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Also see:
Free
speech;
Constitution in full; bombast;
comments; lying; opinion news;
The Bill of Rights was originally proposed to assuage
Anti-Federalist opposition to
Constitutional ratification. Initially, the First Amendment applied only to
laws enacted by the
Congress, and many of its provisions were interpreted more narrowly than
they are today.
July 1:
Donald Trump and the First Amendment in his $500 million
lawsuit
Trump and Miss Universe LLP (or MUO) filed suit on June 30 in the New York
Supreme Court after Univision declined to broadcast the Miss USA and Miss
Universe pageants after Trump made controversial remarks during a presidential
campaign speech. Alberto Ciurana, a Univision executive, was also named in the
lawsuit.
Trump and the Miss Universe Group want $500 million in
damages awarded based on claims of breach of contract, defamation, breach of
covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and intentional interference of
contractual relationship.
“Univision has no right to terminate its relationship
with MUO and refuse to broadcast the upcoming Miss USA pageant,” the suit
claims. It said that under the terms of the agreement between the network, Trump
and MUO that Univision didn’t have a contractual right to drop the show because
“it does not agree with Mr. Trump’s longstanding views or statements, all of
which are protected by the First Amendment and have been echoed many times in
this country.”
Univision issued a statement about the lawsuit on
Tuesday.
“We just reviewed Mr. Trump’s complaint for the first time, and it is both
factually false and legally ridiculous,” Univision said. “We will not only
vigorously defend the case, but will continue to fight against Mr. Trump’s
ongoing efforts to run away from the derogatory comments he made on June 16th
about Mexican immigrants. Our decision to end our business relationship with Mr.
Trump was influenced solely by our responsibility to speak up for the community
we serve.”
https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/donald-trump-and-the-first-amendment-in-his-500-million-lawsuit/
May 1: White House Chief of Staff Reince
Priebus admitted during a Sunday morning interview with ABC's Jonathan Karl that
the Trump administration has "looked at" a constitutional amendment to free
speech protections.
Karl sought to clarify President Trump's tweet that "the failing New York
Times has disgraced the media world. Gotten me wrong for two solid years.
Change the libel laws?" "That would require, as I understand it, a
constitutional amendment," Karl said. "Is he really going to pursue that? Is
that something he wants to pursue?"
"The changes President Trump wants are blocked by decades of jurisprudence which
is little contested, unlike other hot button points of constitutional law,"
writes TPM's Josh Marshall. "If you want what Trump wants, you have to
amend the Constitution — and not the Constitution in general but the First
Amendment specifically. Amending the First Amendment to allow the head of state
to sue people who say things he doesn't like amounts to abolishing it."
https://theweek.com/speedreads/695695/reince-priebus-admits-trump-administration-looked-into-changing-first-amendment
November 14: Nobody has a First Amendment
right to demand access to the
White House
and CNN isn’t harmed
by having reporter
Jim Acosta barred from having press credentials, the
Justice
Department said Wednesday, firing back at the cable network’s new lawsuit.
The fight reached a
Washington courtroom Wednesday afternoon, where U.S. District Judge Timothy
J. Kelly, a Trump appointee, heard arguments on
CNN’s request that he
immediately order the
White House to
reissue Mr. Acosta
a pass.
The panelists commented on the administration’s efforts to
discredit the news media, but also said they were impressed by the resilience
of the press.
They noted administration attempts to challenge publication
of critical reporting, but also identified the increase in the number of women
speaking out against sexual harassment as an important milestone for free
speech.
The effects of the Charlottesville protests on last
quarter’s grades for assembly appeared to be mitigated by this quarter’s
robust organization of marches.
Despite recognizing disparities around what interests had
the most impact on influencing federal tax reform, the panelists rated
petition the strongest freedom.
Many panelists were reluctant to weigh in with new thinking
around the freedom of religion, preferring to wait until the U.S. Supreme
Court decides the Masterpiece Cakeshop case in the months ahead.
February 17: 'It's called the First
Amendment': Pundits decry Trump call for 'retribution' against 'SNL'
Many politicians and pundits reacted harshly Sunday after President Donald Trump
railed against the media on Twitter sparked by a
"Saturday Night Live" sketch that mocked his performance at a
Friday White House news conference where declared a national emergency at
the U.S.-Mexico border.
