October 3, 2023

In the News

Inside Higher Ed: California Community College Professors Sue Over DEI Rules

By Sara Weissman

.....Daymon Johnson, a history professor at Bakersfield College, represented by the Institute for Free Speech, an advocacy organization, filed an amended lawsuit against Bakersfield College and Kern Community College District administrators in June alleging they penalized him and other professors for espousing conservative political and social values and chilled his free speech. The lawsuit suggests college and district leaders were acting on the system’s mandate and asks that administrators be prevented from investigating or disciplining Johnson for expressing his opinions and that the systemwide rules be struck down as unconstitutional...

“Fearing retribution by Bakersfield College officials should I speak my mind on social and political matters, I self-censor,” Johnson said in his declaration.

Alan Gura, lead counsel and vice president for litigation at the Institute for Free Speech, said it’s already “concerning when you have a college professor who is afraid for his job because the school has decided that … making political statements, speaking one’s mind is suddenly considered to be unprofessional conduct, qualified grounds for termination,” but the systemwide rules show “the school adopting an official ideology where everything must be conformed to this new religion DEI,” which he called a “political cult.”

NJ Today: US Supreme Court won’t consider challenge to New Jersey’s ballot rigging

.....The United States Supreme Court refused to hear a pivotal case aimed at challenging New Jersey’s controversial ballot laws in a decision not to take up a case that could have threatened the entrenched political establishment’s ability to manipulate the electoral process.

The case was brought by Eugene Mazo and Lisa McCormick, who both ran as 2020 Democratic Party contenders for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Their lawsuit sought to challenge New Jersey’s election law, which permits candidates to use a six-word ballot slogan but infringes upon the First Amendment right to free speech, as it creates an uneven playing field that favors candidates with the backing of political powerbrokers and party bosses.

McCormick emphasized the significance of the case, stating, “The First Amendment forbids the government from controlling the content of political speech, but New Jersey law allows state officials to censor a candidate’s message to voters.” …

“Although Professor Mazo and I might be described by some as ‘flaming liberals,’ we were fortunate to have had the legal assistance of several of America’s most capable conservative attorneys, said McCormick. “Among them The Institute for Free Speech’s legal team led by IFS attorney Ryan Morrison, libertarian New Jersey civil rights lawyer Walter M. Luers of the firm Cohn Lifland Pearlman Herrmann & Knopf, and Paul Clement, a partner in Clement & Murphy who served as U.S. Solicitor General from 2004 to 2008 and has argued more than 100 cases before the United States Supreme Court, making him one of the attorneys most frequently-appearing before the top court in the twenty-first century.”

Constituting America ("Constitutional Chats"): Live Podcast: Ep. 184 - The First Amendment & Government Intrusion in Social Media

Oct 3, 2023 02:00 PM Eastern  

Guest: Bradley A. Smith, founder and Chairman of the Institute for Free Speech

"Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech.” Does the First Amendment cover what the government might deem "misinformation"? The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently said yes. Join us as we discuss "Government Intervention in Social Media." Constitutional Chats are hosted by Janine Turner, Cathy Gillespie, student ambassadors, and experts who join us weekly to discuss hot-topic issues! The audience is not on camera, but you may ask questions!

Supreme Court

Davis Vanguard: U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear First Amendment Challenge to Criminal Defamation Law

.....The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Hampshire’s petition for review of New Hampshire’s criminal defamation law, which makes it a misdemeanor to intentionally and falsely disparage another person. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Robert Frese, a resident of Exeter who has twice been arrested and charged with criminal defamation, most recently for criticizing his town’s police chief…

The lawsuit argued that New Hampshire’s criminal libel law — and laws like it across the nation — violate the First Amendment by authorizing law enforcement officers and other public officials to criminally prosecute their critics. The petition also stated that such laws are unnecessary when civil lawsuits are fully capable of addressing the harms caused by defamation.

Ed. note: The Institute for Free Speech filed an amicus brief in support of the petitioner in the case. Read it here.

Free Expression

Inside Higher Ed: Campus Free Speech Survey Rife With Contradictions

By Johanna Alonso

.....A new survey on the public’s views of free expression on college campuses emphasizes the complexity of the issue, experts say.

Respondents gave seemingly contradictory answers to survey questions regarding how and when speech should be restricted on campus. For example, while 61 percent said college officials should not be able to fire a tenured professor for using speech that some people find offensive, more than 80 percent said professors should not be allowed to express racist views. About the same share of respondents also said that professors should not be allowed to express sexism, while a slightly smaller majority—about seven in 10 people—said professors should not promote political or religious beliefs.

The States

Fresno Bee: Court rules for Fresno councilmembers in lawsuit with county over campaign money transfers

By Tim Sheehan

.....A Fresno County judge ruled unconstitutional the county’s effort to impose a $30,000 limit on transfers of campaign funds by candidates from committees for another office to their county election committee fund. Friday’s ruling by Superior Court Judge Jon Skiles was a win for a pair of Fresno City Council members, Garry Bredefeld and Luis Chavez, who are both running for the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. The county sued Bredefeld and Chavez under a 2020 ordinance that put a $30,000 cap on transfers or contributions from a candidate’s campaign account for non-county elective offices into their campaign for county offices — including the county Board of Supervisors. Bredefeld and Chavez, through their Sacramento attorney Brian Hildreth, asserted that the limit violated the U.S. Constitution and its First Amendment protections of freedom of speech and expression.

Center Square: Experts divided on campaign finance reform

By Morgan Sweeney 

.....Virginia has one of the most lax campaign finance laws in the nation, and reform efforts are ongoing among those who believe the lack of limitations may ultimately lead to corporate corruption of the political process...

Virginia-based lawyer Jason Torchinsky, who specializes in campaign finance and election law doesn't see it that way. He thinks that allowing large donations helps legislators do their jobs better.

“When candidates have to raise in relatively low dollars, it requires them to gauge their message and situate their time such that they are kind of forced to almost fundraise full-time,” Torchinksky told The Center Square.

“Why do Congress members have to spend all day fundraising? Because they can only raise money in $3,300 chunks, and it costs a couple of million dollars to run even a remotely competitive congressional race.”

Adequate disclosure laws, the media and others that are eager to reveal political corruption are enough to keep the public informed, according to Torchinsky.

“When there are those really big donors, guess what? They make the news… When you have the big, stand-out donors in states that don’t have limits, those donors become part of the conversation,” Torchinsky said.