November 17, 2023

In the News

College Fix: California judge rules against mandatory DEI policies for faculty

By Jennifer Kabbany

.....A California judge has issued a report that sides against California community college policies that require faculty to embrace diversity, equity and inclusion as part of their job.

Wilson Times: Our Opinion: Pass 3 NC laws to boost free speech, open government

By Editorial Board

.....North Carolina earns a failing grade when it comes to protecting residents from frivolous lawsuits filed to punish critics and deter public advocacy, according to the Institute for Free Speech’s 2023 Anti-SLAPP Report Card.

As one of 17 states with no laws on the books to limit SLAPPs, or strategic lawsuits against public participation, we’re tagged with an “F” on the First Amendment group’s report card. The Old North State could climb out of the cellar and earn a place on the honor roll in 2024, however, if the General Assembly acts on a recommendation from its own N.C. General Statutes Commission.

Supreme Court

SCOTUSblog: Court refuses Florida’s request to reinstate anti-drag law

By Amy Howe

..... A divided Supreme Court on Thursday denied Florida’s request to allow it to temporarily enforce a law that makes it a misdemeanor to allow children at drag performances...

Hamburger Mary’s, an Orlando restaurant chain that hosts drag show performances, including “family friendly” shows, went to federal court to challenge the constitutionality of the law, arguing that it violates the First Amendment. U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell barred Florida officials from enforcing the law anywhere in the state, concluding that it violates the First Amendment and the due process clause.

The Courts

Tallahassee Democrat: DeSantis directive to disband pro-Palestinian student groups met with federal lawsuit

By Douglas Soule

.....The University of Florida's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter is suing the state university system after Gov. Ron DeSantis and his top higher education official called for the group's deactivation.

The chapter says that violates its First Amendment rights of speech and association – and it's asking a federal judge to block it from going into effect.

Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): No Arbitration of Suit Alleging Stanford Internet Observatory et al. Collaborated with Government to Pressure Social Media Platforms

By Eugene Volokh

.....From Judge Terry Doughty's opinion yesterday in Hines v. Stamos (W.D. La.) (already being appealed), rejecting defendants' motion to compel arbitration:

Politico: Appeals court mulls reviving Felicia Sonmez’s lawsuit against Washington Post

By Josh Gerstein

.....A combustible cocktail of issues swirled Thursday at a Washington appeals court, as lawyers and judges debated the free speech rights of the Washington Post, a discrimination claim from one of its former reporters, the public debate over the #MeToo movement and whether news organizations are effectively immune from some workplace discrimination lawsuits.

Inside Higher Ed: UF Professors Blocked as Witnesses Win $374K in Legal Fees

By Ryan Quinn

.....A judge has awarded nearly $374,000 in legal expenses to the three University of Florida professors who sued the institution over its abandoned efforts to stop them from testifying as expert witnesses in a voting rights case against the state.

Free Expression

Some Assembly Required: What Everyone Needs to Know About Free Speech

By John Inazu

.....Today’s edition of Some Assembly Required is an interview with Nadine Strossen, the John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita at New York Law School.

Professor Strossen is the past President of the American Civil Liberties Union (1991-2008) and a Senior Fellow with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). She and I serve together on the advisory board for the Bech-Loughlin First Amendment Center at the University of Texas. She is the author of the newly published book, Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know®, and the host and project consultant for a newly-released 3-part public TV series, Free to Speak.

Online Speech Platforms

Politico: The Implosion of Nikki Haley’s Social Media Crusade

By Jack Shafer

.....By Wednesday, Haley had softened her harsh proposal, saying, “I don’t mind anonymous American people having free speech; what I don’t like is anonymous Russians and Chinese and Iranians having free speech.”

Haley’s proposal crumpled under the most gentle scrutiny. In order to prove that you’re an American worthy of anonymous speech under her regime, wouldn’t you have to … identify yourself, thereby losing your anonymity? And that’s for starters. Would such a government-mandated scheme be legal? Probably not. Is the plague of anonymous misinformation somehow unique to the internet, requiring special rules for it? No. How practical would it be to identify every social media account by name? Not very. And if we said to hell with practicality and deployed the Haley plan, what would we lose?

The States

AP News: New York judge lifts the gag order that barred Trump from maligning court staff in fraud trial

By Michael R. Sisak and Jennifer Peltz

.....A gag order that barred Donald Trump from commenting about court personnel after he disparaged a law clerk in his New York civil fraud trial was temporarily lifted Thursday by an appellate judge who raised free speech concerns.

Judge David Friedman of the state’s intermediate appeals court issued what’s known as a stay — suspending the gag order and allowing the former president to speak freely about court staff while a longer appeals process plays out.

Ohio Capital Journal: Ohio House passes bill that GOP says promotes free speech in classrooms. Educators disagree

By Megan Henry

.....The Ohio House passed a bill that Republicans say supports free speech in the classroom, but Democrats and educators disagree. 

House Bill 214 would mandate school districts to establish policies that ban teachers, students and those applying for jobs from adhering to a certain political or ideological belief. The policies would be publicly available.  

State Rep. Adam Holmes, R-Nashport, introduced the bill, which passed with a 64-30 vote in the House on Wednesday. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.