1st amendment issues

https://percolately.com/minnesota-church-whites-only-permit/

HR 1 of the new Congress is as outrageous an attack on the First Amendment as one will every see. It bears the Orwellian name of "For the People Act." With an insipid name like that you are sure to know it is a total scam. Even the ACLU felt compelled to weigh in: "If enacted, they would...

In its 5-4 ruling Wednesday in Janus vs. AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), the US Supreme Court overturned decades-old precedent that allowed government unions to compel public employees to pay union fees or risk being fired. Another massive victory for...

For publishing "fake news"? Can anyone remember when a president was so anti First Amendment? Of course most "conservatives" won't care. Because they are authoritarian slime and Trump is their leader. Imagine if Obama threatened this. Republicans would be talking about impeachment. For...

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/26/opinions/professor-charged-missouri-student-protest-randazza/index.html Interesting article. Ranb

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/sen-feinstein-anarchist-cookbook-not-protected-first-amendment Good luck with that. Ranb

Dallas State Representative Jason Villalba has proposed a bill which would make it illegal to record police if you're less than 25 feet away, or less than 100 feet away if you also have a gun. The core of the bill: So: 1) Why is a bill like this necessary, when there's already a law against...

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/06/26/supreme-court-throws-out-massachusetts-abortion-clinic-buffer-zone-law/VTTYHYD8oiVJJNreAPyKAN/story.html 9-0 ruling. Free speech concern the basis for the ruling. "The nation’s highest court today struck down a Massachusetts law that created buffer...

Any thoughts on this case from the secularists among us? Specifically, does it mark a clear pattern in how these Establishment Clause cases tend to come down in the Roberts era, and if so, does that require a shift in legal strategy?

The Supreme court approved five to four today to allow city council meetings with routine christian prayer. http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/high-court-ruling-favors-prayer-at-council-meeting/2014/05/05/6480b614-d45f-11e3-8f7d-7786660fff7c_story.html?hpid=z1 "WASHINGTON —...

References to this case have popped up here and there on JREF, but I think it warrants a closer look and a dedicated thread. This 18-y-o kid in Texas made a sick joke on Facebook about shooting up a school. Somebody in Canada reported it to the cops in Texas, who arrested him and held him in...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry: Americans have no right to freedom from religion It must be awfully damn hard to be a Christian in today's America. I salute the proud and courageous Texas governor for sticking to his principles and standing up for freedom OF religion. I'm curious though, since atheists...

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fbi-reporter-20130521,0,661230.story "The FBI obtained a sealed search warrant to read a Fox News reporter's personal emails from two days in 2010 after arguing there was probable cause he had violated espionage laws by soliciting...

Just like clockwork, a heavy-handed judge's decision at a track meet is bringing accusations that our government is waging war against Christianity: http://news.msn.com/us/nod-to-god-gets-track-team-disqualified The rules specifically state that raising one's hand over their heads in...

I was happy to be greeted by some good news this morning. I love the ACLU... Even when they take positions I don't personally agree with (that is not the case here). http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/11/choose-life-license-plates-ruled-unconstitutional-in-north-carolina/?hpt=hp_t3

Meanwhile, in other SCOTUS news, we may finally see a huge eyesore removed from the California landscape. Now we can find out if the state has the political will to follow it through. (This happened Monday but I didn't catch it until now.)

Religious freedom and contraception I am trying to make sense of the idea that requiring employers to provide contraception violates the first amendment. Does the reasoning go something like this: The employers money might support an action the employer finds morally objectionable on...

Here's the deal as you may know from the JREF blog. Jessica Alhquist was a high school student who sued to get a prayer banner removed. And then her classmates turned on her. Deciding that the whole "kindness" thing in Christianity is apparently optional they have been harassing and threatening...

http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/eanf?wpmp_switcher=desktop "Plain English Issue: Does a state law restricting the sale of violent video games to minors violate the First Amendment right to free speech?" Yes, says Scotus by a 7-2 vote.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/05/31/232182/rand-paul-criminalize-speech/ What the hell? The most charitable reading of this is that he's talking about non-citizens, although it doesn't seem clear to me that he's restricting his proposed policy to them. But isn't this the same guy...

Lieberman Introduces Anti-Wikileaks Legislation Author: Kevin Paulson URL: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/12/shield/ Wikileaks and the First Amendment Author: Geoffrey R. Stone URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-r-stone/wikileaks-and-the-first-a_b_804381.html? I...

I want to limit this discussion to the constitutional issue of freedom of speech, not the particular content of the speech. City plans to bill pastor for security around planned Quran burning Is it normal for police to bill people who receive police protection? How about when, for example...

Two days from now, California will almost certainly reelect Diane Feinstein to the senate, despite the fact that she has said that it's okay to have teachers insult atheists every day, and that the First Amendment should be repealed so that we can put people in jail for disagreeing with the...

From the Washington Post: The purpose of this measure? To cut the legs off of groups that seek to remove Nativity scenes and Ten Commandments monuments from public property. The vote was mostly along party lines, Republicans generally favoring it. Although the bill is unlikely to pass the...

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/nation/05/31scotus.html My bold. The new list of usual suspects Seems like a pretty severe restraint against legitimate whistle-blowers in order to protect the government from a few disgruntled workers pretending to be legitimate...

From Yahoo and AP: It is no surprise, but ousted Judge Moore thinks that that wearing a robe emboidered with the Ten Commandments is a good thing. The article did not say WHICH version of the commandments Judge McKathan chose to use. Chances are he selected the same version as Judge Moore, a...

Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The Bush administration, saying that religion ``has played a defining role'' in the nation's history, urged the U.S. Supreme Court to permit Ten Commandments displays in courthouses. Wish this was an Onion article. Unfortunately it's not...

From Yahoo and AP: As the cases approach time for argument, chances are good that the parties' and amicus briefs will be available on line. A decision could be expected in June. At this early stage, there are some interesting aspects to the matter, and it not clear what role, if any, they...

This is a press release from Americans United for Separation of Church and State. I have not yet found confirmation of this act of shameless grandstanding in the mainstream media. Well, I certainly hope that Congress (having nothing better to do) settles the question of which version of the...