The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech August 12, 2022 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 Luke Wachob at [email protected]. We're Hiring! Senior Attorney – Institute for Free Speech – Washington, DC or Virtual Office .....The Institute for Free Speech is hiring a Senior Attorney with a minimum of seven years of experience. The location for this position is either at our Washington, D.C. office or remotely anywhere in the United States. This is a rare opportunity to work with a growing team to litigate a long-term legal strategy directed toward the protection of Constitutional rights. We challenge laws, practices, and policies that infringe upon First Amendment freedoms, such as speech codes that censor parents at school board meetings, laws restricting people’s ability to give and receive campaign contributions, and any intrusion into people’s private political associations. You would work to hold censors accountable; and to secure legal precedents clearing away a thicket of laws, regulations, and practices that suppress speech about government and candidates for political office, threaten citizens’ privacy if they speak or join groups, and impose heavy burdens on political activity. In the News First Amendment Coalition: Study Show States Lagging In Protecting Free Speech Rights By Donal Brown .....A study of state laws regulating speech about government and policies revealed that states faltered in protecting the free speech rights of citizens with no laws that burden speakers or groups. Only Wisconsin earned over 80 percent and 35 states earned less than 50 percent with New York at 15 percent. Both blue and red states scored poorly with California at 28 percent and Florida at 29 percent. The Center Square: Arizona among the top five states for political free speech, report says By Tom Joyce .....How protected is political free speech in Arizona? It’s in the top five in terms of best places in the country for it, a new report says. The Institute for Free Speech released its rankings for how states perform on issues like “free speech and association rights of individuals and groups interested in speaking about candidates, issues of public policy, and their government.” The Institute ranked Arizona fifth on its list with a 67% score out of 100. Arizona received high marks for permitting lobbying, not regulating issue speech near elections, allowing Super PACs, and for having any false statement laws. The Courts National Review: Students Sue California College over Censorship of Anti-Communist Flyers By Brittany Bernstein .....Three conservative students filed a lawsuit against California’s Clovis Community College claiming administrators violated their First Amendment right to free speech by censoring their anti-communist and pro-life flyers. Congress Financial Regulation News: Bill eyes bolstered 501(c)(4) organization transparency By Douglas Clark .....U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) has introduced a bill she said provides greater transparency with regard to 501(c)(4) organizations... “My bill would fix this discrepancy by requiring the IRS to publicly disclose any filed Form 8976 upon request, thus allowing the public to know which organizations operate under 501(c)(4), as they do with organizations that operate under 501(c)(3),” Norton concluded. “In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which allows unlimited expenditures in political campaigns by these social welfare organizations, greater transparency is needed.” FEC Washington Post: Google gets green light to exempt campaign emails from spam detection By Isaac Stanley-Becker .....The Federal Election Commission on Thursday advised Google that a proposed pilot program allowing political campaigns to evade automated spam detection would not violate federal campaign finance law. The vote on the six-member body, which is split evenly by party, was four in favor and one against, with one abstention. One Democrat joined the three Republicans in endorsing the plan. Ellen Weintraub, a Democrat, voted instead to advise Google that such a program would represent a prohibited in-kind contribution. Shana Broussard, also a Democrat, abstained... The proposed program has not placated Republicans. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of the Republican caucus, recently asked lawmakers to sign a letter calling the proposed pilot program “unacceptable,” according to a draft obtained by The Washington Post. “It comes too late and it’s too risky for campaigns,” stated the draft letter, which has yet to be transmitted to Google, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to address private communications. The Media New York Post: Bari Weiss: New York Times editor wanted Schumer to OK op-ed by GOP Sen. Tim Scott By Ariel Zilber .....A former New York Times opinion page editor alleges that her bosses refused to run an op-ed submitted by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) without first getting approval from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Free Expression New York Times: How We Think About Politics Changes What We Think About Politics By Thomas B. Edsall .....When so many voters — a majority, in fact — say that they prefer consensus to conflict, why does polarization continue to intensify? In a paper that came out in June, “Explanations for Inequality and Partisan Polarization in the U.S., 1980 — 2020,” Elizabeth Suhay and Mark Tenenbaum, political scientists at American University, and Austin Bartola, of Quadrant Strategies, provide insight into why so much discord permeates American politics: Scholars who research polarization have almost exclusively focused on the relationship between Americans’ policy opinions and their partisanship. In this article, we discuss a different type of partisan polarization underappreciated by scholars: “belief polarization,” or disagreements over what people perceive to be true. Candidates and Campaigns Politico (Influence): Frontline Dems are raising more money without corporate cash than with it By Caitlin Oprysko .....Frontline Democrats who’ve sworn off corporate PAC money raised on average $322,000 more last quarter than their vulnerable colleagues who accept contributions from corporations, according to an analysis of the at-risk Democrats’ fundraising compiled by the liberal group End Citizens United. The PAC, which urges lawmakers to reject corporate cash, compared quarterly fundraising totals for members of the DCCC’s frontliners program in each quarter of the 2022 cycle and found that in addition to consistently outraising their fellow vulnerable House members, those who reject corporate PAC money also, on average, boasted cash reserves of at least $1 million — and sometimes close to $2 million — more than colleagues who accept corporate money. Politico: The newest fad in fundraising: Gold-level clubs for lobbyists By Hailey Fuchs .....These aren’t your typical campaign fundraisers. Instead, they’re part of an increasingly popular fad in money raising: access to a bundle of small gatherings that lobbyists can purchase. Instead of brief face time with a lawmaker at a single event, they are offered the opportunity to develop almost a familial relationship with him or her over a series of them. The States Count on 2 News: Charleston Animal Society celebrates court ruling, calls for anti-SLAPP laws By Kevon Dupree .....Charleston Animal Society recently learned that they won a defamation lawsuit brought against them by Charleston Carriage Works in 2018... The Animal Society says the carriage company used a strategic lawsuit against public participation, or SLAPP lawsuit, to try to intimidate them... “What this decision does is send a very clear message that a defamation lawsuit intended solely to silence an opposing viewpoint,” attorney Beth Palmer said, “or to stifle public discourse, will not be tolerated.” ... “Without them standing up for this,” Andy Brack of the South Carolina Press Association said, “we wouldn’t have this very important win for free speech and the First Amendment.” Now, they’d like to see the Palmetto State join the other 32 states that have anti-SLAPP laws. “We need good anti-SLAPP legislation in South Carolina,” Brack said. “We don’t need to have people filing cynical lawsuits to make points that infringe upon the public discourse.” Florida Today: 'Illegal' School Board campaign yard signs popping up across Brevard By Bailey Gallion .....The anonymous yard signs popping up around Brevard County accusing School Board Chair Misty Belford of illegally masking children are likely illegal, according to lawyers advising Belford. Belford said Monday that she was aware of the signs and had been contacted by lawyers encouraging her to take legal action against the anonymous sign-poster. The signs read “REMINDER: MISTY BELFORD ILLEGALLY MASKED YOUR CHILDREN,” and have appeared next to Belford’s own campaign signs. The signs do not contain disclosures required under Florida election laws. “They have the freedom in limited circumstances to be able to put those signs out,” Belford said. “They do not have the freedom to put them on private property where I have been given permission to place signs on private property.” 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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