The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech September 11, 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 National Review: Married Couple Sue New Hampshire City for Denying Request to Fly ‘Appeal to Heaven’ Flag outside City Hall By David Zimmermann .....Two residents of Nashua, N.H., are suing the city for forbidding them from flying the colonial-era “Appeal to Heaven” flag, which government officials deemed to be “not in harmony” with the city’s message, presumably because of its association with the January 6 riot. Bethany and Stephen Scaer claimed their First Amendment rights were violated after Nashua rejected Bethany’s request to raise the Appeal to Heaven flag on City Hall’s public-use “Citizen Flag Pole” in commemoration of the 249th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill. The husband-and-wife duo alleged that the city’s flag policy is discriminatory and unconstitutional for arbitrarily preventing constituents from exercising free speech… The federal lawsuit was filed in New Hampshire on Friday and announced on Monday by the Institute for Free Speech, the group representing the Scaers in the case. The Courts Austin Monitor: Mayoral candidate Doug Greco sues city to overturn campaign finance rule By Jo Clifton .....Mayoral candidate Doug Greco and his campaign, along with Ramon Duran – a Bexar County resident who supports Greco’s candidacy – filed suit in federal court on Tuesday, challenging the provision of the Austin City Charter that prevents City Council candidates from accepting more than $47,000 in contributions from people who live outside the Austin city limits. The plaintiffs are asking a federal judge to declare as unconstitutional a section of the charter limiting contributions from nonresidents. They also want the judge to grant a temporary injunction and then a permanent injunction against enforcement of that law. Greco, a longtime social justice advocate and former Austin teacher, has complained that his relatives in other states are unable to contribute because of the limitation. Ed. note: Greco discusses more about the lawsuit here. Daily Montanan: Campaign finance group sues FEC over dismissal of complaints about PAC targeting Sheehy By Blair Miller .....A nonprofit campaign finance watchdog organization sued the Federal Elections Commission on Monday alleging commissioners wrongfully dismissed complaints it had filed against a political action committee arguing the committee was running attack ads against Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy while not filing required expenditure reports. The Washington D.C.-based nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center filed the complaint against the FEC in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The organization, led by a former Republican FEC commissioner, is asking the court to declare that the FEC’s 4-2 dismissal of its complaints against the Last Best Place PAC violated the law. ADF: 6th Circuit vindicates Louisville professor's freedom of speech .....In a victory for free speech in higher education, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled Tuesday in favor of a professor whom University of Louisville officials demoted, harassed, and then fired because of his views on gender dysphoria, sending his case back to the district court for trial. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Dr. Allan Josephson argued before the 6th Circuit in July, asking the court to allow the professor’s case Josephson v. Ganzel to proceed to trial. Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio harassment statute unconstitutional By Jack Greiner .....A Cincinnati-area Republican political operative recently convinced a federal court that Ohio’s telecommunications harassment statute is unconstitutional, at least as applied to his case. But the court refused to throw out the statute entirely. Plaintiff Christopher R. Hicks is a member of the central and executive committee of the Clermont County Republican party. This case concerns email communications sent to Jeannie Zurmehly, who holds public office as the Clermont County treasurer. Hicks sent emails to Zurmehly’s government email address raising concerns about Zurmehly’s role as treasurer of the Clermont County Republican party. Zurmehly objected to Hicks using her government email for matters that she deemed unrelated to her public office and asked him to stop. Hicks persisted. Congress Washington Examiner: House Republicans introduce act to strengthen campaign finance laws By Annabella Rosciglione .....The chairman of the House Administration Committee, Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI), introduced legislation Tuesday in hopes of strengthening campaign finance laws and closing potential loopholes. The Secure Handling of Internet Electronic Donations Act would prohibit, among other things, political committees from accepting contributions from debit or credit cards without a CVV or billing address and prohibit donations from prepaid credit or debit cards or gift certificates. Steil introduced the bill alongside Reps. Stephanie Bice (R-OK), Laurel Lee (R-FL), and Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY). “American elections should always be free from foreign interference,” Steil said in a statement. “The SHIELD Act will take a crucial next step in blocking foreign funding in our elections and certifying that every political contribution received is actually coming from the individual whose name is on the contribution. By passing the SHIELD Act, we will increase integrity and American trust in our elections.” Bice said the bill would address loopholes “that allow donors to contribute beyond the maximum limit under the law.” FEC FEC: FEC makes public draft documents regarding artificial intelligence in campaign ads .....The Federal Election Commission today made public two draft documents in connection with REG 2023-02 (Artificial Intelligence in Campaign Ads): Draft Interpretive Rule Regarding 52 U.S.C. 30124 Draft Notification of Disposition of Petition for Rulemaking The documents will be on the agenda for the open meeting of September 19, 2024. Free Expression Persuasion: Reflections on Right-Wing Cancel Culture By Jacob Mchangama .....“The Left started it.” That was the common retort from right-wing X accounts like Libs of TikTok and their supporters, who attempted and often succeeded at getting people fired for making tasteless social media posts about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump back in July. Most of their victims weren’t public figures but regular Americans like Home Depot employees, firefighters, chefs, and school counselors. This was fine and good, many argued, because it constituted sweet revenge for cancel culture excesses driven by the Left. At The American Spectator, Nate Hochman claimed that the only way to get the Left to change is to make them “understand, at a visceral level, the penalties for the system that they themselves constructed—so much so, in fact, that they are no longer interested in perpetuating it.” But the idea that the Left invented cancel culture is a poor and convenient excuse for satisfying the intolerant impulses that have tempted all humans throughout history regardless of political orientation. People United for Privacy: China’s Surveillance of Activists Highlights Need for Strong US Privacy Laws By Brian Hawkins .....In the United States, freedom of speech and association are cornerstones of democratic society. However, these freedoms are increasingly under threat for those who dare to challenge the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from within U.S. borders. The CCP will go to extreme lengths to monitor, intimidate, and suppress pro-democracy dissidents abroad, sometimes even leveraging our own laws to undermine activists’ ability to speak freely and safely. Among the tools at their disposal are laws requiring nonprofit organizations to disclose their donor list. One example of a U.S.-based nonprofit that would be threatened by disclosure is Citizen Power Initiatives for China (CPIC), a pro-democracy human rights organization founded by Chinese scholar and dissident Dr. Yang Jianli. Dr. Yang is a survivor of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre who was later imprisoned in China from 2002 to 2007 for his activism. Today, he continues to advocate for democratic reforms in China from the United States through CPIC. Dr. Yang’s activism has made his organization and its supporters targets of the CCP’s far-reaching surveillance and intimidation tactics. One Chinese businessman who donated to CPIC was sentenced to 11 years in a Chinese prison for his “crime” and forced to confess on television. Many Chinese Americans who support CPIC may have family members in China who would be at risk if their donations to the group were uncovered. 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." The Institute for Free Speech is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that promotes and defends the political rights to free speech, press, assembly, and petition guaranteed by the First Amendment. Please support the Institute's mission by clicking here. For further information, visit www.ifs.org. Follow the Institute for Free Speech The Institute for Free Speech | 1150 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 801 | Washington, DC 20036 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice