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Seattle Protesters Win $700K for Chalk Anti-Policing Messages: A Victory for Free Speech

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Seattle, WA — In a landmark legal decision, a jury awarded $700,000 to five protesters who claimed their civil rights were violated when they were detained for writing anti-police messages with chalk on a public barricade. The protesters, who were involved in a peaceful rally in Seattle, argued that their arrest amounted to unlawful suppression of free speech. The group, detained during the height of the protests in June 2020, painted phrases critical of police conduct. Legal representatives for the plaintiffs argued that the use of chalk, a temporary and non-destructive medium, underscored the disproportionality … Read more

Law School Dean at UC Berkeley Faces Controversy Over Free Speech Clash at Home

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BERKELEY, California – A controversy has erupted at the University of California at Berkeley involving Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the law school, and a Muslim law student named Malak Afaneh. The incident occurred during a dinner event hosted by Chemerinsky and his wife, law professor Catherine Fisk, in their backyard. Afaneh disrupted the event to make a pro-Palestinian speech, advocating for the university to withdraw investments supporting Israel. Chemerinsky and Fisk confronted Afaneh, leading to a heated exchange that was captured on video and spread widely on social media. Chemerinsky, a renowned constitutional law … Read more

Elon Musk Calls for Removal of Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Amidst Free Speech Concerns

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Sao Paulo, Brazil – Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and owner of X (formerly known as Twitter), has called for the removal of Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes. In a series of tweets on Sunday, Musk accused the judge of blocking accounts suspected of spreading disinformation and betraying the Brazilian constitution and its people. Musk went on to demand Moraes’ resignation or impeachment. This conflict between Musk and the judge stems from Moraes’ threat to “cut off access” to X, which Musk acquired in 2022. Musk’s criticism of Judge Moraes is not without … Read more

The Lingering Shadow of the Comstock Act: A Relic of Free Speech Suppression

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WASHINGTON (AP) — In the ongoing debate over expanded access to the abortion pill, mifepristone, the applicability of the Comstock Act has emerged as a chilling concern for advocates of free speech. This 151-year-old law was originally intended to ban the mailing of materials deemed “obscene, lewd, [or] lascivious,” including contraception and pornography. However, the Act’s connection to the availability of mifepristone is hotly contested and unlikely to gain traction in the Supreme Court. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, while outliers on this issue, have raised the Act’s relevance in the recent oral arguments. … Read more