This is the Daily Media Update published by the Institute for Free Speech. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected].  

Gray TV: Free speech debate continues to boil in Washington

.....A debate over free speech is playing out on a national stage. Lawsuits involving the Biden administration, heated hearings in the House of Representatives, are all centering around the First Amendment.

Epoch Times: Police Raid of Small-Town Kansas Newspaper Sparks National Conversation on Speaking Truth to Power

By Darlene McCormick Sanchez

.....When a small-town Kansas newsroom was raided by local police a week ago, it touched a nationwide nerve that put the issue of government overreach front and center...

.....The Institute for Free Speech is saddened by the passing of former U.S. Senator James L. Buckley. James Buckley held many positions in the Reagan Administration, as well as serving as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He is also one of a handful of people to have served in all three branches of the federal government. He lived to be 100 years old.

Cowboy State Daily: Judge Blocks UW Ban On Church Elder Who Called Out Transgender Student

By Clair McFarland

.....A federal judge Friday temporarily blocked University of Wyoming leaders from censoring a Laramie church elder who lost presentation privileges at the college for a year for calling out a specific transgender student as “a male.”  

Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): Sixth Circuit Affirms (2-1) Dismissal of Nicholas Sandmann's Libel Lawsuit Against the N.Y. Times and Others

.....Some excerpts from Sandmann v. N.Y. Times Co., decided yesterday by the Sixth Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Jane Stranch, joined by Judge Stephanie Davis (for more details, read the full opinions):

Center for Public Integrity: Fundraising ‘schemes’ investigated by Public Integrity lead to arrests

.....Two men investigated by the Center for Public Integrity for a story about groups that fundraise for causes like childhood leukemia but keep virtually all the money have been charged in connection with “schemes to defraud donors,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

Richard Zeitlin, 53, and Robert Piaro, 73, were both arrested and charged Thursday with wire fraud in connection with telemarketing. 

Nonprofit Law Blog: Ways and Means Committee Requests Information on Nonprofit Political Campaign Intervention

By Gene Takagi 

.....Two Republican leaders of the Ways and Means Committee have recently become concerned about nonprofit political campaign intervention activities and, on August 14, 2023, published an open letter requesting information from 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations regarding their political activities.

From a political perspective, this is an interesting twist as Republican politicians and their supporters were better able to take advantage of the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court holding, as compared to their Democrat peers, to use tax-exempt organizations as vehicles to encourage greater (and often dark) funding of political campaigns. The Republican Party platform during Trump’s nomination even included the goal of eliminating the prohibition against political campaign intervention by 501(c)(3) organizations. But it seems now that the Democrats have caught up and perhaps surpassed the Republicans on their use of tax-exempt organizations to support political campaigns.

OpenSecrets: Party-aligned groups funnel millions in ‘dark money’ to closely-tied super PACs ahead of 2024 election

By Anna Massoglia

.....“Dark money” contributions from unknown sources continue to play a pivotal role in U.S. elections as party-aligned political groups direct millions in undisclosed funding to super PACs, ahead of what is anticipated to be the most expensive election cycle in history. 

The City: New Questions Arise Over Adams Donors: One Says She Was Reimbursed, Others Say They Never Gave

By George Joseph, Bianca Pallaro, Haidee Chu, Katie Honan, Tom Robbins, and April Xu

.....A recent college graduate told THE CITY his signature was forged on a $250 money order submitted by the Adams campaign in October 2019. The young man also said his now-deceased father was not an Adams donor either, even though he was listed in official contribution records as sending his own $250 money order to the campaign on the same day as his son. In campaign records, the older man was listed as “a housewife,” and his signature looks nothing like previous signatures he used in publicly filed property transactions.  

OregonLive: Oregon labor group launches end run around effort to curb political donations, shed light on dark money

By Hillary Borrud

.....A political nonprofit long led by Oregon’s powerful public employee unions filed two ballot measure proposals last week that contain an end-run strategy aimed at killing a proposal that campaign finance reformers have been working to qualify for the ballot for more than a year to cap contributions and shed light on dark money.

Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): Should There Be Limits on Bar Investigations of Candidates for Judicial Office During the Campaign?

.....An excerpt from Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Pierre, decided Wednesday by the Maryland Supreme Court, in an opinion by Chief Justice Fader:

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