Posts Tagged ‘first amendment’
TV Network Started by Cloistered Nun Sues Sebelius
TERRENCE P. JEFFREY, CNSNEWS.COM Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN)--founded in 1981 by Mother M. Angelica, a cloistered Roman Catholic nun belonging to the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration--has filed suit against Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and other senior officials in the Obama administration arguing that a [...]
I Guess “Virtually All Super PAC Money Traceable” Didn’t Have the Same Ring to It
BY PAUL SHERMAN, CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW Roll Call columnist Eliza Newlin Carney, who coined the term "Super PAC," has written a column titled “Some Super PAC Money Untraceable.” The column discusses the findings of a report titled “Auctioning Democracy,” released by Demos and the U.S. PIRG Education Fund. As Carney reports, [...]
E.J. Dionne Gets It Wrong on Citizens United, Again
Liberty Alerts, Paul Sherman, Institute for Justice Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne has been complaining about Citizens United v. FEC since before Citizens United was decided. In his latest attack on that ruling, Dionne argues that the decision doesn’t work “if you think we are a democracy and not a plutocracy.” As famed First [...]
Help Restore Religious Freedom in America
Liberty Alerts, JBS.org Freedom Campaign The contraception mandate recently dictated by the Obama administration has met with a firestorm of opposition. It requires all employers, regardless of the tenets of their faith to purchase health insurance plans that cover sterilizations, contraceptives and abortifacients. Aside from the attempts by [...]
Catholic Leaders Vow Fight With Obama
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, NEWSROOM AMERICA U.S. Catholic leaders on Monday vowed to fight the Obama administration over a new provision of the health care law that requires all employers, including religious institutions, to pay for birth control "Never before, unprecedented in American history, for the federal government to line up against the [...]
Obamacare Awakens a Sleeping Giant
Mike Brownfield, Heritage Foundation It is a rare moment indeed when faith denominations of all stripes unite together in common cause, and it is rarer still when that cause is a political one, with a sole piece of legislation as its principal target. But when that law eviscerates the very foundation of religious liberty in America as protected [...]
“Money Isn’t Speech” and “Corporations Aren’t People”—So What?
FIRST AMENDMENT, PAUL SHERMAN Most of the popular arguments against the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC boil down to two sound bites: “Money isn’t speech” and “Corporations aren’t people.” Both of these statements are obviously true. But neither has anything to do with whether political spending—even [...]
Pelosis Stands With ‘Courageous’ Obama Against Religious Freedom
THOMAS CLOUD, CNSNEWS.COM House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) vowed today that she will join with the Obama administration in standing up against the Catholic Church in defending a new regulation that will require Catholic individuals to buy, and Catholic institutions to provide, health insurance plans that cover sterilizations and [...]
No “Constitutional Rights Issues” in Violating Religious Liberties?
White House doesn't get it Liberty Alerts, American Center for Law and Justice On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, was asked about the recent announcement from HHS that religious institutions, such as religious schools and hospitals, would have to include abortifacient drugs, sterilization, and contraception in their [...]
Obamacare’s Assault on Religious Freedom
Mike Brownfield, Heritage Foundation It has not even been two years since Obamacare was enacted, and already the President’s health care law has taken another victim — the religious freedoms Americans hold dear, as reflected by the First Amendment. The Obama Administration recently reaffirmed a rule under Obamacare that requires many [...]
State Mandated Thinking
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, Peter McAllister Is this statement true? “If SpongeBob SquarePants is the mayor of Minneapolis, then Napoleon lost the Battle of Waterloo.” It is. On the other hand, this is not: “If Napoleon lost the Battle of Waterloo, then Spongebob Squarepants is the Mayor of Minneapolis.” Confused? Welcome [...]
Preaching the Social Justice Doctrine
BY CARL L. BANKSTON III Above the article entitled “Social Justice Revival: Colleges Embrace Social Justice Curriculum” in today’s Inside Higher Education is a revealing photograph. (See link below) It shows a speaker in a church, behind a pulpit decorated with a banner that reads: “Young Innovator for Social Justice Prize.” Whether [...]
