July 19, 2023

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The Courts

Oregon Capital Chronicle: Federal judge: Oregon Senate panel violated Boquist’s free speech rights

By Ben Botkin

.....Sen. Brian Boquist, the maverick Oregon lawmaker who said state police should “send bachelors and come heavily armed” if they wanted to drag him back to the Capitol in a 2019 Republican-led Senate walkout has prevailed in a First Amendment federal lawsuit tied to that statement and others.

In a Monday ruling, U.S. District Judge Michael McShane found that the Senate Conduct Committee retaliated against Boquist, I-Dallas, and violated his First Amendment rights when it required him to give a 12-hour notice prior to entering the Capitol. The conduct committee’s action followed Boquist’s statement to a television reporter about the state police and a separate comment on the Senate floor to then-Senate President Peter Courtney: “If you send the state police to get me, hell’s coming to visit you personally.”

In response, Boquist filed a federal lawsuit in 2019 against Courtney and conduct committee members Floyd Prozanski and James Manning, both Eugene Democrats. Prozanski is still the committee’s chair.

Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): Attempt to Block Comment About Critical Race Theory at State Bd. of Ed. Meeting Yields $89K Attorney Fee Awardarticle

By Eugene Volokh

.....From Regenold v. Ohio State Bd. of Ed., decided Friday by Judge James Graham (S.D. Ohio.):

Nonprofits and Independent Groups

Maine Wire: Leonard Leo: A Defense of ‘Dark Money’ Spending in Politics

By Edward Tomic

.....“Well first of all, I’ve always kind of chuckled at this idea that somehow I’m involved with dark money, because does anybody really doubt what it is that I’m helping to support? I think I’ve been pretty transparent about what I believe in, and pretty transparent about how I think the rule of law should be administered in our country. And so, I don’t think there’s a lot of opacity or darkness about what it is that I and the institutions I’m a part of help to support.

But look, you touched upon the history of our country. Our country has a rich history of anonymous giving, going all the way back to the Revolutionary War. The Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the women’s suffrage moment, the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, the gay rights movement of the 70s and 80s, all of those movements were in important part — or in significant part, sometimes — supported by anonymous giving.

And there’s a reason for it, right? There’s a reason for it. And the reason is because, the power of ideas, the power of the ideas ought to matter more than the peculiar personalities of the people who are supporting them. We should judge what we want to do in this country by the intellectual and moral force of an idea, not by the quirky personality, or looks, or wealth, or whatever of the people supporting it.

Look at the underlying idea — does it make sense? Is it morally justifiable? Is it intellectually supportable? And that’s why people give anonymously, so that people can focus their attention on the ideas.”

Politico: DeSantis PAC uses AI-generated Trump voice in ad attacking ex-president

By Alex Isenstadt

.....A pro-Ron DeSantis super PAC uses an Artificial Intelligence version of Donald Trump’s voice in a new television ad attacking the former president.

The ad, from Never Back Down, charges Trump with attacking Iowa governor Kim Reynolds as part of a larger pattern of disrespect he has shown to the first caucus state.

But the audio that the spot uses is not actually from Trump. A person familiar with the ad confirmed Trump’s voice was AI generated. Its content appears to be based off of a post that Trump made on his social media site Truth Social last week.

Free Expression

Washington Examiner: Millennials aren't so big on free speech

By Madeline Fry Schultz

....A large number of millennials think that some forms of free speech shouldn’t be free. In fact, using the wrong words should probably land you in jail.

According to a recent poll from Newsweek, 44% of millennials aged 25-34 said that “referring to someone by the wrong gender pronoun (he/him, she/her) should be a criminal offense.” Nearly a third of respondents stood up for the First Amendment, and a quarter of those surveyed somehow responded “neither agree nor disagree” or “don't know.”

Candidates and Campaigns

Washington Examiner: Anti-corporate Democrats take cash from PACs funded by major corporations: 'Total frauds'

By Gabe Kaminsky

.....House Democrats who have vowed to decline cash from corporate PACs or tried to ban them pocketed large donations in the second quarter of 2023 from committees bankrolled by major corporations, records show.

The States

Wired: North Carolina's New Abortion Law Is Also a Weapon Against Free Speech

.....North Carolina’s new law banning abortions after 12 weeks not only restricts abortion access in the state that saw the largest increase in abortions since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, but is also the first example since the Supreme Court’s decision of a state limiting what people can say online about abortion. This speech restriction will create confusion for lawmakers, tech platforms, and users alike, and ultimately undermine online expression.

Gothamist: NYC Campaign Finance Board demands transparency from everyone — but itself

By Brigid Bergin

.....In May, the New York City Campaign Finance Board announced that Beth Rotman, its executive director, had resigned after a seven-month tenure, citing the “need to move to care for an ailing family member.”

The statement did not tell the full story.

Following a Gothamist investigation, the board's chair acknowledged that Rotman did not resign voluntarily as the agency publicly announced. Instead, she was asked to step aside following a board investigation into concerns about her management.

“On May 13, Ms. Rotman was informed the Board had lost confidence in her leadership of the agency and requested her resignation effective immediately,” Frederick Schaffer, the board's chair, said in a statement.

In the two months since announcing Rotman's departure, internal documents obtained by Gothamist along with interviews with more than 10 current and former colleagues show that the agency, which prides itself on accountability and transparency, is facing an internal integrity issue of its own making related to Rotman’s exit.

Courthouse News: Arizona legislators examine freedom of speech on college campuses after controversial event at ASU

By Joe Duhownik

.....Controversial radio talk show host Dennis Prager's voice boomed throughout a small hearing room in the back of the Arizona State Senate building Tuesday.

“In the United States of America, you can march with a swastika!” Prager yelled. “Because if they can’t march, where will you draw the line?”

Prager was addressing ten Arizona legislators, six Republicans and four Democrats, on a committee assembled to investigate freedom of speech in Arizona’s three public universities.

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