The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech March 7, 2024 Click here to subscribe to the Daily Media Update. This is the Daily Media Update published by the Institute for Free Speech. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]. In the News VOA: Iowa Journalist Wins Five-year Fight for Press Credentials By Robin Guess .....An Iowa journalist who was denied press credentials for five years has finally been granted access to the state House of Representatives after filing a lawsuit. Laura Belin runs “Bleeding Heartland,” a self-described community blog focused on Iowa politics. She is also the statehouse reporter for KHOI community radio station in Ames, Iowa. For the past five years, Belin has had to cover legislative proceedings from the public gallery or via online streaming after her repeated applications for credentials were denied... The Institute for Free Speech, a non-profit devoted to protecting First Amendment rights, advocated for Belin by writing a memo. It now represents Belin by filing the lawsuit against the Iowa House’s clerk. The Courts FEC: Appeals Court issues order dismissing case in Ready to Win v. FEC .....The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Wednesday issued a Per Curiam Order in Ready to Win v. FEC (Case No. 23-5161), dismissing the case as moot and remanding it back to the District Court with instructions to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. On October 27, 2022, Plaintiff, then known as Ready for Ron, filed suit against the Commission, claiming that Advisory Opinion 2022-12 violated the First Amendment and federal law because it prohibited Ready for Ron from providing a signed petition with signatories’ contact information to Gov. Ron DeSantis encouraging him to declare his candidacy for president of the United States and to remain a candidate for that office. DOJ Government Executive: DOJ issues 'gag order' on immigration judges By Eric Katz .....The Justice Department is warning one of its employee groups that it can no longer speak publicly without prior agency approval, raising concerns the Biden administration is placing a “gag order” on certain workers despite a promise to be their advocates. The issue stems from the National Association of Immigration Judges losing its recognition as a union, leading Justice to tell the organization any rights it previously enjoyed as part of a collective bargaining agreement are no longer valid. NAIJ has represented immigration judges for more than 50 years and has never previously faced restrictions on its public testimony. Congress Washington Post (Technology 202): House AI task force leaders take long view on regulating the tools By Cristiano Lima-Strong .....Like Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Obernolte pointed to the risks that AI-generated content poses to elections as one area with potential for fast action. “There should be broad bipartisan agreement that no one should be allowed to impersonate a candidate with AI … so we're going to be looking at what we can do to tighten up the regulations to try and prevent that,” he said. Candidates and Campaigns Forbes: Rep. Katie Porter Doubles Down After Slamming California Senate Race As ‘Rigged’ By Billionaires By Alison Durkee .....Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., defended comments Wednesday claiming the California Senate primary—in which she lost to Rep. Adam Schiff—had been “rig[ged]” against her by an “onslaught of billionaires,” after the lawmaker came under fire from the left for repeating language used by former President Donald Trump as he challenged the 2020 election results. Porter, a progressive who only won 14% of the vote as of Wednesday night, said in a statement Wednesday afternoon thanking her supporters that her campaign “had the establishment running scared” and “withst[ood] … an onslaught of billionaires spending millions to rig this election.” ... Porter released a second statement Wednesday night defending her comments, saying “‘rigged’ means manipulated by dishonest means” and that billionaires spending $10 million on false attack ads against her constitutes using “dishonest means to manipulate an outcome.” Free Expression The Free Press: New Hate Speech Laws Threaten Freedom Across the West By Rupa Subramanya .....One of the first things you learn—or should learn—in Civics 101 is that there is no freedom at all without freedom of expression. Free speech is the essential freedom from which our other rights flow. It’s a right that we have taken for granted in the West. But a new wave of hate speech laws has changed that. In English-speaking countries with long traditions of free expression…this most basic freedom is under attack… [T]hose now fighting censorship in Canada, or Britain, or Ireland, wish they had a First Amendment of their own to fall back on. Donor Privacy Washington Examiner: Private giving helps Jewish people fight antisemitism By Heather Lauer .....How can people stand up to antisemitism and advocate a more