Stop Internet Censorship
TEXAS STRAIGHT TALK WITH RON PAUL Although Congress was back in session for scarcely more than a day last week, private citizens across the country managed to cause an uproar felt across Capitol Hill. The uproar took the form of hundreds of thousands of phone calls to both Senators and Representatives, urging them to oppose two draconian new [...]
Johns Hopkins University Continues to Defend Censorship
ACADEMIC FREEDOM, THEFIRE.ORG Johns Hopkins University's utter lack of concern for its students' free speech rights is on display again, this time in comments the university's spokesman made to the Maryland Gazette last week. You may remember that in 2006, Hopkins threw the book at then-18-year-old student Justin Park for posting a Halloween [...]
Ole Miss Scraps Speech Codes, Sets National Example by Protecting Student Rights
ACADEMIC FREEDOM, THEFIRE.ORG OXFORD, Miss., January 23, 2012—The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) has eliminated its speech codes, earning the highest "green light" rating for free speech from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). While two-thirds of the nation's colleges maintain policies that clearly and [...]
FIRE and Syracuse U’s Attack on Freedom of Thought
ACADEMIC FREEDOM, CARL L. BANKSTON III The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is in my opinion one of the most admirable organizations involved with higher education today. FIRE is dedicated to preserving freedom of thought and expression in colleges and universities. These institutions should require no such effort, but [...]
Bonilla: Campus Free Speech Crucial During Election Season
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org FIRE's Peter Bonilla has a new article on PolicyMic discussing the importance of freedom of expression on campus during election season. Referencing FIRE's past fights for free political speech at colleges nationwide, Peter writes: The University of Oklahoma, for example, in 2008 banned "the forwarding of political [...]
Double Standard at Auburn
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org Auburn University has discriminated against a student by ordering him to remove a Ron Paul banner from his dormitory window. Although the university has nominally instituted a "total ban" on window decorations, a dozen or more other window decorations have been permitted. Moreover, the university has failed to [...]
January Student Spotlight: Moriah Costa
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org There are over 5,000 members of FIRE's Campus Freedom Network, our coalition of students, faculty members, and alumni committed to promoting free speech and individual rights on campus. Our members write op-eds for local and national publications, invite FIRE speakers to their schools, attend FIRE's CFN Conference in [...]
Syracuse Drops Expulsion Hours after FIRE Press Release
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org Syracuse University's School of Education has readmitted a graduate student it had expelled from its teaching program after he complained on Facebook about a racially charged comment made in his presence by a community leader. Syracuse had told Matthew Werenczak that his only chance for reinstatement was to undergo a [...]
Congress Starting to Listen on SOPA
Liberty Alerts, American Center for Law and Justice By now, you may have noticed many popular websites, including Google and Wikipedia, have launched protests to highlight both the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). We at the ACLJ first brought you the story behind these two bills in November, and we continue to [...]
Holder’s Prosecution of Pro-Life Educator Thrown Out of Court
Liberty Alerts, Liberty Counsel West Palm Beach, FL – A federal judge has ended Attorney General Eric Holder’s two-year political prosecution of pro-life educator Mary Susan Pine. Holder accused Pine of obstructing the entrance to an abortion clinic, in violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (“FACE”). Holder sought [...]
Institute for Justice Defends Super PACs
First Amendment, Institute for Justice The 2012 presidential election is bringing almost daily warnings about the influence of so-called “Super PACs” on the political process. A writer in The Atlantic called them the “WMDs” of campaign finance and to The New York Times they are “septic tanks into which wealthy individuals and [...]
Elected Judges End Liberal Censorship
By Phyllis Schlafly Montana’s Supreme Court judges have to race re-election every eight years. This brings accountability to their rulings and is an essential check and balance on judicial activism. A recent decision about religion in the Montana court illustrates the value of judicial elections. At the public high school graduation in [...]
