In most landmark decisions, the opinion of the Court is written by the Chief Justice or most senior justice joining in the opinion. Because they are the cases that will studied for many years to come, justices want be the ones to pen the opinion and determine its language. It is through their written opinions... Continue Reading →
This Week on Trump and The First Amendment
This week was a dark one if you consider the U.S. president and his openly racist attitude toward people of the Islam faith. On Wednesday, Trump retweeted three videos which appeared to involve Muslim migrants abusing white people. These videos were endorsed by the British Ultranationalist group, Britain First. The titles of the videos retweeted... Continue Reading →
The Freedom to Grieve
The New York Times reports, on October 17, that a passenger onboard a Delta flight was told she could not sing the national anthem. Dr. Pamela Gaudry who is an obstetrician-gynecologist from Georgia, boarded a flight which was carrying a fallen soldier back home. The soldier was Army Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright, one of... Continue Reading →
To Name a Source, or to Not Name a Source: That is the Question
There is no federal shield law to protect reporters from divulging sources in court. For years the issue has been contested and overruled. Now, it is conducted on a case-by-case basis. Reading from a chapter in Garrett Epps' The First Amendment: Freedom of the Press, this idea is discussed further. In 1970, United States v.... Continue Reading →