First Amendment

Text-Only Obscenity Issue Won’t Be Litigated Due to Guilty Plea

A case that raises the issue of whether text alone can justify a federal obscenity charge won’t be decided by a court on First Amendment grounds. Karen Fletcher, charged with distributing obscenity online, has decided to plead guilty, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. She was accused of violating the law by…

May 20, 2008 12:42 PM CDT

Supreme Court Upholds Anti-Child Porn Law

In a long-sought victory for those eager to stamp out child pornography on the Internet, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed 7-2 to uphold a federal law that creates penalties for promoting child pornography. The court rejected concerns that the law could apply to mainstream movies, classic literature or innocent e-mail…

May 19, 2008 5:54 PM CDT

FLDS Children Interviewed By Police Without Legal Counsel, Attorney Says

A lawyer for several of the approximately 465 children removed from a Texas ranch run by a religious sect that reportedly advocates polygamy says her clients and others throughout the state are being interviewed by authorities without their attorneys present. While that apparently may be legal, as far as child…

May 16, 2008 11:31 PM CDT

California Supreme Court Strikes Down Gay Marriage Ban

Updated: The California Supreme Court has struck down the state’s ban on gay marriages in a 4-3 ruling. The court ruled the California Constitution gives gay couples the right to marry, making the state the second to permit such unions, the Associated Press reports. The Massachusetts Supreme Court has also…

May 15, 2008 5:25 PM CDT

New Texas Rules for FLDS Moms May Distance Them from Their Faith

As new hearings are about to begin Monday in the case of some 464 children of a fundamentalist religious sect removed from their communal ranch homes over allegations of sexual abuse, Texas child welfare officials have reportedly drafted family reunion goals that may force mothers to choose between their children…

May 15, 2008 5:17 PM CDT

Woman’s Suit Against Judge Who Asked Her to Remove Veil Gets Tossed

A federal judge in Detroit has dismissed a woman’s lawsuit against a small claims judge who asked her to remove her veil. The woman, Ginnnah Muhammad, had claimed Judge Paul Paruk of Hamtramck unconstitutionally interfered with her right to practice religion and violated a civil rights law requiring access to…

May 13, 2008 4:53 PM CDT

Legal Group Hopes Pastors Will Help Effort to Overturn Tax Law

A legal advocacy group is asking preachers to break the law by taking a stand on political candidates on Sept. 28. The Alliance Defense Fund hopes cooperating clergy will provoke an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and set up a test case to challenge the tax law, the Wall…

May 9, 2008 11:32 AM CDT

Internet Archive’s Suit Gets FBI to Withdraw National Security Letter

The FBI is dropping its demand for information about a subscriber from the Internet Archive as part of a settlement of a lawsuit. The agency is also agreeing to allow discussion of the case, which challenged a national security letter issued by the agency. The victory is one of only…

May 8, 2008 11:21 AM CDT

Special Prosecutor to Oversee FLDS Ranch Raid Criminal Cases

The state attorney general will serve as special prosecutor in all criminal cases arising from a raid early last month on a Texas ranch run by a religious sect that reportedly promotes polygamy and underage “spiritual” marriages of teenagers to much older men. It isn’t clear exactly what criminal cases…

May 6, 2008 5:44 PM CDT

HALT Report Blasts States for Secretive Judicial Ethics Oversight

A report by the nonprofit group Help Abolish Legal Tyranny calls the system of judicial oversight in Washington, D.C., among the most secretive in the country. The District got a D grade on the group’s Judicial Accountability 2008 Report Card, the Washington Post reports. Maine and Mississippi got Fs, while…

May 6, 2008 1:49 PM CDT

Texas Ranch Raid Sparks Senate Leader’s Call for Federal Task Force

Sparks flew in Arizona, Nevada and Utah last week after the Senate majority leader criticized prosecutors in those states for not being as aggressive as Texas authorities in pursuing claimed child abuse among a religious sect that reportedly advocates polygamy and “spiritual” marriages of underage teenage girls to much older…

May 5, 2008 11:04 PM CDT

Judge Files Defamation Suit Against New York Daily News

A Brooklyn judge has filed a $10 million defamation suit against the New York Daily News for publishing two columns that claimed he improperly presided over a case involving a lawyer who had represented him before the judicial conduct commission. Judge Larry Martin claims in the lawsuit that lawyer Ravi…

May 5, 2008 11:51 AM CDT

Vietnam Vet Arrested After Pointing Finger at Town Meeting

In the midst of a contentious town meeting in a small Chicago suburb earlier this year, resident Greg Kachka committed a criminal act, officials contend: Wearing a custom T-shirt with a Marine Corps insignia that states “Don’t Move. If You Run, You’ll Only Die Tired!!” the 60-year-old Vietnam veteran pointed…

May 2, 2008 8:22 PM CDT

Appeals Court Says Lawyer’s Ad Seeking Plaintiffs Wasn’t Defamatory

A California appeals court has ruled that a lawyer’s ad seeking potential class-action plaintiffs did not defame a company mentioned in the solicitation. The ad said owners of wood decks using galvanized screws made by three companies might be entitled to compensation or free repairs, the Recorder reports. The lawyer…

May 2, 2008 4:28 PM CDT

Texas Changed Marriage Age to Restrict Rights of Polygamy Ranch Residents

Much has been written, in recent weeks, about the number of teen girls entering into “spiritual” underage marriages at a Texas ranch from which some 462 children were removed last month. However, it was not until the fringe religious group that operates the ranch, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ…

May 2, 2008 3:48 PM CDT