Ron Paul Support Banned from Auburn U. Dorm Windows
ACADEMIC FREEDOM, ADAM KISSEL Auburn University has discriminated against a student by ordering him to remove a Ron Paul banner from his dormitory window. Although the university has nominally instituted a "total ban" on window decorations, a dozen or more other window decorations have been permitted. Moreover, the university has failed to [...]
Pastors Protest Bloomberg Booting 60 Churches Out of Schools
PETE WINN, CNSNEWS.COM New York City Councilman Fernando Cabrera and NYC religious leaders organized a rally at Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s State of the City speech on Thursday to protest the city’s decision to stop 60 churches--but not other groups--from meeting in public schools. New York City protest “Treating houses of worship [...]
The Month’s Survey of Legal Scholarship on Academic Issues
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org The past month has seen a number of articles regarding academic rights published in law reviews and law journals across the country. Two articles were published relating to the application of the Supreme Court's 2006 decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006), in the public school teacher context. FIRE [...]
Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Noncitizen Speech
FIRST AMENDMENT, INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court summarily affirmed a lower-court decision upholding a federal law that prohibits noncitizens who lawfully reside in the United States—except for “permanent residents,” i.e., “green card” holders—from spending money to influence U.S. elections. IJ had submitted [...]
Auburn Student Blasts University’s Window Policy
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org Auburn University doctoral student Allen Mendenhall has written an op-ed for today's Montgomery Advertiser criticizing Auburn's decision to censor a Ron Paul banner in the dormitory window of student Eric Philips. Allen, a FIRE Campus Freedom Network member, explains that Philips' case is of particular concern to [...]
East Carolina University Digs Hole with Public Statement
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org Yesterday I deconstructed East Carolina University's pitiful public statement invoking the "just trust us" defense after it fired the adviser to The East Carolinian because the independent student newspaper (like it or not) published uncensored photos of a streaker at an ECU football game. Today, I repeat: Whoever [...]
University of Florida Revises 2011 Speech Code of the Year
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org Just one day after FIRE announced that the University of Florida (UF) maintained the only remaining Speech Code of the Year for 2011, UF deleted the offending language from its policy. UF earned co-Speech Code of the Year "honors" for its Student Rights and Responsibilities policy, which warned students that [...]
Clinton Judge: Students Can Sue To Reinstate La Raza Studies
LIBERTY ALERTS, CORRUPTION CHRONICLES Students can sue their public school district for violating their First Amendment right by eliminating a radical La Raza studies program that ignites racial hostility, teaches disdain for American sovereignty and illegally segregates students by race. Only in America would a federal judge rule that a [...]
Victory for Religious Freedom at Supreme Court
Liberty Alerts, American Center for Law and Justice In an unanimous decision, the Supreme Court today issued an important decision representing a tremendous victory for religious freedom. The high court concluded that courts should not intervene in the workings of churches. The Justices determined that the First Amendment protects the [...]
Left Coast Court Bans U.S. Flag
By Phyllis Schlafly The “Left Coast” is a humorous term to describe liberal news from California, and here we go again with another example. A federal district court in California upheld a ban by a high school principal against students wearing a T-shirt with an image of the American flag. Many offensive liberal phrases are allowed to be [...]
Firing of ECU Media Adviser Sparks Widespread Response
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org East Carolina University’s decision to fire its Director of Student Media last week has sparked a widespread response. For those new to this case, Isom’s termination comes in the wake of a decision by the editorial board of student newspaper The East Carolinian to run uncensored photos of a streaker at an ECU [...]
How Google Punishes Santorum
CAMPAIGN TRAIL, EAGLE FORUM NPR Radio has a story on Santorum's Google problem: SYDELL: Savage created the website and blog where people can put updates about Santorum's political career, which faltered after he lost his re-election bid in 2007. But with his strong showing in Iowa, people are looking for information about Santorum. When they [...]
Speech Code of the Month: University of Southern California
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for January 2012: the University of Southern California (USC). USC’s policy on “Advertising, Promotion, and Literature Distribution” prohibits the posting or distribution of any printed materials that contain “derogatory language or material that is aimed at [...]
