First Amendment News
Compelled Speech Doctrine Should Apply in Challenges to Sex Registration Laws
Forcing a person to register as a sex offender may violate the right to freedom of speech.
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Censoring Students for Pro-Trump Clothing is Problematic
Students have the right to engage in political speech at school. Censorship is not the answer.
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Texas Appeals Court Rules Defendant’s Free-Speech Rights Not Violated by Introduction of His No-Snitching Tattoo into Evidence
A Court of Appeals ruled tattoos can be used to establish elements of a crime or motive.
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Federal Court Will Allow Prosecutors to Introduce Parts of Music Videos in Trial of Rapper Kontraversy
Federal prosecutors may introduce rap music videos and an interview depicting a rapper with drug and weapons charges without violating the First Amendment.
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Violent-themed Student Speech
In the wake of Columbine, school officials have taken to treating all violent-themed student speech as true threats.
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Roscoe Jones – First Amendment Hero
This African-American Jehovah Witness preacher had the temerity to travel all across the Southeast promoting his religious faith even in all-white areas.
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Tinker after 50: A Historic Ruling Still Relevant After All These Years
Fifty years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court protected the ability of public school students from Des Moines, Iowa, to wear black peace armbands to protest the Vietnam War, recognizing the importance of student First Amendment rights.
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9th Circuit Panel Rejects Religious School’s Use of Ministerial Exception, Creates Circuit Split
A religious school in California cannot use the “ministerial exception” to label one of its former teachers and, therefore, avoid her disability discrimination lawsuit, a divided federal appeals court has
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Professor Justin Driver Delivers a Powerful Work on School Law and the Constitution
Those interested in learning more about constitutional law issues arising in the public schools would be well advised to check out Professor Justin Driver’s new book The Schoolhouse Gate: Public
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The Case of Manuel Duran Ortega Deserves Close Examination
While these criminal charges were dropped, local officials turned Duran Ortega over to the Department of Homeland Security. Duran Ortega left El Salvador in 2006 and escaped into the United States. He had to leave El Salvador because a rival television station convinced law enforcement in El Salvador to arrest him on trumped-up charges.
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