Daily Archives: May 22, 2014

TheSpeaker ... A Film About Freedom
This controversial movie was produced by the American Library Association in 1977 to encourage discussion around the First Amendment and freedom of speech. It was digitized and provided in...

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TheSpeaker ... A Film About Freedom - Video

First Amendment Under Attack? MVI 2258
It appears that many of my video #39;s that I post on YouTube, and Facebook are not being posted by either one of these sites. I assume that Google might be doin...

By: Gabor Zolna

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First Amendment Under Attack? MVI 2258 - Video

Sen. Roberts to Harry Reid: First Amendment Can #39;t be Amended to Stifle Critics
U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules, today took to the Senator floor to tell Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to abandon misguided attempts to...

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Sen. Roberts to Harry Reid: First Amendment Can't be Amended to Stifle Critics - Video

The Kansas state attorney general approved a revised policy that states any employee at a public university in the state can be fired over improperly using social media, raising questions that their First Amendment rights are being infringed upon.

"It's too broad; it's too vague, and it's already causing people to chill themselves in the way that they use social media," Doug Bonney, the legal director for the ALCU of Kansas, told Think Progress.

The Kansas Board of Regents approved last week an amended version of the new social media policy. The Wichita Eagle reported that the new policy allows a university's chief executive to fire any faculty member who uses social media and posts a comment that could incite violence, disclose confidential information or otherwise damage the university.

One of the elements of the new policy that has legal experts confused is the part that says a faculty member can face disciplinary action for "speech contrary to the interests of the university."

"Unless you had access to every piece of information pertaining to the university, you would never know what affects its interests," Ken Paulson, the president of the First Amendment Center, told Think Progress.

The regents developed the social media policy after an anti-NRA tweet in September 2013 by David Guth, a University of Kansas journalism professor. He reportedly tweeted, "blood is on the hands of the #NRA. Next time, let it be YOUR sons and daughters."

The tweet caused an uproar over the bounds of social media.

Under the policy, social media covers blogs and social networking sites.

Kirk McClure, a professor in the Department of Urban Planning at Kansas University, said the social media policy would hamper the ability for Kansas schools to compete for top faculty.

"The social media policy makes it even harder to sell KU to top faculty candidates. A new faculty member can be disciplined, even terminated for a tweet," McClure said.

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ACLU blasts Kan. university social media policy

A St. Paul judges ruling will level the playing field for political donations in Minnesota, halting a law that plaintiffs argued dishes out First Amendment rights on a first-come, first-served basis.

Only weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal limits on campaign donations in McCutcheon v. FEC, U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank on Monday applied that precedent to a Minnesota campaign finance law that allowed some Minnesotans to donate more than others to the same candidate in state elections.

The federal court directed Minnesota officials to halt enforcement of the states special sources limit law. Institute for Justice, a public-interest law firm, initiated the case.

The government should not be using campaign finance laws to play favorites, said Anthony Sanders, lead attorney for IJ in the constitutional challenge. This ruling means that all Minnesotans who want to support political candidates will enjoy the same rights, no matter when in the election they make their contribution.

Under the law, 12 contributors could donate up to $1,000 to a candidate for the state House. The 13th contributor, however, would be restricted to a donation of $500, due to a $12,500 special sources limit for large contributions. Similar limits with larger dollar amounts applied to candidates for state Senate and constitutional offices.

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Federal court puts MN campaign finance limits on hold