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

Forsyth County News: Federal judge sided with Mama Bears of Forsyth, rules these school board policies unconstitutional

.....A federal judge ruled Wednesday that parts of the Forsyth County Board of Education’s public participation policy are unconstitutional, temporarily banning members from enforcing the full policy.

The ruling came as part of a lawsuit a group of local parents, called the Mama Bears of Forsyth County, filed in late July against Forsyth County Schools and members of the board alleging that their public participation policy and their decision to ban a parent, Alison Hair, from board meetings violated citizens’ First Amendment rights...

Free Press: Federal Judge Rules Florida Non-Partisan Elections Statute A Violation Of Free Speech

By Deborah Childress

.....A U.S. District Judge has struck down as unconstitutional Florida Statute Article 9, Chapter 106, Section 143(3).

The Florida Elections Commission initially fined [Escambia County school board candidate Kells] Hetherington $500 for his party of choice disclosure. After Hetherington objected based on First Amendment rights, the charge was reduced to $200. But Hetherington decided to run for the school board again in 2022 which led to his lawsuit...

.....Elected officials are turning to tax laws in an effort to punish or restrict speech. At the same time, provisions omitted from the latest spending bills risk exacerbating and entrenching the improper use of the federal tax code to police political speech.

Last month, the Arizona Attorney General’s office asked the IRS to look into the finances and nonprofit status of a group due to its claims, included in a film, of widespread voter fraud in Arizona.

In April, Congressman Lance Gooden implored the IRS in a letter to investigate “environmental think tanks with political agendas” and nonprofits that “intentionally manipulate Americans’ opinions about pipelines, fossil fuels , and fracking while lobbying Congress for legislative action on targeted issues.”

Last year, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse urged the IRS “to review whether it should revoke Turning Point USA’s tax-exempt status” after the student organization held an event where attendees didn’t wear masks.

If the IRS opened an investigation into “potential violations of the Internal Revenue Code” every time an advocacy organization made controversial claims about a highly politicized issue, the agency would quickly turn into the Ministry of Truth.

KTTN: Federal Election Commission to pay Josh Hawley campaign $23K to settle lawsuit over denial of public records

By Jason Hancock, Missouri Independent

.....The Federal Election Commission has agreed to pay U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley’s campaign $23,500 to settle a lawsuit alleging the agency illegally withheld public documents. 

AP News: Town amends march ordinance, settles suit with protest group

.....A southeast Louisiana town has eased its requirement that a $10,000 bond be posted by groups wanting to stage protest marches, and it settled a lawsuit with community activists who said the requirement was unconstitutional.

Reason ("Volokh Conspiracy"): Ninth Circuit Rejects Claims That YouTube's Blocking of Content Was Compelled by or "Entangled with" Government

.....From Doe v. Google LLC, decided yesterday by the Ninth Circuit (Judges Margaret McKeown, Consuelo Callahan, and Lawrence Vandyke):

New York Post: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot stripped my press credentials—I’m suing to get them back

.....It’s been three months since Chicago Mayor Lightfoot stripped me of my Chicago media credentials. I’m still waiting for a federal judge — an Obama appointee and former co-worker of Lightfoot — to restore my First Amendment rights.

Ballot Access News: No Labels Party Becomes Qualified in Florida

.....On November 4, the Secretary of State of Florida granted recognition to the No Labels Party. Therefore, in 2024, it is free to run nominees for any partisan office, except for the only office for which the party is interested, President.

New York Times: Elon Musk Reinstates Trump’s Twitter Account

By Ryan Mac and Kellen Browning

.....Elon Musk said on Twitter on Saturday that he would reinstate former President Donald J. Trump to the platform as part of a shake-up of the social media service, with Mr. Trump’s account quickly showing up again on the site.

TK News by Matt Taibbi: "Election Denial" for Me, But Not for Thee: YouTube Censors TK-Produced Videos, Again, Despite Factual Accuracy

.....In late September videographer Matt Orfalea made a pair of videos for TK. One, Memory Holed: “The Election Was Hacked,” seen above, was a simple montage of Democratic politicians, media officials, and enforcement officials saying the 2016 election was, among other things, “illegitimate,” “rigged,” “hacked,” and a “cyber 9/11.”

The second, Memory Holed, Part II: The “Rigged” Election, was a similar exercise, with one exception: it compared the post-2020 statements of Donald Trump to the post-2016 statements of Democratic partisans. When Trump tells Chris Wallace, “I have to see,” when asked if he’d concede an election, Orfalea shows Hillary Clinton saying, “No, I would not,” when asked in 2017 — after her loss — if she’d contest the results. He shows Trump later saying he’ll of course respect the results, “if I win,” and Hillary Clinton saying Joe Biden should not concede “under any circumstances,” essentially exact analogs.

Bloomberg: It Was A Brutal Election Year for Self-Funding Candidates

By Eric Fan and Bill Allison

.....In an election where Republicans flipped the House and Democrats narrowly held onto the Senate, the biggest losers in 2022 were self-funding candidates. Of the eight congressional contenders who loaned or contributed $10 million or more to their campaigns this year, only one heavy spender will be seated in January. 

AL.com: Alabama Supreme Court reverses dismissal of campus free speech lawsuit

By Savannah Tryens-Fernandes 

.....The Alabama Supreme Court ruled unanimously Friday to allow a campus free speech lawsuit to proceed despite a circuit court’s dismissal of the case.

Young Americans for Liberty and University of Alabama in Huntsville student Joshua Greer filed a lawsuit in July 2021 against UAH and the UA system to challenge a campus policy that requires students to request a permit in advance for many free speech events and restricts most events to certain areas.

The students claimed UAH’s grounds use policy violates the 2019 Alabama Campus Free Speech Act that requires students at public institutions of higher education to be free “to engage in protected expressive activity in outdoor areas of the campus, and to spontaneously and contemporaneously assemble, speak and distribute literature.”

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