by Sam Ventola | Apr 18, 2019 | First Amendment
Online Threats and the First Amendment Two recent cases have come before the Supreme Court on the issue of whether threats in song lyrics including posting them online were protected by the First Amendment. In each of these cases, the Court avoided the issue, meaning...
by Sam Ventola | Mar 13, 2019 | First Amendment
Opinion or Defamation? A while back, news reports indicated that musician Courtney Love was stuck paying $430,000 plus interest to a designer about whom she had unkind words on MySpace and Twitter. That’s an expensive tweet. Ms. Love stated things such as that her...
by Sam Ventola | Nov 29, 2018 | First Amendment
Many people worry that they may be breaking a rule in their public school if their child carries a Bible in class, or wears a cross or Star of David. Today, we consider a recent decision on a related topic, free speech in schools. Day of Silence In 2011, the Federal...
by Sam Ventola | Mar 12, 2018 | First Amendment
Public School Walk Outs Previously, many groups were encouraging children in public schools to walk out of class as specified times to protest gun laws. In many cases, these protests are allowed or even encouraged by public schools. In other places, students face...
by Sam Ventola | Jan 23, 2017 | Constitutional, First Amendment
Threat or Free Speech? At a recent protest march, the singer Madonna made the following statement: “Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House. But I know that this won’t change anything.” Some have called for her to be prosecuted for making...
by Sam Ventola | Dec 1, 2014 | Constitutional, First Amendment, Litigation
Social Media Concerns If you have teenagers, you have no doubt heard the argument that some awful thing posted on Facebook or other social media should be ignored because “it’s just song lyrics.” Song Lyrics Anthony Elonis tried that defense too. It hasn’t worked so...