"Nothing funny about tired 'Saturday Night Live' on Fake News NBC!" the
president
tweeted. "Question is, how do the Networks get away with these total
Republican hit jobs without retribution? Likewise for many other shows? Very
unfair and should be looked into. This is the real Collusion!"
"THE RIGGED AND CORRUPT MEDIA IS THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!"
he added minutes later.
May 23: The U.S. District Court for the
Southern District Court of New York found President Trump in violation of the
First Amendment rights of the individual plaintiffs for blocking their accounts
on Twitter, an online social media platform. The Court reasoned that the
interactive space created through posting a “tweet” (the replies and responses
and dialogue created online through that post) was a designated public forum and
that by blocking individual users President Trump was impeding political speech
which is highly protected under the First Amendment.
https://globalfreedomofexpression.columbia.edu/cases/knight-first-amendment-institute-v-donald-j-trump/
August 16:
Does the First Amendment Protect Deliberate Lies?
September 7: In the battle for control of Congress, President Donald
Trump's weapon of choice is fear.
At a rally for Republican Senate nominee Matt Rosendale in Billings, Montana, on
Thursday night, the president warned his faithful that Democrats would raise
their taxes, take their guns, block his wall, abolish the Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agency, open U.S. borders, end Social Security and cut
Medicare.
He's also warned supporters this summer that the outcome in November could spell
trouble for freedom of speech and religion and the First Amendment — and that if
the GOP loses, violence could follow.
September 11: The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals has dismissed part of a lawsuit filed by protesters who allege
then-candidate Donald Trump incited a crowd to harm them at
a 2016 campaign rally in Louisville.
The three-judge panel that heard the case ruled the protesters' claim didn't
meet the requirements under Kentucky law for "incitement to riot."
Further, two of the judges found that even if the claims were valid under state
law, Trump's words to the crowd to "'get 'em out of here" were protected under
the Constitution.
September 11: Trump's speech at Louisville
rally didn't incite violence, court rules
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed part of a lawsuit filed by
protesters who allege then-candidate Donald Trump incited a crowd to harm
them at
a 2016 campaign rally in Louisville.
The three-judge panel that heard the case ruled the protesters' claim didn't
meet the requirements under Kentucky law for "incitement to riot."
October 10: What Facts Would Deny the Trump
Campaign First Amendment Protections in Colluding with Russia
The recent commencement of litigation against the Trump presidential campaign by
two donors to the Democratic Party and a former DNC employee raises interesting
First Amendment issues. The case arises out of the publication by WikiLeaks,
just as the Democratic Convention was about to begin in 2016, of thousands of
e-mails written to and by the Democratic National Committee. The e-mails,
breathtakingly embarrassing to the Clinton campaign, were frequently referred to
by Donald Trump during the campaign and in an election decided by so few votes
may well have had a significant impact. So may this case, for reasons that sweep
beyond its potential political impact.
One issue in the case is of substantial legal impact. It is when, if at all, a
recipient and later disseminator of stolen or otherwise wrongfully obtained
documents may be held liable in litigation commenced by those who claim to have
been harmed by the publication of those documents. That is what the plaintiffs
in Cockrum
v. Donald Trump for President, Inc. allege in the case they have filed
in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia and it is what the core of
the motion to dismiss just filed by the Trump campaign addresses.
https://www.justsecurity.org/60995/facts-deny-trump-campaign-amendment-protections-colluding-russia/
October 11: Forum on Defending the First
Amendment from Trump
It's now clear that President Trump poses unprecedented threats to freedoms of
speech and press. Take Care and Protect
Democracy have teamed up to host a forum in which leading scholars consider
how we can use the law (and litigation) to protect against Trump's use of the
"bully podium."
https://takecareblog.com/blog/forum-on-defending-the-first-amendment-from-trump
October 15: Stormy Daniels defamation suit
against Trump tossed on 1st Amendment grounds
October 16: MFIA Clinic Involved in First
Amendment Lawsuit Against President Trump
PEN America, the leading national organization representing writers and literary
professionals and defending free expression, filed a lawsuit on October 16,
2018, against President Donald J. Trump for using the powers of the federal
government to retaliate against journalists and media outlets he finds
objectionable, in violation of the First Amendment. PEN America is represented
in the case by Yale Law School's
Media Freedom and
Information Access Clinic and the nonpartisan nonprofit Protect Democracy.
