Stories and complaints about “fake news” are continuing to capture headlines. The pandemic has heightened our need to identify reliable sources of information and learn how to think critically about what we are reading, hearing and watching each day. Media...
Media Law
Turning Courtroom Discontent Into Raw Social Media Hostility in the Digital Public Square Gets Florida Attorney Nowhere
Since February 27, Florida lawyer Ashley Ann Krapacs has been suspended from practicing law in the state until further notice. She claims First Amendment protection. The Florida Bar and Supreme Court of Florida point out that even the First Amendment has limits, and...
Appeals Court Strikes Florida County Prayer Policy
“Secular invocations . . . from any organization whose precepts, tenets or principles espouse or promote reason, science, environmental factors, nature or ethics as guiding forces...must be placed on the Public Comment section of the secular business agenda. ...
Student Newspaper Puts Journalism Protections to the Test
In 2013, the University of Massachusetts Boston student paper The Mass Media published an article titled, “Have You Seen This Man?” to help local police follow up on a case of a report of the man suspiciously photographing women on campus. The news report was based...
Appeals Court Affirms That Elected Officials Can’t Block Critics on Twitter
Questions on First Amendment rights violations in the new digital public square continue to circulate in the lower court systems across the country. However, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals recently solidified the precedent that social media accounts of...
Congressman Under Investigation by Bar for Public Statements
The Florida Bar has opened an ethics investigation on Congressman Matt Gaetz following a tweet in February that many thought sounded like witness intimidation leading up to congressional testimony by Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former attorney. Congressman Gaetz...
Federal Judge Stands Up for Press Freedoms in the Age of Assault on the Media
After thoughtful review of the evidence and careful consideration, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker of the Northern District of Florida dismissed a defamation suit against Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist Eric Lipton. A former professor at the...
Law Day 2019: We need a free and independent news media
A divine spark burns in each of us, waiting to ignite the light of wisdom and human fulfillment. The spark will wither and die if we are denied the freedom to think and speak and express ourselves as our consciences dictate, unfettered by fear of government...