tolerant world in this turbulent and sometimes dangerous environment? One way is donating to nonprofit organizations that advocate the rights of Jewish Americans and fight against hate. In fact, recent research shows that Jewish people who have personally experienced antisemitism are far more likely than others to donate to nonprofit groups. That finding speaks to the profound role nonprofit donations play in opposing antisemitism and advocating its victims. While many forms of advocacy require people to paint a target on their backs, nonprofit donations can be made privately. Extremists opposed to your cause can’t track you down at your home or workplace. Every American has a constitutional right to support the causes in which they believe. To protect that right, we need to embrace privacy as well as free speech. Cato Daily Podcast: Dozens of States Continue to Attack Donor Privacy .....The privacy of donors who give to nonprofits deserves protection, and indeed the Supreme Court has protected that privacy on more than one occasion. Some states aren't getting the message. Matt Nese of People United for Privacy Foundation explains how. The States OPB: Oregon is on the verge of creating limits on campaign cash — without a ballot fight By Dirk VanderHart .....Oregon lawmakers are on the verge of a remarkable feat: Passing limits on political giving that have support from Democrats, Republicans, good government groups and some of the state’s most prolific campaign donors. On Tuesday night, top lawmakers in the state House introduced a revamped version of House Bill 4024, their proposal for instituting campaign finance limits. The new bill contains a number of changes to a high-speed proposal that’s been negotiated and revised repeatedly in the space of the five-week legislative session. But it comes with one especially notable addition its authors have sought: Backing from good government groups that have been planning to put their own campaign finance proposal on the November ballot. If the peace holds — and lawmakers can muscle the bill before the session adjourns in the coming days — the state would avoid an expensive and potentially ugly ballot fight later this year. That outcome looked likely Wednesday, as the bill sped out of a legislative committee and then received a 52-5 vote in the House. It now goes to the Senate. Gov. Tina Kotek supports the bill, a spokesperson said. News from the States: Indiana Supreme Court issues 3-2 opinion upholding party affiliation statute in Rust case By Niki Kelly and Casey Smith .....The Indiana Supreme Court on Wednesday belatedly released an 84-page opinion upholding Indiana’s law limiting who can run on the Republican and Democrat primary ballots. The high court previously issued orders in the case but not a full ruling. At issue is whether the so-called two-primary rule is unconstitutional, as a trial court judge had found. The case was brought by John Rust, who wanted to run for U.S. Senate as a Republican. But he didn’t meet either of the party affiliation parameters — his last two primary votes weren’t Republican and his county chairman wouldn’t sign off on his candidacy. Maine Morning Star: A ‘simple’ bill with broad implications: Legislature hears campaign finance reform initiative By Emma Davis .....Whether for or against, those who spoke at a public hearing on a citizen-initiated finance reform bill generally agreed that on face value, it is a valiant effort to get big money out of Maine politics. However, opponents argued that the way the proposal seeks to instigate nation-wide reform is both questionable and unconstitutional. On Wednesday, the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee heard the campaign finance reform proposal, which is backed by legal scholar Lawrence Lessig and first popped up around the November election. The bill seeks to limit contributions in Maine to independent political action committees, otherwise known as super PACs. The ultimate goal, however, is to get the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that PACs should be regulated, as previously reported by Maine Morning Star. Last month, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows confirmed that the campaign had secured enough signatures for a citizen initiative, sending it to the Legislature. If the Legislature does not enact the bill this session, it will be put on the ballot for a statewide vote in November 2024. Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): Telling Officials "You Will Live to Regret This" Wasn't Punishable Threat or "Intimidat[ion]" By Eugene Volokh .....From Coffeeshop, LLC v. Alcoholic Beverages Control Comm'n, decided Monday by the Appeals Court of Massachusetts (Justices William Meade, Sabita Singh & Paul Hart Smyth): Read an article you think we would be interested in? Send it to Tiffany Donnelly at [email protected]. For email filters, the subject of this email will always begin with "Institute for Free Speech Media Update." 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