NEW YORK (AP) — Twice recently, the people who run Fox News were reminded of their biggest nightmare. The conservative network Newsmax’s $67 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over false claims after the 2020 election recalled Fox’s own $787.5 million deal with the same company more than two years ago. New legal papers filed […] The post Fox News thrives two years after court settlement, but 2020 election-coverage fight goes on appeared first on The Free Speech Center.| The Free Speech Center
In the latest newsletter … flag-burning issue to the Supreme Court, maybe? … 4chan, Kiwi Farms vs. British regulator … Disney data collection … Newsmax sues Fox News … and much more First Amendment and journalism news. https://tinyurl.com/2v6df2c4 The Free Speech Center newsletter offers a digest of First Amendment and news media news every other week. […] The post Free Speech Center newsletter – 9/5/25 appeared first on The Free Speech Center.| The Free Speech Center
The American public’s trust in the Supreme Court has fallen precipitately over the past decade. Many across the political spectrum see the Court as too political. This view is only strengthened when Americans see most of the justices of the Court dividing along ideological lines on decisions related to some of the most hot-button issues […] The post Sleeper Supreme Court decision could have profound impacts on Trump’s agenda appeared first on The Free Speech Center.| The Free Speech Center
Early in Donald Trump’s news conference yesterday, Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked a question that surely baffled people who had avoided social media for Labor Day. “How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead?” Doocy said to the president. Doocy was referring to speculation about Trump’s health that spread online during […] The post News media quickly forced to revisit thorny question: How should a president’s health be covered? appeared first on The Free Speech Center.| The Free Speech Center
Changing its mind about keeping its name, the MSNBC news network said Aug. 18 it would become My Source News Opinion World, or MS NOW for short, as part of its corporate divorce from NBC. The TV network, which appeals to liberal audiences with a stable of personalities including Rachel Maddow, Ari Melber and Nicole […] The post Cable’s MSNBC will change its name later this year as part of corporate divorce from NBC appeared first on The Free Speech Center.| The Free Speech Center
President Donald Trump is again attacking the American press – this time not with fiery rally speeches or by calling the news media “the enemy of the people,” but through the courts. Since the heat of the November 2024 election, and continuing into July, Trump has filed defamation lawsuits against “60 Minutes” broadcaster CBS News […] The post The case that saved the press – and why Trump wants it gone appeared first on The Free Speech Center.| The Free Speech Center
ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will stop providing a print edition at year’s end and go completely digital, in a dramatic change for a storied newspaper founded shortly after the Civil War. The decision will make Atlanta the largest U.S. metro area without a printed daily newspaper, although some smaller metro Atlanta newspapers continue […] The post Atlanta Journal-Constitution to stop printing as it transitions to all-digital news appeared first on The Free Speech Cen...| The Free Speech Center
NEW YORK (AP) — Court papers in a voting-technology company’s $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News point to Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs and Jeanine Pirro as leaders in spreading false stories about election fraud in the weeks after Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump in 2020. Arguments for summary judgment by Smartmatic […] The post Defamation case against Fox News highlights role of its hosts in promoting 2020 election falsehoods appeared first on The ...| The Free Speech Center
The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said that if it were up to him, he would jail “every sandal-wearing, scruffy-bearded weirdo who burns the American flag,” But the Constitution, the conservative hero noted in 2015, protects flag burning as a form of free speech. And significantly: “I am not (a) king” who can outlaw […] The post Trump’s order on flag burning could return the question to the Supreme Court appeared first on The Free Speech Center.| The Free Speech Center
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Aug. 25 signed an executive order requiring the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute people for burning the American flag, an act that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled is legitimate political expression protected by the U.S. Constitution. The order the Republican president signed in the Oval Office […] The post Trump moves to ban flag burning despite Supreme Court ruling that Constitution allows it appeared first on The Free Speech Ce...| The Free Speech Center
Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow (2004) avoided addressing whether the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance violated the First Amendment.| The Free Speech Center
Zorach v. Clauson (1952) said the released time policy of New York violated neither the free exercise nor establishment clause of the First Amendment.| The Free Speech Center
Terminiello v. Chicago (1949) overturned on First Amendment grounds a disorderly conduct conviction against a suspended Catholic priest for making inflammatory public comments.| The Free Speech Center
The preferred position doctrine creates a hierarchy of rights so that some freedoms, such as those related to the First Amendment, receive greater protection than others.| The Free Speech Center
Franklin D. Roosevelt is best known for his New Deal programs and his leadership during World War II.| The Free Speech Center
The Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, was established in 1791 to guard against an oppressive national government by establishing certain rights.| The Free Speech Center
During World War II, the Supreme Court began to apply the clear and present danger standard of First Amendment protection to dissident political speech.| The Free Speech Center
The Court considered conscientious objector cases during the Vietnam War, weighing when First Amendment freedom protects someone from laws requiring military service.| The Free Speech Center
