Prior Restraints

Web Restrictions Not The Answer to Juror Online Research

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Juror use of the Internet to do research or communicate about trials is a growing and persistent problem. So, what can a judge do? For several years now courts have been giving jurors more detailed admonitions and jury instructions against educating themselves about cases online, to little effect.

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Cash Cutoff for Mugshot Sites A Dangerous Idea

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If you're arrested, your arrest is public information: your name, your address, what you're accused of. Many news organizations publish this information on a daily basis for their communities, as part of their news coverage.

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Aghast at Ag-Gag Legislation: Silencing Speech for What it Reveals

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Ag-gag cowWith the ubiquity of smart phones and digital communication, most of us whisk our phones out to record anything we find significant without giving it a second thought. But when one Utah woman did this in early February, she was charged as a criminal -- solely because the activities she recorded took place on agricultural land.

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The Journal News Fallout: Limiting the First Amendment to Protect the Second

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Eight days after a gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary School, shooting and killing 20 young students, 6 staff members and fueling a national discussion on gun

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Ballot Disclosure Laws: A First Amendment Anomaly

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Today, the Digital Media Law Project is launching a new guide to photography and filming at this year’s presidential election, Documenting the Vote 2012. This resource provides a wide range of information for all fifty states plus the District of Columbia, regarding laws that restrict the use of cameras in and around polling places (as well as other journalistic activities).

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DOJ's Public Statements Provide a Road Map for Citizens to Sue in Cop Recording Cases

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Qualified immunity for police might be a thing of the past

In May 2010, Christopher Sharp used his cell phone to record video of his friend being arrested by the Baltimore Police at the Preakness Stakes. The police demanded that Sharp surrender his phone, stating that the contents might be evidence; when the phone was returned, Sharp discovered that the video he had made, plus a number of other unrelated videos, had been deleted.

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CMLP ANNOUNCEMENT: Mass. SJC Rejects Prior Restraints and Supports Right to Stream and Archive Court Proceedings Online

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The following is cross-posted with permission from our good friends at the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard Law School. The original post can be found here. 

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Won't Somebody Please Think of the Children?: A Few Modest Thoughts on Mass. Senate Bill No. 785

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On February 7, 2012, the Joint Committee on the Judiciary of the Massachusetts Legislature will hold a hearing on Massachusetts Senate Bill No.

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Bigfoot Spotted Fighting for Free Speech at the New Hampshire Supreme Court

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Back in March, I wrote a snippet about a guy who brought suit against the State of New Hampshire for its burdensome permit requirements for filming in Monadnock State Park. See Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment.

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