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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: free speech

free speech stories: 64 news summaries

1 - 20 of 64 Stories | 1 2 3 4 Next >>

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OPINION

 Time to 
 Crack Down 
 on Jihad 2.0 



Web indoctrination of terrorists on US soil poses major threat

Nov 19, 09 8:46 AM CST
(Newser) - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has knocked Nidal Hasan out of the headlines but the Fort Hood suspect is the kind of threat America needs to focus on, warns Daniel Henninger. Home-grown terrorists, indoctrinated over the Internet, are now more of a danger than "old-school" jihadis abroad, and the ideology that... More »

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Internet • terrorism • free speech • Facebook • First Amendment • counterterrorism • terror websites • domestic terrorism • Nidal Malik Hasan

FIRST AMENDMENT 1, GLENN BECK 0

Beck Loses Fight Against Satire Site

Owner gives up domain name suggesting rape, murder anyway

Nov 9, 09 6:20 PM CST
(Newser) - Glenn Beck came out on the losing end today in his attempt to shut down a satirical website the Fox News host alleged was defamatory and infringed on his trademark. And though an arbitrator ruled that “even a ‘moron in a hurry’ would not likely conclude that Complainant... More »

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free speech • satire • First Amendment • Fox News • Glenn Beck • conservative media • GlennBeckRapedandMurderedaYoungGirlin1990.com • Isaac Eiland-Hall • Isaac Eiland-Hall

Justices Cite Free Speech in Animal Abuse Videos

They seem ready
to strike down law

Oct 6, 09 4:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Supreme Court seems likely to back an appellate court ruling that said depictions of animal cruelty are protected as free speech by the First Amendment. In arguments today, the justices considered the case of a man convicted of selling dogfighting videos under a 1999 law that equates videos of... More »

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Antonin Scalia • John Roberts • free speech • censorship • dogfighting • John Paul Stevens • US Supreme Court • justices • dog fighting

 Animal Cruelty Case 
 Hits Supreme Court 

Landmark case to decide 1st Amendment as it applies to cruelty

Oct 5, 09 1:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - Animal cruelty takes the floor of the Supreme Court tomorrow, as the justices consider whether to overturn an appeals court judgment that allows the depiction of animal cruelty under the auspices of the First Amendment. The lower court wasn’t keen on animal cruelty, but found that our furry friends—... More »

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free speech • US Appeals court • First Amendment • animal cruelty • video • child pornography • US Supreme Court • fetish porn • 1st Amendment

 Garrido: Cops 
 Trampling 
 Dugard's  
 Civil Rights 

Kidnap victim denied free speech, access to attorney, suspect writes to local TV reporter

Sep 30, 09 9:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - Phillip Garrido says the woman he’s accused of abducting as a child and holding captive for 18 years is being denied civil rights as part of the ongoing investigation, he writes in a letter to Sacramento’s KRCA-TV. Jaycee Dugard’s “free speach [sic] rights are being violated,... More »

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free speech • kidnapping • civil rights • attorney • child rape • child abduction • Jaycee Lee Dugard • Phillip Garrido

Cuban Activists Rally Around Drunken YouTube Ranter

Man thrown in prison for video plea for food

Sep 8, 09 9:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - Cuban activists have found an unlikely cause celebré in the case of Juan Carlos González Marcos, who was sent to prison last month for drunkenly interrupting a shoot for a video about reggaeton with a rant about hunger. González was drinking, as he often did, at his neighborhood... More »

MORE ABOUT:
YouTube • human rights • hunger • free speech • Cuba

 Sotomayor's First Case
 Could Transform US Politics

New justice in at the deep end with landmark campaign finance case

Sep 8, 09 7:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - There aren't any easy cases at the Supreme Court level but the one newbie Sonia Sotomayor and her eight colleagues will tackle  tomorrow is as momentous—and as tricky—as they come, McClatchy reports. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission will require the court to decide whether the long-standing ban... More »

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free speech • campaign finance • Federal Election Commission • political action committees • US Supreme Court • Citizens United • Sonia Sotomayor

 Comic's 
 Mother-in-Law 
 Sues Over Jokes 

Sunda Croonquist's mother-in-law seeks damages for Jew jokes

Aug 25, 09 4:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - The situation faced by comedian Sunda Croonquist sounds like it’s from one of her routines: mother-in-law sues comedian after being the butt of one too many jokes. But Croonquist’s mother-in-law is serious—she says her daughter-in-law makes her sound like a racist. She’s seeking unspecified damages and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
free speech • comedy • lawsuit • frivolous lawsuits • comedian • punitive damages • mother-in-law • in-laws

High Court May Lift Restrictions on Corporate Cash in Politics

Firms could be allowed to spend freely on ads

Aug 23, 09 2:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - September 9 could mark a watershed in campaign finance, as the Supreme Court hears a special argument for overturning long-standing rules that restrict corporations from buying political advertisements, the Los Angeles Times reports. The court has used the case of Hillary: The Movie, a documentary that a lower courts decided... More »

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Hillary Clinton • free speech • campaign finance • First Amendment • McCain Feingold • corporations • US Supreme Court

