December 6, 2023

In the News

Idaho Statesman: Idaho is one of the last states without an anti-SLAPP law. It’s time to change that

By David Keating

.....Years-long litigation between political opponents has led to an unlikely outcome: individuals on both sides of the lawsuit agreeing that Idaho desperately needs an anti-SLAPP statute.

SLAPP stands for “strategic lawsuit against public participation.” These suits usually take the form of meritless defamation lawsuits and can be weaponized by plaintiffs to silence speech they don’t like, preventing speakers from exercising their First Amendment rights.

Even if a defendant ultimately prevails, the cost and stress of defending such a suit can severely compromise speakers’ ability to comment on matters of public concern. Worse, SLAPPs can cause other speakers to think twice about commenting at all, thus “chilling” speech by incentivizing silence.

"FOX & Friends First" (Video): Moms for Liberty files suit against California library over alleged censorship

.....Plaintiff Sophia Lorey and Alliance for Defending Freedom attorney Logan Spena joined 'FOX & Friends First' to discuss the lawsuit and the significance of First Amendment rights in a place like a library.

Ed. note: The Institute for Free Speech is co-counsel in Moms for Liberty-Yolo County v. Lopez.

The Courts

Daily Wire: Daily Wire And The Federalist Sue Biden State Department Over Censorship Effort

By Luke Rosiak

.....The Daily Wire, The Federalist, and the state of Texas joined on Tuesday in a lawsuit against the U.S. State Department, alleging that the government agency funded censorship technology designed to bankrupt domestic media outlets with disfavored political opinions.

The State Department is tasked with foreign relations and has no authority over domestic affairs, yet it took a government office designed for countering foreign terrorist propaganda, the Global Engagement Center (GEC), and unleashed it against Americans engaged in what it claimed was “disinformation,” according to the lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas on Tuesday night by the New Civil Liberties Alliance.

Albany Times-Union: Catskills newspaper The Reporter sues Delaware County over alleged First Amendment violations

By Lana Bellamy

.....Publishers of The Reporter, a weekly newspaper in Delhi, are suing Delaware County officials in U.S. District Court over alleged First Amendment violations that appear to have begun last spring when the county revoked The Reporter’s designation as the official newspaper of record because some officials didn’t like the coverage.

Congress

Daily Caller: Top DOJ Official Says She’s ‘Not Familiar’ With Landmark Censorship Case Against Biden Admin

By Kate Anderson

.....Kristen Clarke, the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice (DOJ), said during a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday she was “not familiar” with the landmark case Missouri v. Biden that alleges the Biden administration violated Americans’ First Amendment rights.

Washington Post: How Harvard, Penn, MIT leaders answered — or skirted — questions on antisemitism

By Valerie Strauss

.....The House Education Committee called the presidents of three elite universities — Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — to a hearing Tuesday and demanded they answer tough questions about antisemitism on campus…

Here are some excerpts of the hours-long hearing, which include questioning over what constitutes free speech on campus. 

Free Expression

Fox News: Almost 1 in 10 college students threatened with punishment for their speech: study

By Adam Goldstein and Greg Lukianoff

.....According to a forthcoming survey developed by our organization, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, about 1 in 10 college students say they have been threatened with disciplinary action – or worse, actually disciplined – for their speech. 

The States

The Tennessean: Former Metro Council member awarded $100k in sanctions after win in defamation lawsuit

By Angele Latham

.....Former Metro Council member Dave Rosenberg has been awarded $100,000 in sanctions after his July win in a defamation lawsuit filed by former Tennessee House candidate Michelle Foreman — the largest sanction ever awarded under the four-year-old Tennessee Public Participation Act.

Foreman, a former candidate in 2022 for the state House District 59 seat and a one-time candidate for Metro Council District 35, filed a $300,000 defamation lawsuit against Rosenberg in May 2023.

Foreman’s lawsuit focused on an Oct. 22, 2022 newsletter Rosenberg sent via email to his subscribers, demonstrating support for Rep. Caleb Hemmer, Foreman’s then-opponent in the House District 59 race.

Rosenberg stated in the email that Hemmer was “running against a truly unhinged politician who is a COVID denier, anti-vaccine, supports January 6 and election conspiracy theories, and is a pathological liar.” …

“Councilman Rosenberg warned that the consequences of maintaining this abusive litigation would be severe, and he has now been fully vindicated,” said local First Amendment attorney Daniel Horwitz, who represented Rosenberg. “This historic order should serve as a warning to other politicians who would abuse the litigation process to threaten critics: filing SLAPP-suits will be financially devastating."