The pacifism and effort of the Amish and Mennonites to separate themselves from worldliness have led to a number of important First Amendment legal precedents.| The Free Speech Center
In Reynolds v. United States (1879), the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a federal law prohibiting polygamy did not violate the free exercise clause of the First Amendment.| The Free Speech Center
Polygamy is a practice in which a person is married to more than one person at the same time. Polygamy raises issues under the free exercise clause of the First Amendment.| The Free Speech Center
Harlan Fiske Stone, chief justice on the Supreme Court, demonstrated a profound interest in civil liberties and First Amendment values.| The Free Speech Center
While Justice Felix Frankfurter championed civil rights, he frequently voted to limit civil liberties and was not one of the great defenders of the First Amendment.| The Free Speech Center
The compelled speech doctrine sets out that the First Amendment prevents the government from punishing a person for refusing to articulate or adhere to its messages.| The Free Speech Center
William O. Douglas was one of the Supreme Court’s most controversial members as well as one of its most passionate defenders of individual freedoms and First Amendment rights.| The Free Speech Center
To promote First Amendment freedom of speech, libel plaintiffs who are public figures or officials must show a publisher acted with actual malice to collect damages.| The Free Speech Center
Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg was a consistent vote for the protection of First Amendment freedoms, including in the landmark case New York Times Co. v. Sullivan.| The Free Speech Center
The origin of "wall of separation" came from Thomas Jefferson who used the phrase to reflect his understanding of the First Amendment's religion clauses.| The Free Speech Center
Prayer at public school events can involve three clauses of the First Amendment: the establishment, the free exercise, and the free speech.| The Free Speech Center
In Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971), the Supreme Court said that providing funds to church-run schools was unconstitutional because it resulted in excessive entanglement with religion.| The Free Speech Center
The coercion test helps the Supreme Court determine whether government practices violate the First Amendment’s establishment clause. It is most often used in public school cases.| The Free Speech Center
Justice Clarence Thomas has surprised observers with his independent vision on First Amendment issues, including questioning interpretations of the establishment clause.| The Free Speech Center
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia viewed First Amendment protections in a narrow, but sometimes libertarian, fashion. He considered himself an "originalist."| The Free Speech Center
Ronald Reagan, the nation's 40th president, supported a free and independent press, but thought the Supreme Court got it wrong on school prayer.| The Free Speech Center
Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith (1990) greatly changed First Amendment religious free exercise law, abandoning the compelling interest test.| The Free Speech Center
City of Boerne v. Flores (1997) said Congress does not have unlimited power to expand First Amendment rights and overturned the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.| The Free Speech Center
The 1786 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was the driving force behind the religious clauses of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791.| The Free Speech Center
Torcaso v. Watkins (1961) found that requiring an oath to affirm belief in “the existence of God” in order to hold public office violated the First Amendment.| The Free Speech Center
Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third U.S. president, promoted ideals of freedom of speech, press, and conscience.| The Free Speech Center
Religious liberty advocates have observed that state constitutions may provide more separation of church and state than is protected in the First Amendment.| The Free Speech Center
Freedom of religion guarantees the right to freely exercise one's faith and to be free from government imposition of religion.| The Free Speech Center
When the First Amendment was ratified, it did not eliminate established churches in states where they existed. Eventually, all established churches were disestablished.| The Free Speech Center
The recognition and celebration of religious holidays by government can run counter to the First Amendment prohibition of government endorsing a particular religion.| The Free Speech Center
The First Amendment creates lines between public and religious buildings. The line is not clear because courts have accepted some civil religion in public places.| The Free Speech Center
Marsh v. Chambers (1983) found that the practice of hiring a chaplain to open the legislative day with prayer did not violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment.| The Free Speech Center
The Supreme Court used the three-pronged Lemon test for nearly four decades to evaluate whether a law or governmental activity violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment. The test was largely abandoned by 2022.| The Free Speech Center
The American Civil Liberties Union states as its mission the protection and preservation of First Amendment rights, equal protection under the law, and the right of privacy.| The Free Speech Center
A North Carolina school board has taken 41 books off the shelves in their libraries to review them for student-appropriate content, including iconic fictional titles such as Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegaut and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.| The Free Speech Center
Bridges v. Wixon (1945) ruled that the U.S. could not deport a legal immigrant for his Communist Party affiliation. The Court said legal aliens had First Amendment rights.| The Free Speech Center
Sherbert v. Verner (1963) said that denying unemployment benefits to an applicant who refused to work on Saturday, her Sabbath, violated First Amendment rights.| The Free Speech Center
Obscenity refers to a narrow category of pornography that violates contemporary community standards is not protected by the First Amendment.| The Free Speech Center
In Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964) the Court overturned on First Amendment grounds the conviction of a movie theater manager prosecuted for showing a film deemed to be obscene.| The Free Speech Center
