By Kirstin Vinal; Staff Member (Vol. 15) Where does a student’s speech stop being under control of their school? Could it be when they are 500 feet away from school property? Or when they are home? In 2015, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Bell v. Itawamba County School Board that speech outside of …
By Amber Lee; Staff Member (Vol. 15) Despite increased calls for government transparency, the Sixth Circuit gave the federal government the precedent needed to further withhold information from the public. The Sixth Circuit holding in Free Press II states that an individuals interests in avoiding embarrassment or humiliation outweighs the public’s interest in knowing information.
By Jennifer Davis; Staff Member (Vol. 15) Cindy Got “Bamboozled” When Cindy Garcia responded to a casting call for a film titled Desert Warrior, she did not object to delivering two innocuous seeming lines while “sounding concerned.” She probably would not have objected when in 2012, the director Mark Youssef, translated the film into Arabic, …
By Jack Middough; Staff Member (Vol. 15) “What you’re doing right now is illegal,” yelled former infantry Ryan Berk, in parts both enraged and incredulous, “I’ve worn that fucking uniform and I’ve had friends get killed in Afghanistan wearing that fucking uniform.”
By Garrett Rider; Staff Member (Vol. 15) Over the past decade, racial tension has continued to intensify in response to serious issues involving the mistreatment of African Americans at the hands of our police force.
By Katherine Rippey; Staff Member (Vol. 15) Oscar Wilde once said, “Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.” The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is predicated on this concept of individual expression in regards to speech, religion, and even art. This protection of individual consciousness is further protected through copyright laws, where …
By John Ferris; Staff Member (Vol. 15) What is your favorite item of clothing? Whatever it may be, that item of clothing is likely something that has symbolic value to you and it expresses something specific when you wear it. What if you wore that favorite item of clothing to work one day and were promptly told to go home and change because it offended one of your co-workers? Is that reasonable? Doesn’t …
Please welcome the new Volume 15 Staff Members! Congratulations on successfully completing the 2016 Joint Journal Competition, and welcome to the First Amendment Law Review! Tyler Abboud Chelsea Barnes Danny Budasoff John Cashion Ashton Cooke Jennifer Davis John Ferris Hanna Fox Elaine Hillgrove Catherine Hipps Emily Jessup Amber Lee Saverio Longobardo Martin Maloney Emily Mann …
By Mia B. Ragent; Staff Member (Vol. 14) Do tour guide licensing requirements violate the Free Speech Clause? In the past year, tour guides in two major tourist-destination cities challenged licensing schemes to two different results.
By Joseph M. (Max) Swindle; Staff Member (Vol. 14), Notes Editor (Vol. 15) Political silence, the inability to have one’s voice heard, is an issue that marginalizes many citizens and residents. In an effort to remedy this pervasive issue, some citizens choose to give money to public policy think tanks that help foster discussion about …
