This is the Daily Media Update published by the Institute for Free Speech. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected].  

.....The Institute for Free Speech is seeking a skilled communicator with experience in media relations and a proven record of developing relationships with journalists and influencers. This role will support all aspects of the Institute for Free Speech’s work. The Communications Director will understand both traditional media outreach efforts and social media to share the Institute’s pro-speech message. 

Law360: Book Ban Battles Move From School Boards To Courts

.....Parents and students on both sides of the fight over which books should be available in schools and libraries are taking their battles out of school board meetings and into court...

[A] group of Georgia mothers accused the Forsyth County Board of Education in federal court of violating their First Amendment rights when it stopped them from reading aloud at board meetings from books they want barred. 

[Ed. note: Learn more about the case, Mama Bears v. Forsyth County Schools, here.]

Courthouse News: Justice Alito says leaked draft opinion made conservatives ‘targets for assassination’

.....Justice Samuel Alito on Tuesday night said the unprecedented leak of his draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade put a target on certain justices on the court. 

Carolina Journal: Federal judge kills subpoena that Locke helped fight in Alabama case

.....A federal judge has thrown out a subpoena that generated opposition from the John Locke Foundation and other defenders of free speech. The subpoena had targeted nonprofit groups working on a high-profile public policy debate in Alabama.

“The Government’s nonparty subpoenas seek material outside the scope of discovery,” wrote U.S. District Judge Liles Burke in an order issued Monday. “The subpoenas command Eagle Forum and Southeast Law Institute to produce eleven broad categories of evidence, ranging from draft legislation, to communications with the Alabama Legislature, to polling or public opinion data, to social media postings.”

Courthouse News: Virginia Tech speech police questioned by skeptical Fourth Circuit

.....The Fourth Circuit heard heated arguments Tuesday morning over the constitutionality of Virginia Tech’s so-called bias response team, which one group says has a chilling effect on students’ right to free speech. 

Original Jurisdiction: Is Yale Law School Turning Over A New Leaf?

.....In the wake of the announcement of Judge James Ho (5th Cir.) that he would no longer hire clerks from Yale Law School, a boycott joined so far by Judge Lisa Branch (11th Cir.) and a dozen other judges who wanted to remain nameless, Dean Heather Gerken has been quietly reaching out to prominent conservative jurists. Her message: YLS is deeply committed to free speech and intellectual diversity, it has taken concrete steps to support that commitment, and as dean, she welcomes hearing from judges about what else can be done to promote and protect academic freedom at Yale Law—including Judges Ho and Branch, the progenitors of the YLS boycott.

Epoch Times: Florida Parent Faced Job Investigation After Touring School

By Jannis Falkenstern

.....Florida parent Shawn Hayston says he just wanted to tour the public middle school his son is expected to attend next year.

HuffPost: Michael Bloomberg, Tom Steyer And The Case Of The Missing Megadonors

By Kevin Robillard

.....Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and venture capitalist Tom Steyer both spent substantial portions of their own multibillion-dolllar fortunes trying to win the presidency in 2020. Both men came up short in the Democratic primaries, though each had consolation prizes: Bloomberg managed to win American Samoa’s delegates and Steyer got to dance onstage to “Back That Ass Up” with Juvenile.

Legal Intelligencer: Pa. Supreme Court Takes Up Free Speech Questions Over Family's Anti-Racist Signs Targeting Neighbor

.....The high court has granted the petition for allowance of appeal of in the case Oberholzer v. Galapo, in which a precedential Superior Court ruling ruled that the ”right to residential privacy may be violated when a listener is subjected to targeted speech, including picketing and protesting.”

[Ed. note: For more details about the original case, see Eugene Volokh's June 2022 summary.]

The Oklahoman:  OKC puts sign code update on pause after ACLU threatens lawsuit

.....An update to Oklahoma City's code regulating signs has been delayed over First Amendment and artistic freedom concerns, city officials confirmed Tuesday.

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Republican trio sues GOP director for defamation

By Colton Lochhead 

.....A trio of Republicans who ruffled feathers by endorsing Democratic incumbent Attorney General Aaron Ford this election cycle is suing the executive director of the Nevada Republican Party for defamation...

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