First Amendment Newsflash 5/11-5/29

Federal News:

The United States Supreme Court held a Minnesota law which banned political apparel at the voting booth in violates the First Amendment.

In Lozman v. Riveria Beach the United States Supreme Court held that is possible Florida resident, Fane Lozman’s arrest could have violated the First Amendment. Lozman was arrested after speaking out at a public comments session. The Court narrowly decided the case and remanded it back to the Court of Appeals to decide consistently with their opinion. Justice Kennedy wrote, “It must be underscored that this Court has recognized the ‘right to petition as one of the most precious of the liberties safeguarded by the Bill of Rights.’… Lozman alleges the City deprived him of this liberty by retaliating against him for his lawsuit against the City and his criticisms of public officials. Thus, Lozman’s speech is high in the hierarchy of First Amendment values.”

The United States Supreme Court held police must obtain a search warrant to access your cell phone location information.

A 20-foot, electrically-illuminated cross that has stood in a public park in Albany, California for nearly five decades was found to be unconstitutional and will be removed or the land sold for violating the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

Federal District Court struck down parts of Colorado Campaign Finance Enforcement System as unconstitutional, and a violation of First Amendment political speech rights.

A federal judge in the Eastern District of California, for the first time, refused to require a manufacturer to place a Prop 65 warning on its product finding that the requirement would violate the company’s First Amendment rights.

Woman sues a sheriff and the head of the California Highway Patrol arguing that honking her car horn was protected speech and the citation she received was unconstitutional.

State News:

A California judge has refused to throw out a lawsuit that accuses Twitter of violating the free speech rights of a white nationalist figure by banning his social media account.

Other News:

An editorial cartoonist fired for skeweringPresident Trump.

Missouri Governor decides not to block users on his Social Media account because doing so violates his constituents First Amendment rights.

ACLU asked Vermont Governor to stop deleting critical posts and blocking constituents on Facebook.

The U.S. Department of Justice joined a First Amendment lawsuit which argues that Campus Speech Codes violate the First Amendment.

Bot-Bill moves ahead in California legislature, despite opposition, arguing that the bill is too strict and poses a threat to First Amendment rights.

Organizer of White Nationalist rally in Charlottesville asks a federal judge for an injunction to allow a demonstration to be held in Emancipation Park on the anniversary of last summer’s Charlottesville rally.

The University of West Florida updates its free speech policies, to reflect new Higher Education bill, which prohibits public colleges and universities in Florida from limiting student expression into small, misleadingly labeled “free speech zones.”