April 9, 2024

In the News

Fox News: Dems violated freedom of speech during transgender bill’s debate, conservative groups allege

By Jamie Joseph

.....The mandatory use of preferred pronouns is at the center of a battle between progressives in the Colorado House and Senate and conservative groups suing the liberal lawmakers, claiming the compulsory speech violates their First Amendment rights.

Gays Against Groomers — a nonprofit coalition of gay people who oppose "the recent trend of indoctrinating, sexualizing and medicalizing children under the guise of ‘LGBTQIA+’" — and the Rocky Mountain Women's Network — a women's advocacy group fighting for "sex-based rights" in Colorado — were named on Thursday as plaintiffs in the joint lawsuit, which was filed by attorneys with the Institute for Free Speech.

The suit alleges that Colorado lawmakers silenced the groups during public hearings for HB24-1071, colloquially known as "Tiara's Law," which is a bill that would make it easier for transgender felons to change their name. It is still being discussed in the legislature.

FEC Weekly Digest: Week of April 1-5, 2024

.....Advisory Opinion Request 2024-05 (Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom) On April 2, the Commission received a comment on the request from Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, which maintains a state political committee and a 501(c)(4) organization and is collecting signatures to place a state constitutional initiative on the 2024 general election ballot. On April 4, the requestor notified the Commission that it had modified its request to ask solely whether federal candidates may solicit funds for the state committee and the 501(c)(4) organization outside the amount limitations and source prohibitions of the Federal Election Campaign Act, and that it had withdrawn its questions concerning whether and how the requestor and a federal candidate may allocate between them the costs of communications that both advocate for the constitutional initiative and expressly advocate for the election or defeat of a federal candidate.

Cato: No on E v. Chiu: It’s a First Amendment Problem When Cities Regulate Political Speech

By Anastasia P. Boden, Brent Skorup, and Christopher Barnewolt

.....The Cato Institute submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in No on E. v. Chiu, urging the court to grant certiorari and make clear that strict scrutiny—not exacting scrutiny—is the correct standard for evaluating compelled speech laws like San Francisco’s. While the court has applied exacting scrutiny in the narrow context of campaign finance disclosures and disclaimers, San Francisco’s regulations are fundamentally different.

San Francisco’s mandated combination of disclosures and disclaimers—extended even to donor’s donors—directly burdens core political speech and the freedom of association.

The Courts

Daily Caller: Trump, Codefendants Seek Review Of Judge’s Decision Not To Dismiss Georgia Case Based On First Amendment

By Katelynn Richardson

.....Trump and his co-defendants are seeking to review a judge’s decision not to dismiss their Georgia racketeering case based on the First Amendment.

Judge Scott McAfee denied last week Trump’s bid to dismiss the case based on the argument that the indictment “directly targets core protected political speech and activity” in violation of the First Amendment, finding that the state “alleged more than mere expressions of a political nature.” Defendants asked McAfee to grant a certificate of immediate review allowing them to appeal his ruling because their challenges would “bar virtually every count of the Indictment against virtually every Defendant” if successful.

“Immediate appellate review is warranted because the challenges relate to Defendants’ core political, free speech rights in the context of then-ongoing aftermath of the 2020 Presidential election,” the filing states. “While Defendants cited a plethora of U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Circuit Court cases supporting their position, no Georgia appellate courts have addressed whether the challenged Georgia statutes can survive the criminalization of Defendants’ core political speech.”

Kansas City Star: Olathe schools to pay $259K legal fees over former board candidate’s free speech claim

By Sarah Ritter 

.....A judge has ordered the Olathe school district to pay more than $259,000 in former school board candidate Jennifer Gilmore’s attorney fees, in her lawsuit over being removed from a board meeting.  

That’s on top of the $472,000 in legal fees the district has spent on the case. Gilmore, a conservative candidate who unsuccessfully ran twice for the school board, filed the federal lawsuit after she was kicked out of a meeting in January 2022 for accusing a former opponent of “buying” her seat.  

Reason: Georgia Independent Bookstore Sues Jail Over Policy Banning Book Shipments

By Joe Lancaster

.....A Georgia jail is refusing all books shipped to inmates, except those that come from major retailers. One local bookshop is suing, saying that policy is unconstitutional.

Online Speech Platforms

Washington Post (Technology 202): Hundreds of groups urge Big Tech CEOs to step up fight against AI-fueled lies

By Naomi Nix

.....More than 200 civil advocacy groups are calling on Big Tech to bolster their fight against artificial intelligence-fueled misinformation as billions of voters head to the polls this year in elections around the globe.

The coalition of activists wrote to the CEOs of Meta, Reddit, Google and X, and 8 other tech executives Tuesday, urging them to adopt more aggressive policies that could stem the tide of dangerous political propaganda. 

These extra steps are critical in 2024 given that more than 60 countries are holding national elections, the groups charged in their letter, a copy of which was obtained exclusively by The Technology 202...

If tech companies don’t step up, dangerous propaganda on social media could lead to extremism or political violence, the activists argued.

Axios: McConnell urges action on bill to restrict TikTok

By Stef W. Kight

.....Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called for action to restrict TikTok on Monday, saying it is "a platform that is beholden to our foremost strategic competitor." ...

McConnell decision to weigh in on the controversial issue could restart effort to pass legislation that could ban TikTok in the U.S.

Politico: The House Dems who keep using TikTok while voting against it

By Rebecca Kern

.....More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers in the House who voted for the TikTok bill last month also have TikTok accounts, according to a detailed count by POLITICO — as does the campaign of President Joe Biden, who has said he’d sign a bill to ban the app if it passes the Senate.

Though navigating social media has been tricky ground for politicians for years, TikTok represents an especially acute challenge. As it becomes a more popular campaign outreach tool, with a dedicated user base of 170 million Americans, it’s becoming more politically toxic in Washington…

The app has also become a political and economic force to reckon with — hosting more than 7 million small businesses. According to the Pew Research Center, TikTok is now the leading news source for Americans, and has surpassed Google as a top search engine for Gen Z users, behind Instagram.

The Media

The Free Press: I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust.

By Uri Berliner

.....Back in 2011, although NPR’s audience tilted a bit to the left, it still bore a resemblance to America at large. Twenty-six percent of listeners described themselves as conservative, 23 percent as middle of the road, and 37 percent as liberal.

By 2023, the picture was completely different: only 11 percent described themselves as very or somewhat conservative, 21 percent as middle of the road, and 67 percent of listeners said they were very or somewhat liberal. We weren’t just losing conservatives; we were also losing moderates and traditional liberals. 

An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don’t have an audience that reflects America. 

That wouldn’t be a problem for an openly polemical news outlet serving a niche audience. But for NPR, which purports to consider all things, it’s devastating both for its journalism and its business model. 

Like many unfortunate things, the rise of advocacy took off with Donald Trump. 

The States and D.C.

Washington Examiner: DC attorney general closes investigation into left-wing dark money network tied to his office

By Gabe Kaminsky

.....Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb is no longer investigating Arabella Advisors, the $1 billion left-wing dark money network sharing connections to his office, according to a lawyer for Arabella’s funds.

The investigation’s end comes months after Schwalb, a Democrat, issued subpoenas last year to Arabella Advisors and the consulting firm’s offshoot nonprofit organizations, which conservatives in recent years have increasingly accused of violating federal law to boost Democrats. It also comes on the heels of a March ruling from a Washington, D.C. district judge authorizing discovery in a lawsuit against New Venture Fund by its former employee Sarah Walker, who is accusing the Arabella-managed group of racial and gender discrimination, as well as retaliating against her for warning about New Venture Fund engaging in alleged tax fraud.