Posted in Freedom of Speech on Feb 24th, 2008
The campus gossip website JuicyCampus.com is attracting some negative attention from people who have been offended by the site’s racy content.
JuicyCampus, which has been banned on several college campuses, is a message board that enables users to anonymously post malicious comments about other students – one enlightening post asks, “What sorority houses do the […]
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Posted in Freedom of Speech on Feb 24th, 2008
WikiLeaks, a website devoted to publishing leaked government and corporate documents, is challenging a U.S. District Court decision upholding the right of site’s hosting company to shut the site down.
The site recently released paperwork allegedly implicating the Cayman Islands branch of a Swiss bank, Julius Baer Bank and Trust, in a conspiracy to conceal […]
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Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 24th, 2008
The U.S. Supreme Court decided Friday that it would not grant members of the Westboro Baptist Church financial relief while they appeal a lower court decision in a case involving the disruption of a military funeral.
The notorious religious sect, led by pastor Fred Phelps, has garnered national attention for its practice of picketing the funerals […]
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Posted in Freedom of Speech on Feb 24th, 2008
A Massachusetts man accused of causing disturbances in a public library has decided to sue for $10 million after library workers filed a police complaint against him.
Ross Tobia, who says he suffers from epilepsy and bipolar disorder, was asked to leave the library after staffers determined him to be excessively loud, crude and disruptive. Tobia […]
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The editorial staff of an online student newspaper at the University of Colorado at Boulder has been ordered to undergo diversity training after the paper published a column containing anti-Asian remarks.
The column, which was initially defended as a satirical piece, advocated that students “hunt” for Asian students at the school, “hog-tie” them, and force them to participate in demeaning activities until “the Asian spirit has been broken.”
The university chancellor apologized Wednesday on behalf of the Campus Press and columnist Max Karsen, adding that “while his column is unquestionably protected under the First Amendment, the sentiments he has expressed are wounding and damaging to a community we hold dear.”
Continue Reading –>
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Friday afternoon I had the privilege of talking with Gene Policinski, executive director of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University. We discussed a range of issues relating to free speech on college campuses - from the power of the student press to the limits imposed by campus speech codes.
Mr. Policinski recently wrote a column […]
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Posted in Freedom of the Press on Feb 18th, 2008
Thaddeus Matthews, a blogger from Memphis who runs “the most issue oriented site around,” is facing legal heat this week after refusing to name a police department official accused of leaking information.
Matthews took up the cause of teenager Dexter Cox, who was accused of killing a Memphis police officer Jan. 28, posting updates and supporting […]
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Posted in Freedom of Speech on Feb 18th, 2008
The Yale Daily News printed a criticism Thursday of the legal threats that have been leveled by the Yale Women’s Center against a university fraternity whose pledges posed for photos outside the center with signs that said “We Love Yale Sluts.”
Representatives with the women’s center said they felt threatened while trying to approach the building, […]
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Posted in Freedom of the Press on Feb 17th, 2008
Looking for the next LeBron James? If the next up-and-coming high-school sensation happens to play for an Illinois public school, you may never spot him.
Newspapers across the state are coming out against a recent move by the Illinois High School Association to close all public high-school sporting events to press photographers—unless they sign waivers promising […]
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Typically when you hear about a college newspaper being threatened with censorship, budget cuts or a publication freeze, the university administration is the agent pulling the plug. Not so at Montclair State University in New Jersey, where the student governing board ordered the student-run Montclairion newspaper to stop the presses in the midst of threatened […]
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