Contemplating Media & the First Amendment
Last Thursday, the country stood in stand still mesmerized by the Kavanaugh hearings. After the hearings the country went wild over Kavanaugh's testimony, the Republicans forcefulness over desperately trying to confirm the judge and the decision for a limited scope FBI investigation. Today, the American Civil Liberties Union denounced Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court... Continue Reading →
Senator Lindsey Graham just couldn’t seem to bite his tongue during Thursday’s Kavanaugh hearing as #StopKavanaugh became the mantra well into the weekend on every social media outlet. South Carolina’s Republican senator has earned himself a remarkable number of retweets and shares coupled with enough media attention to last us into next year. Highlighted on... Continue Reading →
As Near v. Minnesota--the case we’ve all been studying--made clear, prior restraints on publication infringe on the freedom of the press protected by the First Amendment. Despite the fact that the Near case set this legal precedent nearly 90 years ago, that hasn’t stopped the issue of prior restraint from making headlines or from threatening... Continue Reading →
It’s 2018. We have Donald Trump in the highest office of power in this country, a man who has a myriad of sexual misconduct allegations against him. His behavior, excused by his voter and congressional base as false allegations and empty words, did not stop him from assuming the role of President of the United States. Through... Continue Reading →
While lying in bed checking my twitter feed, to my surprise, I saw a tweet of a campaign ad video. The headline of the video said “Family that defends it honor. The video seemed interesting, so I clicked on it. In the video were six siblings endorsing their brothers opponent. I watched it again... Continue Reading →
There’s been a great debate for decades over what The Constitution’s distinguished First Amendment protects. Sure, you have your freedoms: freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and of course the freedom to redress grievances with the government. But, what about the freedom of expression? In February of 1971, the Supreme Court convicted Paul Robert Cohen... Continue Reading →
The question of drawing the line between protecting American citizens’ rights to free speech as granted to them by the First Amendment, and protecting them from being unwillingly exposed to pornographic or otherwise obscene content, has historically proved difficult for judges and politicians. Chapter 8 of Anthony Lewis’ Freedom for the Thought That We Hate... Continue Reading →
On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case regarding the right of Christian, non profit, “crisis pregnancy centers” (you know, the ones that masquerade as legitimate medical facilities, and pressure vulnerable women into carrying unwanted pregnancies to term), and their First Amendment rights. These organizations, represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom argue that... Continue Reading →
Not many headlines I see nowadays shock me. Given our current political climate and the shenanigans of Trump, few stories are surprising. However, scrolling through the notifications on my phone, an ABC News article left my jaw on the floor. This is what I saw. Trump calls for death penalty for NYC terror suspect, considers... Continue Reading →
Last Thursday, a four hundred page tax plan was released, and this plan includes a lot more than merely tax regulation. The plan includes language that frames fetuses and embryos as “unborn children”, which has the potential to threaten women’s rights to control our own bodies. It also does away with the adoption tax credit,... Continue Reading →
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