The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech January 9, 2023 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 NTD: Concerns Over Big Tech Ties to Federal Government (Video) By Steve Lance .....David Keating, President for the Institute of Free Speech, discusses the Twitter Files, the relationship between Twitter and federal agencies like NSA, as well as direct communications with federal lawmakers. CQ Researcher: Dark Money By Jason McLure .....“A lot of people just don't want the hassle and the heat from being in the limelight,” says Bradley Smith, a Republican lawyer and former FEC commissioner who now chairs the Institute for Free Speech, a [nonprofit] legal advocacy group. Smith says disclosure advocates want to silence unpopular or controversial voices and “to intimidate people from speaking … that's part of this cancel culture.”… Those who support allowing secrecy in political donations say critics overstate the risks of corruption from dark money, and that corruption and bribery scandals long predate Citizens United or the creation of today's dark money groups. “Average people tend to think there is a lot more corruption than there is,” says Smith, of the Institute for Free Speech. He argues that a wealthy person or company's use of funds to support a candidate that sympathizes with their views or political philosophy is often conflated with bribery, which as a legal matter must involve a quid pro quo payment for an official act. He points out that what most reformers dislike about the current campaign finance system is that it is inegalitarian, but since the Supreme Court has ruled that inequity is not a reason for limiting campaign finance, reform arguments get “shoehorned into corruption.” Supreme Court New York Times: Is Encouraging Unauthorized Immigration Free Speech or a Felony? By Adam Liptak .....When the Supreme Court hears arguments this spring on the constitutionality of a curious law that makes it a crime to “encourage” unauthorized immigrants to come to or stay in the United States, the justices may have a sense of déjà vu. They heard arguments on the same question three years ago, with several of them suggesting that the law, enacted in 1986, violated the First Amendment by turning commonplace statements into felonies. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. asked about “a grandmother whose granddaughter is in the United States illegally.” Would it be a crime, he wanted to know, if she told her granddaughter that she missed her and encouraged her to stay? Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh imagined a charity that gave food to “people who can’t get it elsewhere and they know that the people taking advantage of that are here unlawfully.” Was the charity committing a felony? Justice Stephen G. Breyer wondered about “the landlady who says to the person, ‘You always have a place here,’ knowing that that person is illegally in the United States.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor worried that even sound legal advice could be covered by the law. Two months later, the court unanimously decided not to rule in the case. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in one of her last opinions, said the appeals court had tried too hard to reach out to decide the First Amendment question, which had not been raised by the parties, including by soliciting friend-of-the-court briefs… That left the First Amendment question for another day. It has arrived. The Courts Texas Tribune: Appeals court to decide if First Amendment should have protected Laredo’s “big crazy lady” from arrest By Roxanna Asgarian .....It is unusual for all 16 judges of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to convene and hear a case. This month, they will do so to consider a lawsuit involving a foul-mouthed Latina firebrand known as La Gordiloca, an unlikely citizen journalist who has upended politics as usual in her border town of Laredo. Her case pits the First Amendment against qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that shields public officials from being sued individually unless they’ve violated a “clearly established” constitutional right. Although it involves a freelance, untrained citizen journalist, the case has widespread implications for journalism in Texas and beyond. A similar case is already working its way up through the courts in Fort Bend County. Reason ("Volokh Conspiracy"): Dismissing Volunteer City Advisory Board Appointee for Alleged Antifa Links Doesn't Violate First Amendment By Eugene Volokh .....From Lathus v. City of Huntington Beach, decided today by the Ninth Circuit (Judge Andrew Hurwitz, joined by Judge Paul Watford and District Judge Eric Vitaliano (E.D.N.Y.): Reason ("Volokh Conspiracy"): Connecticut Employee Speech Protection Law Might Protect Warren-Not-Indian / Jenner-Not-Woman Meme By Eugene Volokh .....From Mumma v. Pathway Vet Alliance, LLC, decided Wednesday by Magistrate Judge Thomas Farrish (D. Conn.); for more on the employee free speech protection statutes such as the one in this case, see this article and this one: SFGate: Hawaii approved controversial ‘FCKBLM’ license plate. It can’t get it back. By Christine Hitt .....It’s a long and twisting saga that has lasted years. It involves a lawsuit, a stolen car and a polarizing point of view. And it’s all over a Hawaii license plate. The City and County of Honolulu approved a set of specialty Hawaii license plates in January 2021 bearing the letters “FCKBLM,” an acronym that can be read as “F—k Black Lives Matter,” referring to the social movement. Since then, Honolulu has tried to reclaim the two license plates because of the expletive, but its owner refused to return them. The States Nebraska Examiner: After big year for dark money, Blood proposes bill requiring donor disclosure By Aaron Sanderford .....[State Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue] has introduced Legislative Bill 9, which would force disclosures about issue-related, noncandidate spending that has been swamping Nebraska airwaves during races for governor, state legislature and local offices... Blood and Jack Gould of Common Cause Nebraska said they understand that disclosure alone might not be enough to overcome the influence of dark money... Sandy Danek of Nebraska Right to Life said Friday that her anti-abortion group remains opposed to efforts to disclose its donors. Some donors, she said, prefer anonymity. Danek and the leaders of other issue groups such as Americans for Prosperity have testified against similar bills, arguing that disclosure risks running off supporters who own businesses. “The effect of such disclosure has resulted in the harassment and intimidation of donors to groups that are disfavored by the media and the ‘cancel culture,'” Danek said. Jessica Shelburn of Americans for Prosperity, which boosted candidates in the governor’s race and legislative races, said government should be in the business of “making it easier, not harder” for people to participate. She said LB 9’s new and potentially burdensome reporting requirements for organizations that engage in civic life would enable the harassment of donors based on their beliefs, limit discourse and undermine free speech. Bonner County Daily Bee: BOCC addresses personnel policy regarding seeking elective office By Kathy Hubbard .....At his last weekly business meeting on Tuesday, commission chair Dan McDonald recommended deleting the county’s personnel policy that puts an employee’s job in jeopardy if he or she were to choose to run for elective office against an incumbent. 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 First Amendment rights to freely speak, assemble, publish, and petition the government. 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