rights by asking them to remove sweatshirts with the slogan “Let’s go Brandon” on them. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday against the Michigan Tri County Area Schools district, an assistant principal and a teacher, claims that their school censored her sons’ “peaceful, non-disruptive politics” by having them take off the sweatshirts, causing them “to suffer irreparable injury.” Bangor Daily News: Conservative activist faces Maine school boards in free-speech court cases By Judy Harrison .....Conservative activist Shawn McBreairty will have his days in court this week in separate proceedings concerning two different school districts over what he claims are efforts to limit his right to free speech. McBreairty, 52, of Hampden is a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed last month against Hampden-based Regional School Unit 22 in U.S. District Court. The first hearing in that case is in Portland on Tuesday. He is also a defendant in a case filed last year by the Hermon School Department in Penobscot County Superior Court. McBreairty’s motion to dismiss that case will be heard at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor on Thursday. The cases could have wide implications for Maine schools at a time when even small towns are seeing divisive and nationalized battles over LGBTQ and gender identity issues. McBreairty, who has already won a settlement from RSU 22, is challenging a Maine law that requires a public comment time during school board meetings but allows boards to establish “reasonable standards” for the public comment period. Many school committees in Maine prevent people at board meetings from criticizing staff, teachers and students by name. Both RSU 22 and Hermon require that those complaints be made privately to the appropriate supervisor. McBreairty has criticized teachers by name in both districts at their respective school board meetings. His Hermon case concerns the aftermath of these policies. Congress Wall Street Journal: Senators Introduce Bipartisan Bill Mandating Code of Ethics for Supreme Court By Lindsay Wise and Jess Bravin .....Sens. Angus King (I., Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) introduced a bipartisan bill Wednesday that would require the U.S. Supreme Court to create its own code of conduct within a year, following media reports that raise questions about whether Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch properly disclosed their financial activities... The King-Murkowski bill is more modest than legislation introduced in February by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D., Ga.), which in addition to requiring the court to adopt a code of conduct would tighten disclosure and recusal requirements for justices and for interest groups that file briefs with the court. It also would establish an investigative board made up of the chief judges of each circuit to review complaints against justices. With Mr. Whitehouse’s bill having no Republican co-sponsors, Sens. King and Murkowski said their more targeted legislation might have greater chances of passage in a deeply divided Congress, where few issues can attract bipartisan support. FEC Fox News: FEC acknowledges it imposes no 'security guardrails' to protect Americans from fraudulent online donations By Elizabeth Elkind .....Exclusive: Weeks after a damning report accused Democrat fundraising machine ActBlue of failing to protect Americans from fraudulent donations, the Federal Election Commission acknowledged it does not impose any specific security measures on political groups that solicit money online, and that's because nothing in federal law requires those measures. "[The Federal Election Commission Act] does not impose requirements for specific safety or security guardrails that political committees must use to accept online donations," the FEC said in a response to a letter sent by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in which he demanded to know what rules were in place for the online donations received by political committees and campaigns. The States Florida Politics: Defamation law overhaul despised on the left and right dies in dwindling days of Session By Jacob Ogles .....Call it ‘the day the defamation bill died’: Lawmakers on both sides of the rotunda shelved a contentious overhaul of state defamation law Thursday, saying they were too far apart for compromise. Sponsors in both the House and Senate confirm they have ceased negotiations on the measure. The legislation, which drew criticism from media voices across the political spectrum, would have lowered the threshold to sue media outlets and others. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Jason Brodeur, a Lake Mary Republican, in the Senate (SB 1220) and Rep. Alex Andrade, a Pensacola Republican, in the House (HB 991). People United for Privacy: New Mexico House Rejects Anti-Privacy Bill Amid Ongoing Lawsuit By Luke Wachob .....New Mexico can be a hard place to support causes doing important work around the state. A state law passed in 2019 forces citizens to surrender their privacy when donating to nonprofits that speak out about public policy. New Mexico not only tracks your giving, it makes that information – along with your name and address – publicly available in an online database where anyone can use and abuse it. The state is currently being sued by two nonprofit organizations – the Albuquerque-based Rio Grande Foundation and Chicago-based Illinois Opportunity Project – who argue that the law violates their members’ constitutional rights. The Supreme Court has long protected the freedom to privately support social causes as a key component of the First Amendment. When Americans’ beliefs and associations are exposed, they can be harassed into silence, undermining our freedom of speech and weakening our democracy. Yet believe it or not, the New Mexico Senate actually tried to the make the law even worse earlier this year. NJ.com: N.J. school board to file ethics charges against member suspected of transphobic tweets By Jackie Roman .....A Hunterdon County school board voted unanimously Monday night to file a complaint with the state School Ethics Commission against a fellow board member suspected of owning a Twitter account condemned as transphobic and discriminatory. Members of the Hunterdon Central Regional High School Board of Education authorized board president Lisa Hughes to file ethics charges against board member Rebecca Petersen on the board’s behalf after conducting an investigation into allegations Petersen was behind the controversial account. Read an article you think we would be interested in? 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