Category Archives: First Amendment
Court Orders Customer to Stop Yelping
A Virginia judge has issued an injunction ordering a woman to stop posting critical reviews on websites Yelp and Angie’s List regarding a contractor’s work on her home. The customer, Jane Perez, allegedly failed to pay the company, Dietz Development, … Continue reading
Posted in Defamation, First Amendment
Tagged Angie's List, Dietz, First Amendment, Perez, prior restraint, Virginia, Yelp
Leave a comment
Lawsuit: Smartphone and Memory Card Seized from Man Recording Police
A Washington D.C. man has sued two police officers for seizing his smartphone with which he photographed a police officer engaging in allegedly “aggressive conduct toward members of the public” after another officer hit a man on a motorbike with … Continue reading
Posted in Blogging, First Amendment
Tagged ACLU, First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, law enforcement, memory card, photograph, police, smartphone, Social Media, Staley, Washington D.C.
Leave a comment
Online Discussion Sites as Public Forums
Two recent cases deal with whether online discussion sites constitute “public forums” qualifying for additional speech protections. In Backlund v. Stone, Stone, a website host, first allegedly posted lewd pictures of a teenage girl who he falsely claimed was Backlund. … Continue reading
Posted in Defamation, First Amendment
Leave a comment
New Illinois Laws Affect Online Privacy
Recently enacted Illinois laws are intended to protect the online privacy of both public and private employees in the state. The Judicial Privacy Improvement Act (JPIA) is a legislative response to the 2005 shootings of relatives of a federal judge … Continue reading
Plug or Perish
Entrepreneur Magazine’s Daily Dose recently spoke with Damon Dunn about two recent cases on First Amendment protection for public employees’ Facebook “likes”. We previously discussed the cases here. Should a “Like” be protected as freedom of speech? Damon E. Dunn, … Continue reading
Posted in Employment, First Amendment
Tagged Bland, Damon Dunn, Facebook, First Amendment, FVLD, NLRB, TerVeer
Leave a comment
Public Employees Sue After Being Fired for Facebook “Likes”
A federal judge in Virginia recently held that “liking” a Facebook post is not sufficiently expressive to warrant First Amendment protection. One of the plaintiffs in Bobby Bland et al. v. B.J. Roberts alleged he lost his job with a … Continue reading
Toll of “Facebook Victims” Mounts
Although social media is no longer a new phenomenon, evidently even people who should know better still have not grasped that nothing on the Internet is confidential. What’s more, there is no sure demarcation between private postings and those that … Continue reading
Posted in Employment, First Amendment
Tagged Chaney, Cicero, Colombia, Employment Law, Facebook, First Amendment, GSA, Iniquez, Morton, Neely, NLRB, policies, Social Media
Leave a comment
Roommate.com Coda: Rabbis Need Not Share Kitchens With Hog Butchers
A federal appellate court held that the roommate matching site Roommate.com is not governed by the Fair Housing Act, disposing of discrimination claims by fair housing advocacy organizations. The suit alleged that the websites violate the Act by requiring users … Continue reading
Judge: No Privilege for Tech Blogger
A Chicago judge ruled that a technology blogger was not protected by the Illinois reporters’ privilege law and must disclose the anonymous source of allegedly confidential photos he published of an unreleased smartphone. Judge Panter held that the website, TechnoBuffalo, … Continue reading
Another Teacher Disciplined for Facebook Posts
A first grade teacher in Paterson, New Jersey who described herself online as “a warden for future criminals” should be fired, according to an administrative law judge. The state’s education commissioner will decide whether to accept the ALJ’s non-binding ruling. … Continue reading
Posted in Blogging, Employment, First Amendment
Tagged Facebook, First Amendment, Jennifer O'Brien, Natalie Munroe, teacher, Warden
Leave a comment
Could Book Privacy Law Apply to Blogs?
MediaPost spoke to several law professors regarding whether California’s new Reader Privacy Act, a law barring online book services from disclosing reader information to authorities absent a court order, could apply to bloggers. We tend to agree that such application … Continue reading
Posted in Anonymity, Discovery, First Amendment, Privacy
Tagged Anonymity, blogs, California, e-books, First Amendment, online books, Reader Privacy Act, Subpoenas
Leave a comment
Woman Charged for Faking Ex’s Facebook Page
Prosecutors continue to apply criminal statutes to online domestic disputes. This time, the state of New Jersey is reportedly prosecuting a woman for setting up a fake Facebook profile about her ex-boyfriend under an identity theft statute. The Facebook page … Continue reading
Posted in Defamation, First Amendment, Privacy
Tagged Facebook, Identity theft, Impersonation, Lasalandra, New Jersey, Thornton
Leave a comment
Courts Mull Identifying Anonymous Commenters
Two recent cases deal with the protection of website commenters’ identities, one in a traditional media context and the other dealing with pseudonymous Tweets sought by a grand jury. In re: Indiana Newspapers Inc. involved a comment to a story … Continue reading →