Answering a Critic of Friday’s Open Letter to OCR
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org Brett Sokolow’s response to our call for clarity on campus harassment standards from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is misleading and disappointingly inaccurate. Commenting on FIRE President Greg Lukianoff’s op-ed in last Friday’s edition of The Washington Post, Sokolow—a risk [...]
Certainty at Harvard
BY CARL L. BANKSTON III Those on the staff of Harvard's student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, have finally balked at the politicization of their university. Last month, Professor Susan Suleiman, a supporter of the Occupy movement, called on the faculty of the university to make an official statement against "social inequalities." This was [...]
Following Publication of Photos, Newspaper Adviser Fired
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org The East Carolinian and the Student Press Law Center both reported yesterday that Paul Isom, Director of Student Media at Eastern Carolina University (ECU), was fired on Wednesday. Isom's advising portfolio included the campus radio station, television station, yearbook, and several student magazines. But it was a [...]
FIRE Urges Department of Education to Protect Speech
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org In an open letter sent today, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) and ten other organizations urge the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to defend free speech on campus by ending the lingering confusion surrounding the definition of student harassment. "Since the 1980s, [...]
FIRE Intervenes at Harvard after Economics Professor Fired
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org Today, FIRE has asked Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) to reverse its action against a controversial economics professor after it canceled all of his courses due to an op-ed he published in India in the wake of last year's Mumbai terrorist bombings. Although Harvard's administration had defended [...]
A Roundup of 2011′s Faculty First Amendment Rights Case Law
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org Last year saw a handful of important cases related to university faculty First Amendment rights in the courts. Particularly, a number of cases dealt with the application of the United States Supreme Court case Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006). Yesterday marked the first day of the annual meeting of the [...]
9th Circuit Strikes Down Ban on Contributions to Ballot Measures
Liberty Alerts, Institute for Justice In a mixed decision for the First Amendment, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today struck down a Washington law that banned certain contributions to ballot measures within the key final three weeks before an election. The court also upheld Washington’s stringent disclosure requirements for ballot [...]
Public School District Refunds Illegal Charges
Liberty Alerts, Liberty Counsel A school district has repaid hundreds of dollars to Child Evangelism Fellowship’s (CEF) Good News Club at the request of Liberty Counsel, because the fees violated the First Amendment. The Midlothian Independent School District agreed that CEF should receive a discounted rate. The policy allows youth-oriented, [...]
Marquette University Threatens Academic Freedom
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org Over at the blog Marquette Warrior, John McAdams provides a good example of how unwarranted investigations of campus speech can cause a deeply problematic "chilling effect" at a university. Universities must not pursue investigations of protected expression just because someone submits a complaint; as soon as it is [...]
Minnesota Supreme Court Rules for Property Owners/Renters
Liberty Alerts, Institute for Justice Today the Minnesota Supreme Court handed down an important victoryfor Red Wing property owners and renters and for citizens across the state of Minnesota. The court allowed a property rights case to go forward that had been tied up by procedural hurdles for more than five years. The case challenges Red [...]
A Roundup of 2011’s Free Speech Case Law
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org While FIRE has won numerous victories this year in working to protect individual rights on college campuses, 2011 was a mixed year for the defense of students' rights by the courts. Importantly, this year highlighted divergent theories of the First Amendment rights of students off campus. While some courts have held [...]
KC Johnson Weighs In On Keeton and More
LIBERTY ALERTS, THE TORCH Over at Minding the Campus, KC Johnson has an excellent piece entitled "Emmer and Keeton-Two Terrible Decisions on Academic Freedom." As the title suggests, the piece is about the cases of Tom Emmer at Hamline University and Jennifer Keeton at Augusta State University. Of particular note is Johnson's close read of [...]
Auburn University Bans Ron Paul Banner from Dorm Room Window
Liberty Alerts, TheFIRE.org AUBURN, Ala., December 22, 2011—Auburn University has ordered a Ron Paul for President campaign banner removed from the inside of a dorm room window while allowing students to display numerous other banners, stickers, and flags. Student Eric Philips, who was ordered to remove his sign last month, used his cell [...]
