Articles Tagged with constitutional law

The Onion has filed a Supreme Court brief in support of a man arrested and prosecuted for making fun of a police department on social media, arguing that parodists should not be obligated to "pop the balloon in advance."

The First Amendment provides certain protections for freedom of speech and association to which government employees may be entitled despite the nature of their jobs.

Tech industry groups argue that the law violates the Constitution by exposing social media companies to potential fines and lawsuits based on their application of content moderation rules.

Democratic state attorneys general across the country are reportedly in the process of filing lawsuits against the Postmaster General of the United States Postal Service (USPS) and the federal government in response to changes to postal operations that challengers argue could undermine mail-in voting during the November general election. In light of the backlash that has resulted, the USPS has reversed course on operational changes including removing mailboxes, reducing hours, and eliminating overtime.

Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia has filed a lawsuit against Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, seeking to bar her from ordering city residents to wear face coverings to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The lawsuit comes days after Kemp issued an executive order prohibiting municipalities from mandating that residents utilize face masks. Kemp argues that Bottoms does not have the authority to modify or change his executive orders.

A class action lawsuit has been filed in Illinois federal court naming defendants including President Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin by a US citizen who alleges that he was unlawfully denied a stimulus payment because he is married to an immigrant. The plaintiff claims that the federal government's restriction allowing only married couples who both have valid Social Security numbers to receive payments is a form of discrimination and violates the US Constitution.

A federal district court judge ruled that Google is not a state actor, so the First Amendment does not apply to its efforts to regulate its platform.

The proposed law would criminalize the use or possession of cell phones by Vermont residents who are under 21.

Last week, Judge William Alsup of the US District Court for the Northern District of California joined federal courts in New York and Washington state in striking down the Denial of Care Rule put forth by the US Department of Health and Human Services earlier this year. Judge Alsup declared the rule, which would permit health care workers to decline to provide services, care, or information to patients due to the worker's personal religious or moral beliefs, discriminatory and unconstitutional.

Plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the organizers of a 2017 white power rally in Charlottesville, Virginia are seeking to invoke a Civil War-era statute in utilizing the defendants' online statements to prove that they engaged in an illegal conspiracy to commit racially motivated violence. Defendants insist that their actions are protected by the First Amendment, though the judge in this case has declined to dismiss the plaintiffs' complaint on free speech grounds. The outcome of this case will likely be a strong indicator of whether and to what extent the statute at issue can be relied upon to curb online hate speech and its consequences.