August 30, 2024

The Courts

CNA: Religious broadcasters sue IRS over rule limiting political speech for nonprofits

By Daniel Payne

.....A coalition of religious broadcasters and churches is suing the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over a long-standing rule that forbids certain nonprofits, including churches, from supporting politicians and political campaigns.

The complaint, filed on Wednesday in U.S. district court by the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), argues that churches “are placed in a unique and discriminatory status” by the Internal Revenue Code.

That code automatically classifies almost all churches as 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. Since 1954, the Johnson Amendment of the tax code — named after then-Texas Sen. Lyndon Johnson — forbids 501(c)(3) nonprofits from endorsing or opposing political candidates.

New York Times: Sarah Palin Is Granted New Libel Trial Against The New York Times

By David Enrich

.....A federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered a new trial in a long-running and closely watched libel lawsuit that Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska and Republican vice-presidential nominee, brought against The New York Times.

The court found that Ms. Palin’s original trial against The Times, which she lost in 2022, had been tainted by problematic rulings by the presiding judge.

The suit, which Ms. Palin first filed in 2017, accused The Times of defaming her in an editorial that wrongly suggested that she had incited a 2011 shooting at a political event in Arizona. Ms. Palin said the editorial had damaged her reputation, even though The Times had swiftly corrected and apologized for the piece.

A federal jury in New York City ruled for The Times. Ms. Palin appealed, arguing in part that the judge hearing the case had wrongly excluded evidence. She also argued that the jury may have been swayed when the judge announced that he planned to throw out the lawsuit even as the jury was continuing to deliberate...

The appeals court’s 56-page ruling on Wednesday did not engage with the argument by Ms. Palin’s side that the Sullivan precedent was obsolete. Instead, the three judges — all appointed by Republican presidents — faulted Judge Rakoff’s handling of the trial. 

Wall Street Journal: Book Publishers Sue Florida, Alleging School Library Law Violates First Amendment

By Jacob Gershman

.....Major U.S. publishers are challenging a Florida law enacted last year that cracks down on sexual content in school libraries, alleging it has led to indiscriminate book banning in violation of the First Amendment.

Florida’s statute, also known as HB 1069, requires districts to set up a process for a parent or resident of the county to contest school and classroom library materials that they believe contain pornographic or sexual content…

The complaint, filed in Orlando federal court Thursday, puts Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration at the center of a broadening legal clash over who gets to decide what books belong on library and classroom shelves.

Leading the lawsuit are Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster, Sourcebooks and HarperCollins Publishers, which like The Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corp.

Daily Reporter: IU expressive activity policy violates First Amendment, ACLU of Indiana lawsuit alleges

.....The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Indiana University in a challenge to the university’s newly-implemented expressive activity policy.

The lawsuit alleges the university’s policy violates the First Amendment.

“IU has approved a new policy that prohibits all expressive activity if it takes place between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., even if the activity is not at all disruptive, such as standing silently, holding a sign, wearing a t-shirt with a communicative message, or discussing current events with friends,” ACLU of Indiana Legal Director Ken Falk said in a news release. “The protections of the First Amendment do not end at 11 p.m., only to begin again at 6 a.m.”

The complaint was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

Congress

Reason: These Democrats Want the FEC To Crack Down on Elon Musk's Grok

By Emma Camp

.....On Monday, a group of Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), asking the agency to adopt regulations prohibiting the creation of deepfakes of election candidates.

The letter, signed by seven congressional Democrats, was sparked by recent controversies surrounding Grok, an AI chatbot released on X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk. Unlike most other popular image-generating AI, Grok is relatively uncensored and will create images of public figures according to user instructions. For example, I was able to get Grok to generate (not particularly convincing) images of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris shaking hands with Adolf Hitler and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

Free Expression

National Review: The EU Versus Free Speech


By John Gustavsson

.....Again, it is not for me to say whether Durov is guilty. But reading the indictment, it is hard to escape the conclusion that France is attempting to punish the owner of an app because he refused to moderate its content to the liking of French authorities. Telegram, in response to accusations, has argued it does moderate child-sexual-abuse material. What level of moderation is sufficient for an app’s founder to not be guilty of crimes committed by users on the app? The answer from French authorities appears to be “whatever level we say.” 

The impression that the prosecution is partially politically motivated becomes even stronger when considering the European Union’s recent crusade against social-media platforms and the speech permitted on them. 

The States

New Mexico In Depth: Judge orders dark money group to publicly disclose where its money comes from

By Trip Jennings

.....A state judge is ordering a dark money group that paid for political advertising in support of legislative candidates earlier this year to disclose the sources of its funding and its spending by September 9.

In a 14-page ruling filed Wednesday in state court, Judge Joshua Allison agreed with the State Ethics Commission that the New Mexico Project meets the definition of “political committee” and imposed a timeline for the group to meet the demands of the state’s campaign reporting act. 

“The material evidence is undisputed,” Allison wrote in the ruling. By not disclosing its donors and its spending, the New Mexico Project “frustrates the purpose of the Campaign Reporting Act: to shine light on those who seek to influence our elections by paying for advertisements that support candidates for public office.”

ABC News: Delaware election officials communicated with lieutenant governor's office amid finance scandal

By Randall Chase, AP

.....State election officials in Delaware communicated directly with one or more aides in Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long’s office last year amid a scandal involving her campaign finance reports, according to emails obtained by The Associated Press.

The emails show that Elections Commissioner Anthony Albence, a fellow Democrat, wanted to keep Hall-Long’s office apprised of queries by the AP about amendments to years of campaign finance reports in which Hall-Long failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans.

Albence and Attorney General Kathleen Jennings, also a Democrat, have said they will not pursue criminal charges against Hall-Long or her husband for campaign finance violations uncovered in a forensic audit by a former FBI executive.