Click to see the beacon journal online
Homes   Jobs   Cars   Shopping
Akron Law Café -- Community Blog

Posts tagged as:

First Amendment

President Obama Responds to Yoani Sanchez, Cuban Blogger

November 19, 2009

     Yoani Sanchez, a courageous Cuban blogger, reports in the Huffington Post that President Obama responded to seven questions that she had posed to him.   More below.

Read the full article →

Matthew Shephard Hate Crimes Prevention Act Enacted by Congress – Some Constitutional Considerations

October 23, 2009

     Yesterday Congress enacted the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as part of the National Defense Reauthorization Act for 2010.  This law makes it a federal offense to assault people because of their race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.  However, because of constitutional considerations, crimes based on the [...]

Read the full article →

America the Beautiful: (9) Constitutional Ideals in American Art

August 13, 2009

     There are countless works of art that reflect our constitutional ideals of liberty, fairness, and equality before the law.  I can only make a brief start on that list. 

Read the full article →

Two Supreme Court Cases Relevant to the Gates Controversy

July 24, 2009

     I still haven't made up my mind as to who was right and who was wrong in the matter of the arrest of Henry Louis Gates.  I am confident that all the facts will emerge either through good investigative reporting or because some television show will induce both men to speak to each other about [...]

Read the full article →

Rosado v. Bridgeport Diocese: Privacy, Freedom of Religion, and the Public's Right to Know

July 23, 2009

     On June 2, 2009, the Connecticut Supreme Court issued a ruling in the case of Rosado v. Bridgeport Roman Catholic Diocesan Corporation ordering the release of over 12,000 documents, previously under seal, describing how the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, had handled allegations of sexual abuse in 23 separate cases.  On July 17 the [...]

Read the full article →

Sarah Palin's Threatened Defamation Suit Against Shannyn Moore and Wayne Barrett: What the First Amendment Requires

July 8, 2009

     On July 4 Governor Sarah Palin's attorney Thomas Van Flein issued a statement threatening to sue bloggers, reporters, newspapers, and television stations for defamation.  What does the Constitution have to say about this?

Read the full article →

The Pending Federal Hate Crimes Legislation – Part 1

June 29, 2009

     On April 29 the House of Representatives adopted a bill (H.R. 1913) entitled the "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009."  This legislation has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration.  The law would make it a federal offense to commit violence against someone because of the person's "race, color, [...]

Read the full article →

The Hate Speech of Jay Severin and Hal Turner and the First Amendment

June 12, 2009

     Jay Severin and Hal Turner are radio talk show hosts who frequently engage in hate speech, and as a result each of them is now suffering some consequences.  According to an article by David Abel of the Boston Globe, Severin has been indefinitely suspended by his employer, and Daniela Altimari of the Hartford Courant reports that [...]

Read the full article →

Hate Speech, Private Violence, and the Constitution

June 11, 2009

     Over the last few days domestic terrorists have committed three murders – three political assassinations – in the United States.  Scott Roeder, an anti-abortion fanatic, killed Dr. George Tiller in Witchita, Kansas; Carlos Bledsoe (Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad), a radical muslim, killed army recruiter William Long in Little Rock, Arkansas, and James von Brunn, a white [...]

Read the full article →

Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Co. Decided Today

June 8, 2009

     The Supreme Court issued its decision in Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Co. today.  Here is the Court's opinion and here is a news report of the decision from the New York Times.  In a 5-4 decision along ideological lines, the Court ruled that it was a violation of the Due Process Clause for a judge to fail to remove [...]

Read the full article →

Is There a First Amendment Right to Take Pictures at Accident Scenes?

May 13, 2009

     Do citizens have a constitutional right to take pictures at accident scenes, or do the police have the discretion to prevent this?  Phil Trexler's article in yesterday's Beacon Journal concerned a man who took pictures of a five-year-old boy being freed from a revolving door where he had become stuck.  An Akron reserve police officer [...]

Read the full article →

The Constitutionality of Sex Education Programs

May 9, 2009

     President Obama's recent budget proposes to eliminate funding for abstinence-only sex education in favor of "community-based and faith-based efforts to reduce teen pregnancy using evidence-based and promising models."  (See page 491 of the President's Budget Appendix).  From this language I think that it is safe to assume that the President intends to fund sex education [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

 

© The Akron Beacon Journal • 44 E. Exchange Street, Akron, Ohio 44308

Powered by WordPress
Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).