September 28, 2023

In the News

The Press of Atlantic City: NJ flips to strongly protecting free speech from lawsuits

By David Keating

.....Unifying moments worthy of celebration are woefully rare in modern politics. Especially when it comes to free speech.

New Jersey just earned one.

That’s because Gov. Phil Murphy recently signed a new law — passed unanimously by both houses of the legislature — that strengthens the free speech rights of all New Jerseyans.

The law, called the Uniform Public Expression Act (UPEPA), is what’s known as an “anti-SLAPP” law.

New from the Institute for Free Speech

Institute for Free Speech Urges D.C. Circuit to Protect Political Speech from Private Enforcement

.....The Institute for Free Speech today filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Campaign Legal Center v. 45Committee, Inc., urging the court to affirm the dismissal of a lawsuit against an advocacy organization—a lawsuit that could harm political speech.

The case stemmed from a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint filed by the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) against 45Committee, a nonprofit organization. The FEC did not garner the four votes necessary to launch an investigation based on the complaint, with the commissioners split along party lines. Despite decades of tradition of the FEC then ministerially closing the file and publicly announcing the dismissal, the FEC failed to disclose its decision on the complaint, which eventually allowed the CLC to file suit against the 45Committee.

The Courts

Federal Election Commission: District Court issues opinion in Campaign Legal Center, et al. v. FEC

.....The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order in Campaign Legal Center v. FEC (Case No. 22-3319), denying the Commission’s Motion to Dismiss without prejudice to renewal.

Plaintiffs had challenged the Commission’s 2022 dismissal of an administrative complaint they filed with the agency alleging violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act).

Alliance Defending Freedom: Babylon Bee: New York online censorship law includes crack-down on comedy

.....Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief Tuesday on behalf of Christian satire news site The Babylon Bee. The brief urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit to uphold a lower court’s decision that halted New York’s law coercing online entities including the Bee to monitor and crack down on what the state deems “hateful conduct.”

Filed in support of UCLA constitutional law professor Eugene Volokh—proprietor of the influential blog “The Volokh Conspiracy”—along with online platforms Rumble and Locals, the Bee’s brief underscores the broad implications of a 2022 law passed by New York state, which is being challenged in Volokh v. James. As the brief explains, the law applies to satire and humor as well as to views on hot-button cultural issues like gender identity, public health policy, and more.

National Review: In One School District, Free Speech Has Become a Fireable Offense

By Mathew W. Hoffmann

.....It’s hard to push back on any issue these days, when any point that challenges the prevailing social ideology is frequently silenced by the powers that be.

In Grants Pass, Ore., the powers that be are school administrators who retaliated against two dedicated educators for offering their views on how to best care for children and respect the rights of their parents and teachers.

Congress

People United for Privacy: Understanding S. 1596 (The “REAL Political Advertisements Act”)

.....S. 1596 and its identical companion, H.R. 3044, purport to be straightforward transparency bills that simply require political campaign ads using content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) to include a disclaimer. However, much of S. 1596 is a dishonest attempt to increase government control over political speech online by bootstrapping the perennially rejected “Honest Ads Act” to ongoing conversations about AI in Congress.

A Trojan Horse for Regulating Political Speech on the Internet. Section 3 of S. 1596 is taken directly from the “Honest Ads Act,” a bill that has been introduced in multiple Congresses since 2017 and failed to advance each time. The dishonestly named proposal would restrict the free speech rights of American citizens and nonprofit organizations by creating a stunningly broad definition of paid political speech online and subjecting such messages to a complicated and vague set of reporting requirements. 

Daily Caller: Bob Menendez Signs Letter Warning Of ‘Corruption’ Amid Bribery Indictment Scandal

By Mary Lou Masters

.....Menendez pleaded not guilty Wednesday over charges related to allegedly receiving lavish gifts, such as cash, gold bars and a luxury vehicle, in return for political sway in the upper chamber. Despite numerous calls from Democrats to resign, and his decision to temporarily step down from chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Menendez joined his colleagues in voicing concern over how dark money could threaten democracy and asked for more “transparency.”

Minnesota Reformer: U.S. Senate panel weighs free speech and deep fakes in AI campaign ads

By Jacob Fischler

.....Artificial intelligence could be used to disrupt U.S. election campaigns, members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration said during a Wednesday hearing.

But the hearing showed that imposing laws and regulations on campaign content without violating constitutional rights to political speech will be difficult.

Elections pose a particular challenge for AI, an emerging technology with potential to affect many industries and issues, committee Chair Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, said. AI can make it easier to doctor photos and videos, creating fictional content that appears real to viewers.

Klobuchar called that “untenable for democracy.”

Klobuchar said the hearing underscored the need for Congress to impose guardrails for the use of AI in elections. Klobuchar is the lead sponsor of a bipartisan bill, with Republicans Josh Hawley of Missouri and Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Chris Coons of Delaware, that would ban the use of AI to make deceptive campaign materials.

Free Expression

Inside Higher Ed: A Speech About Free Speech Is Shouted Down

By Ryan Quinn

.....A conservative Princeton University professor tried to give a speech this month at Washington College centering on the need for campus free speech. Students disrupted his talk and succeeded in ending it.

It was another example of what are often called student shoutdowns or “heckler’s vetoes”—though the meaning of that phrase is contested—disrupting conservative speakers. Perhaps most prominently this year, in March, Stanford University students disrupted a talk by Judge Kyle Duncan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

The States

This is Reno: Commissioners adopt ‘watered-down’ lobbyist policy

By Kristen Hackbarth

.....Washoe’s Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday voted to adopt an ordinance requiring paid lobbyists to identify themselves when providing public comment at commission meetings.