Category: Constitutional Law

Academia, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Society

Illinois Sanctioned By AAUP Over Termination of Professor For Anti-Israeli Views

dJZiSXft_400x400We previously wrote about the decision of the University of Illinois to withdraw the employment of Professor Steven Salaita due to his publication of anti-Israel views on Twitter. I raised concerns over the decision as punishing an academic for views expressed outside of the classroom. It appear that the American Association of University Professors has the same concerns. The AAUP has passed a censure of the University — a significant sanction for a university that has strived to be included among the top school.

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Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media, Politics, Society

Montana Moves To Criminalize Speech Deemed Insulting To Religious or Racial Groups

100px-Montanastatesealnicubunu_open_mouthWe have been discussing the crackdown on free speech in the West, particularly in England, France, and Canada. It is a rising concern that seems to be lost on Montana legislators and prosecutors who want to follow the path of speech criminalization. The Montana criminal defamation statute criminalizes speech that exposes religious, racial, and other groups — “to hatred, contempt, ridicule, degradation, or disgrace” — an absurdly broad standard that would make a Sharia judge blush.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Torts

California Police Under Investigation After Beating Of Suspect Caught On Videotape

Screen Shot 2015-06-08 at 11.43.07 PMThere is another controversy over the level of force used in an arrest. The latest such controversy comes from Salinas California where police are investigating a new videotape and witness complaints about a beating given to a mentally ill who was being arrested after shoving his mother into a busy street. While 28-year-old Jose Velasco is shown trying to rise at one point, police below are shown beating him with batons and shooting him with Tasers while he is on the ground.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, International, Media, Religion, Society

Saudi Arabia Upholds Barbaric Sentence Of Blogger To Flogging and Jail For Insulting Islam

badawiSaudi Arabia’s Supreme Court reaffirmed yesterday that it rejects the most fundamental notions of due process, free speech, freedom of religion, and the free press. It was able to do all of that in one case — perfectly capturing the inherently abusive elements of Sharia law and religiously based legal systems.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Media, Society

Texas Police Officer Suspended After Release of Videotape Of Response To Disturbance At Pool Party

Screen Shot 2015-06-08 at 8.48.04 AMA McKinney, Texas police officer has been suspended pending review after the posting of a videotape where he draws his gun and manhandles a group of teenagers outside of a pool party. The officer has been identified as Cpl. Eric Casebolt and he is shown being verbally and physically abusive toward young people who are not clearly doing anything unlawful.

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Constitutional Law, Free Speech, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Erdogan’s Ruling AKP Loses Majority In Turkish Elections

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Flag of Turkey220px-Recep_Tayyip_ErdoganThose having great concern of the rise of Turkish President Recep Erdogan as a threat to free speech and his pursuit of an increasingly autocratic government can breathe, at least in the short term, a collective sigh of relief. With ninety-nine percent of the polling counted, Erdogan’s AK Party lost its parliamentary majority, preventing it from successfully pursuing constitutional changes that could solidify his power and what likely would lead further erosion of the traditionally secular state. This is the most significant setback to the AKP in the thirteen years it has governed over Turkey.

The announcement of the loss of majority came as a surprise as many feared manipulation of the voting process and witnessed numerous attempts at voter suppression and the jailing of media officials and those critical of the president.

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Animals, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Society

Law Clerk Suspended and Then Resigns After Criticizing Police Officer Killed In Accident With Deer

raspajpg-0397ccfc40370108We have previously discussed the increasing trend toward monitoring and disciplining private and public employees for comments on social media. These cases raise difficult questions of free speech in our society. The most recent such case involves Leslie Anderson, a law clerk for a New Jersey judge who resigned after being suspended after she made comments on Facebook criticizing a state trooper who was killed in a crash with a deer. While some praised 24-year-old Anthony Raspa (left) as a hero, Anderson also expressed sympathy for the dead animal, saying “I agree that it is sad and heart-wrenching for the family members left to suffer the consequences of the trooper’s recklessness—especially for the deer family who lost a mommy or daddy or baby deer.”