October 16: PEN America Sues Trump to Stop
Him From Violating First Amendment
A prominent literary and human rights organization is suing President Donald
Trump over statements, demands, and actions he has taken that the group says in
its suit
violate constitutional protections offered by the First Amendment. PEN
America accused the president of violating his oath of office.
The lawsuit asks a court to prevent the president from using the levels of
government in any fashion to “retaliate against, intimidate, or otherwise
constrain speech critical of him or his Administration.”
http://fortune.com/2018/10/16/writers-sue-trump-first-amendment/
October 16:
Trump’s Attacks on the Press Are Illegal. We’re Suing.
October 18: Yale Clinic Helps Sue Trump For
Violating Journalists' First Amendment Rights
A national group representing writers and journalists and the Media Freedom and
Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School have filed a lawsuit against
President Donald Trump.
October 23: Editorial: Trump’s body-slam of
First Amendment rights
Trump’s celebration of an assault against a reporter poses a threat to
journalists across the globe.
Earlier this summer when the
Boston Globe coordinated a campaign that encouraged more than 400 newspapers
to publish editorials promoting freedom of the press and criticizing President
Trump’s frequent attacks on the media The Herald Editorial Board declined to
participate.
We opted not to join the chorus not because we disagreed with the message from
fellow journalists; instead, we believed it best to keep our voice independent
and to express our criticisms of the Trump administration — as we have done in
the past — when there was reason.
November 8: Jenny Lambe, a nationally known
First Amendment scholar and associate professor of communication at the
University of Delaware, can comment on the White House's decision to revoke CNN
reporter Jim Acosta's press credentials and the concept of freedom of the press
in general.
November 14: Nobody has a First Amendment
right to demand access to the
White House
and CNN isn’t harmed
by having reporter
Jim Acosta barred from having press credentials, the
Justice
Department said Wednesday, firing back at the cable network’s new lawsuit.
The fight reached a
Washington courtroom Wednesday afternoon, where U.S. District Judge Timothy
J. Kelly, a Trump appointee, heard arguments on
CNN’s request that he
immediately order the
White House to
reissue Mr. Acosta
a pass.
November 20: Mimicking Mussolini: Trump’s
war on the First Amendment
The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America states:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of
the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the
government for a redress of grievances.”
January 11: Attention President Trump:
Blocking on Twitter may violate First Amendment
Earlier this week, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
ruled that a
Virginia official violated the First Amendment rights of a constituent who was
banned from the official’s Facebook page. The case marks the first appellate
court decision regarding whether a governmental social media page constitutes a
public forum — and has significant implications for a similar case currently on
appeal regarding the constitutional status of the president’s Twitter account.
https://www.aei.org/publication/attention-president-trump-blocking-on-twitter-may-violate-first-amendment/
March 15:A Virginia federal judge has
thrown out a lawsuit against Donald Trump's presidential campaign that alleged
his team conspired with the Russians and WikiLeaks to promulgate emails hacked
from the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 election.
March 21: President Donald Trump signed an
executive order Thursday requiring U.S. colleges to protect free speech on their
campuses or risk losing federal research funding.
The new order directs federal agencies to ensure that any college or university
receiving research grants agrees to promote free speech and the exchange of
ideas, and to follow federal rules guiding free expression.
The order follows a growing chorus of complaints from conservatives who say
their voices have been stifled on campuses across the U.S. Joining Trump at the
ceremony were students who said they were challenged by their schools while
trying to express views against abortion or in support of their faith.
Enforcement of the order will be left to federal agencies that award grants, but
how schools will be monitored and what types of violations could trigger a loss
of funding have yet to be seen. White House officials said details about the
implementation will be finalized in coming months.
Some colleges leaders have said they worry the order could backfire. If a
speaking event threatens to turn violent, for example, some say they might have
to choose between canceling the event for safety and allowing it to continue to
preserve federal funding. Some say it could force religious universities to host
speakers with views that conflict with the universities' values.
http://www.fox5dc.com/news/trump-orders-colleges-to-back-free-speech-or-lose-funding