The development of First Amendment free speech and association rights in the United States owes much to the battle against the Communism Party of America.| The Free Speech Center
West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) said requiring students to salute the American flag infringed upon First Amendment freedoms of belief and speech.| The Free Speech Center
Robert Jackson, a Supreme Court justice from 1941 to 1954, believed strongly in separation of church and state and free speech protections First Amendment.| The Free Speech Center
The Supreme Court has ruled that compelling schoolchildren to recite the Pledge of Allegiance violates the First Amendment.| The Free Speech Center
Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940) ruled that states could require public school students to salute the U.S. flag without violating students’ First Amendment rights.| The Free Speech Center
Perhaps no religious sect has had a greater impact relative to its size on expanding the First Amendment free exercise of religion than has the Jehovah’s Witnesses.| The Free Speech Center
Discover how censorship challenges the rights of free speech and press, as upheld by the First Amendment in vital court cases.| The Free Speech Center
Justice Thurgood Marshall was the first African-American to serve on the Supreme Court. He consistently championed First Amendment and other individual rights.| The Free Speech Center
Chief Justice Warren Burger introduced the Lemon test for determining whether government actions violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment.| The Free Speech Center
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964) required public officials to show prove actual malice in libel cases, enhancing First Amendment protection of government critiques.| The Free Speech Center
Libel and slander lawsuits can have a chilling effect on free speech. The First Amendment rights of free speech and free press often clash with the interests served by libel laws.| The Free Speech Center
Actual malice is the legal standard the Supreme Court uses to protect the media in libel cases in determining when public officials or figures may win damages in lawsuits.| The Free Speech Center
Supreme Court Associate and Chief Justice William Rehnquist was not known as a defender of First Amendment rights, but he protective of some aspects of the amendment.| The Free Speech Center
Wallace v. Jaffree (1985) struck down a state law requiring a minute of silence in public schools. The Court said the law had a religious purpose and violated the First Amendment.| The Free Speech Center
In First Amendment law, Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court, was known for her religious liberty opinions.| The Free Speech Center
Many early American states required public officeholders to take religious oaths. In 1961, the Supreme Court said this requirement violated the First Amendment.| The Free Speech Center
Lynch v. Donnelly (1984) upheld the inclusion of a manger scene in a Christmas display on government property against a First Amendment establishment clause challenge.| The Free Speech Center
Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens contributed mightily to First Amendment jurisprudence and seemingly became more speech-protective in his later years on the Court.| The Free Speech Center
Public school students enjoy First Amendment protection based on the type of expression and their age. Students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate.| The Free Speech Center
In Morse v. Frederick, the Supreme Court ruled it is not a denial of First Amendment rights for school officials to censor student speech they believe encourages illegal drug use.| The Free Speech Center
Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan II was an architect of First Amendment jurisprudence in obscenity law, freedom of association, expressive conduct, and offensive speech.| The Free Speech Center
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988) decided that schools may limit student First Amendment rights if student speech is inconsistent with an educational mission.| The Free Speech Center
Burnside v. Byars (5th Cir. 1966) protected students’ First Amendment rights on school grounds. The decision served as a key precedent for Tinker v. Des Moines (1969).| The Free Speech Center
In Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser (1986), an important First Amendment precedent, the Supreme Court said public school officials can prohibit offensive student speech.| The Free Speech Center
Supreme Court Justice William Brennan Jr. was an outspoken defender of the First Amendment freedoms of speech and the press against threats of government restriction.| The Free Speech Center
Explore the concept of religion neutrality and its implications in Supreme Court decisions regarding the establishment clause.| The Free Speech Center
The establishment clause prohibits government from establishing a religion. It is sometimes referred to as separation of church and state.| The Free Speech Center
Governments must treat atheism like a religion for purposes of the First Amendment. The establishment clause prohibits the government from favoring religion over non-religion.| The Free Speech Center
Courts use the endorsement test to determine whether the government impermissibly endorses or disapproves of religion in violation of the First Amendment.| The Free Speech Center
Supreme Court Justice Hugo Lafayette Black is considered to be one of the most influential justices of his time. On First Amendment issues, Black was considered an absolutist.| The Free Speech Center
Everson v. Board of Education (1947) said spending tax funds to bus children to religious schools did not breach the First Amendment establishment clause.| The Free Speech Center
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) established that public school students have First Amendment rights. It is the seminal decision on student speech.| The Free Speech Center
Engel v. Vitale (1962) ruled that school-sponsored prayer in public schools violated the First Amendment even though participation in the prayer was voluntary.| The Free Speech Center
Abington School District v. Schempp (1963) ended devotional exercises in public schools because the First Amendment forbade the recognition of one religion over others.| The Free Speech Center
Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart had a mixed record in First Amendment cases but was often supportive of individual liberty in cases involving speech and religion.| The Free Speech Center