Social Media Ideas for First Amendment/Media Law

The First Amendment

[Essay]I remember digging through my father’s WWII footlocker, where he had mementos from his time in the service. In it were copies of the VE and VJ Day editions of Stars and Stri...

ABC's First Amendment Lawsuit Against FCC

From today's Complaint in ABC, Inc. v. FCC (D.D.C.): Government censorship is deeply un-American. That fundamental principle predates the Republic,… The post ABC's First Amendment...

Second Circuit Joins Courts That Recognize First Amendment "Right to Record Law Enforcement Activity in Public"

From today's decision in Massimino v. Benoit, written by Judge Myrna Pérez and joined by Sarah Merriam: We begin by… The post Second Circuit Joins Courts That Recognize First Amend...

Second Circuit Says You Have a First Amendment Right to Film Police in Public

A federal appeals court has now made it clear that the First Amendment protects people who record publicly visible portions of a police station while standing on a public sidewalk....

The First Amendment Does Not Belong Only to the Beloved

Some constitutional victories arrive with trumpets. Others arrive quietly in a case the press has decided not to love, for a journalist many would rather not defend. Democracy Part...

First Amendment Auditors are Taking Their Right to Film in Public to the Extreme

In the United States, it is legal to film in a public space. Photographers, especially those working in the media, know about this First Amendment right. [Read More]

First Amendment Broadly Protects Against Speech-Based Deportation of Noncitizens, Court Rules

Some short excerpts from the >35K-word decision by Judge Noël Wise (N.D. Cal.) in Stanford Daily Pub. Corp. v. Rubio:… The post First Amendment Broadly Protects Against Speech-B...

US Circuit Court Protects People’s Right to Record Police in Public

The United States Second Circuit has held for the first time that the First Amendment of the Constitution protects a person's right to record law enforcement activity in public. [R...

Vanity plates protected under First Amendment

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Virginia vanity plates are private speech protected under the First Amendment, not government speech. The post Vanity plates protec...

Journal of Free Speech Law: "Permission to Speak Freely: An Introduction," by Sam Lebovic

Part of a Knight First Amendment Institute Symposium on Managing Government Employee Speech in a Democracy, which the Journal is publishing.

Public Comment Policy Overly Broad and Vague Under First Amendment

In Merriott v. City of Bossier City, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a city’s “decorum” policy for city meetings violated the First Amendment because it was overly bro...

Suspending College Student for Saying Man Who Insulted Her "Needa Get Blasted" + Having Posted Shooting Range Video (Yea...

Some excerpts from today's long opinion by Judge Joseph Dawson, III (D.S.C.) in Lemoine v. Horry Georgetown Tech. Coll.: On… The post Suspending College Student for Saying Man Who...

Lawsuit Against Media for Keeping People "Clueless" Thrown Out

From Judge Kenneth Karas (S.D.N.Y.) Friday in Center for Judicial Accountability, Inc. v. Legislative Correspondents' Ass'n: On October 8, 2025,… The post Lawsuit Against Media for...

A New Jersey Judge Defies the First Amendment by Censoring News Coverage of a High School Lockdown

The judge contradicted Supreme Court precedents by ruling that a student's "privacy interests" trumped "the severe constitutional presumption" against prior restraints.

Has the Supreme Court rendered the First Amendment’s press clause invisible?

In 2021, the legal scholars RonNell Andersen Jones and Sonja West published a study tracking the Supreme Court’s references to the press in its opinions over time. The data they un...

Free Speech Unmuted: The Process Is The Punishment: ABC v. FCC with Stuart Benjamin

ABC is challenging the Federal Communications Commission, arguing that the agency is using its licensing authority to punish the network… The post Free Speech Unmuted: The Process...

Kansans’ right to know about criminal complaints at stake in Linn County case over sealed records

The First Amendment protects the public’s right of access to criminal complaints filed in court against adult defendants. A law sealing such records is unconstitutional in large pa...

FCC Moves to Dismiss ABC’s First Amendment Suit

“The Federal Communications Commission has asked a federal judge to dismiss ABC’s First Amendment lawsuit challenging the agency’s early review of licenses for eight Disney-owned t...

Questions for Tom Rosenstiel and the Students at the Philip Merrill School of Journalism

"This Case Begins with a Viral Video" (and Goes on to Involve "the Anti-Doxing League")

From today's decision by Judge Kyle Dudek (M.D. Fla.) in Noshirvan v. Couture (for a 2023 decision stemming from the… The post "This Case Begins with a Viral Video" (and Goes on to...

‘CatsOnACouch’ influencer sues over First Amendment rights

An online influencer with a penchant for criticizing and lampooning the Trump administration sued the federal government for blocking her from attending a public event where Vice P...

First Amendment Might Protect FTP&ATF License Plate

The Fourth Circuit considers "a question that has divided ... courts ...: whether the character combinations on personalized license plates ... are government speech or private spe...

WATCH: Victory for independent journalists in press credentials fight

(The Center Square) - A victory for press freedom was announced Thursday morning in a case over reporters being denied credentials to cover the Washington legislature....

BREAKING: ABC Files First Amendment Lawsuit Against Trump’s FCC — Accuses it of Waging a ‘Retaliatory Campaign’

ABC has filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the FCC — accusing it of waging a "retaliatory campaign" because it "disapproves" of what it broadcasts. The post BREAKING: ABC File...