OPINION

Flickr Cowardly for Taking Down Obama Joker

Website caved too easily: image isn't a copyright violation

Aug 22, 09 1:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Flickr is catching fire for its decision to take down the now-infamous image of Barack Obama photoshopped to look like the joker. Flickr says it received a takedown notice under the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act for the Time cover mockup, but that excuse doesn’t fly for Michael... More »

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Barack Obama • copyright law • free speech • Flickr • Heath Ledger • copyright infringement • the Joker

Blogger's Case Tests Limits of Free Speech

Far-right critic remains in jail after calling for judges' deaths

Aug 15, 09 1:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - When three federal judges rejected an NRA lawsuit, Internet radio host Hal Turner got angry. “These judges deserve to be killed,” he wrote on his blog. “Their blood will replenish the tree of liberty.” Then he posted photos of the judges, maps to their courthouse, and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
FBI • free speech • NRA • First Amendment • National Rifle Association • right-wing extremism

 Sex Party 
 Enters Aussie 
 Political Fray 



Sex Party gains official recognition

Aug 9, 09 12:12 PM CDT
(Newser) - Australia’s “Sex Party” has been certified as a political party after receiving approval from the Electoral Commission, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The commission’s approval is a victory for free speech and “democratic rights,” says the Sex Party’s convenor. The party hopes to “... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Australia • free speech • political party • sexuality

glossies

US Army Evangelism:
Is It a 'Crusade'?


Jun 19, 09 8:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - US Army chaplains have distributed Arabic-language Bibles in Iraq, told soldiers to "hunt people for Jesus," and speculated that President Obama is a secret Muslim. Enough already, says a religious rights watchdog: Led by Air Force veteran Mikey Weinstein, the group is suing the Pentagon over alleged religious-based... More »

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free speech • religion • US military • Bible • US Constitution • evangelicals • Iraq war

(Newser) - A Florida town is requiring its employees to wear underwear and deodorant under a new dress code passed this month, the Tampa Tribune reports. Aimed at promoting “strict personal hygiene,” the rules ban “sexually provocative” apparel and forbid “the observable lack of undergarments and exposed undergarments.... More »

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Florida • dress code • free speech • underwear • deodorant

Nev. Newspaper Defends Commenters' Anonymity

Review-Journal, ACLU fight subpoena for commenters' identities

Jun 16, 09 4:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - A tax-evasion trial has sparked a free-speech controversy at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The paper has declined to honor a federal subpoena demanding the identities of everyone who commented on an article on the trial. Businessman Robert Kahre faces tax-fraud charges for hiding the real value of sales of gold... More »

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Internet • free speech • ACLU • tax evasion • subpoena • Internal Revenue Service • tax dodge • inappropriate comments • commentary • Las Vegas Review-Journal

(Newser) - Jerry Falwell’s conservative Christian Liberty University has suspended the student Democratic Club for supporting candidates “directly contrary to the mission” of the school, the Lynchburg News Advance reports. Virginia Democrats are up in arms. “I urge the leadership of Liberty University to reverse this attack on the... More »

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abortion • free speech • Tim Kaine • Jerry Falwell • Liberty University • Virginia • Democratic Party • Democratic club

 Toxic Teen Website 
 Infuriates Parents, Cops 

On anonymous message board, free speech becomes personal attacks

May 17, 09 12:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - The creator of the online message board Peoplesdirt.com says he's just providing an "avenue for people to express their feelings," but parents and teachers disagree. The website allows teenagers to anonymously post slurs and false rumors about fellow students. Although it's legal, it's also hateful and humiliating,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • high school • free speech • message boards • death threats • anonymous • teenager • peoplesdirt.com

 Press Freedom 
 Declines Worldwide 

New report sees losses in all regions for first time ever

May 2, 09 6:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - Press freedom declined worldwide last year for the seventh year in a row, and for the first time suffered losses in all regions, according to a new report by Freedom House. Slipping from “free” to “partially free” were Israel, Italy and Hong Kong, while Cambodia fell to “... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Israel • media • free speech • Hong Kong • Italy • journalism • Cambodia • freedom of press • Freedom House

1st Amendment v. Dogfight Video: High Court to Decide

Conviction rests on First Amendment status of animal abuse tapes

Apr 20, 09 2:56 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Supreme Court agreed today to hear that pits the First Amendment against the production and sale of dogfighting videos, the Chicago Tribune reports. The case involves a man jailed for selling several brutally explicit videos of pit bulls fighting. A federal appeals court overturned his conviction on grounds that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
free speech • First Amendment • animal cruelty • violence • dogfighting • US Supreme Court • video violence

Controversial Muhammad Cartoon Goes on Sale

Some copies are signed by artists in hiding

Apr 8, 09 3:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - Three years after political cartoons of the prophet Muhammad sparked violent riots in Muslim countries, the Denmark Free Press Society is selling prints of the controversial art. Some of the 1,000 copies, priced at $250 each, are signed by the artist, who remains in hiding due to death threats,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Islam • free speech • Muslims • censorship • religion • Denmark • riots • Danish Mohammed cartoons • Denmark Free Press Society

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