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, International, Politics, Society

English Dame Proposes New Rule For Rape Cases That Women Cannot Consent When Intoxicated

elishangioliniThe English court system is considering a controversial new report by Dame Elish Angiolini that would establish a rule that women cannot be viewed as consenting to sex if they are found to be intoxicated. The report is pushing an amendment of the Sexual Offences Act to establish the rule.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics

Iran Jails Cartoonist For Mocking Members of Parliament

548x331208126_atena_farghadaniIran has continued its assault on free speech this week with the jailing of an artist for simply drawing a cartoon disparaging members of parliament. Atena Farghadani, 28, who is a peaceful activist and artist who sought to mock the decision to restrict birth control for women. Rather than respond to such criticism, the ruling Mullahs sent her to jail.

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Columns, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, Media, Politics, Society

ELONIS AND THE NEAR MISS FOR INTERNET FREE SPEECH

Supreme CourtBelow is my column today in USA Today on the decision of the Supreme Court to reject the Obama Administation’s argument for a low standard in criminalizing speech on the Internet and other forums. The Court did not have to directly deal with the free speech implications of the case since it ruled on the standard for criminalization. The Court rejected the lowest standard of a reasonable person in establishing a criminal threat. However, with the remand, the issue may come back to the Court under another effort to adopt an alternative standard of recklessness.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, Media, Politics

SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST ADMINISTRATION ON CRIMINALIZING INTERNET SPEECH

Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court has handed down its decision in Elonis v. United States, a case that had sweeping implications for free speech on the Internet. The Obama Administration sought to establish a low standard for criminalizing speech based on a reasonable person standard that would have gutted the requirement of scienter or intent in establishing a criminal threat. The Court adopted the narrowest basis to remand the case but it clearly rejected the lower standard sought by the Administration. In doing so, free speech dodged a bullet today and the Obama Administration came perilously close to rolling back on protections for free speech on both the Internet and social media.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Politics, Society

Welcome to Painesville: Ohio Judge Orders Woman To Either Accept Jail Or Being Sprayed In Eyes With Pepper Spray

judge-01Welcome to Painesville. In this aptly named Ohio town, Painesville Municipal Court Judge Michael Cicconetti ordered Diamond Gaston, an assault suspect who pepper-sprayed someone in the face at a fast-food restaurant, that she could choose between 30 days in jail or be pepper-sprayed by her victim. Cicconetti then had the pepper-spray replaced with harmless saline spray without telling Gaston.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Media, Politics, Society

Women Banned From Voting in Parts of Pakistan Under New Agreement

Pakistan flagIn parts of Pakistan, women are now banned from voting after an local politicians and religious elders came to an agreement. Obviously, they were all men in Hangu and parts of Malakand, districts of the north-western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is all part of the Purdah traditions of the deeply conservative Islamic Pastun tribes in the area. Local mosques recently placed men with batons to beat any women who tried to vote in parliamentary elections. Now, all women are simply banned from voting.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Politics, Society

FEDERAL COURT HEARS SEPARATION OF POWERS CHALLENGE

800px-Capitol_Building_Full_ViewThe hearing on the Administration’s motion to dismiss the House challenge was heard yesterday in Washington, D.C. as reported widely in the media. (Wall Street Journal, NBC, Daily Mail, Rollcall, New York Times,AP, The motion is now under advisement and the parties will wait for a decision on whether the House can be heard on the merits of this historic challenge. If the Court rules against the motion, the parties will then be able to present their arguments on the merits of the constitutional challenge. If the Court rules for the motion, the case can proceed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia for review. (Thanks to Claire Duggan for the photographs)

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Lawyering, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

FEDERAL COURT TO HEAR HISTORIC CHALLENGE OVER SEPARATION OF POWERS

220px-Meade_and_Prettyman_CourthouseAt 10 a.m. tomorrow morning, Judge Rosemary M. Collyer of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia will hear argument on the motion to dismiss filed by the defendants in U.S. House of Representatives v. Burwell, et al., No. 1:14-cv-01967 (D.D.C.). The defendants are the Departments of Health and Human Services and Treasury, and the secretaries of those two executive branch agencies. The Administration is seeking to prevent the Court from reaching the merits of this historic case, which was authorized by an affirmative vote of the entire House of Representatives on July 30, 2014, and which the House filed for the purpose of protecting our constitutional structure.

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