September 26, 2023

Supreme Court

National Review: Supreme Court Is Asked to Rule on Campus Speech Codes at Virginia Tech

By Dan McLaughlin

.....One case that isn’t quite ready to be considered Tuesday, but could intrigue the justices, is Speech First, Inc. v. Sands (No. 23-156), which challenges campus speech codes. The case comes from a divided panel decision of the Fourth Circuit, which rejected challenges to two Virginia Tech campus speech policies. The policies were upheld in an opinion by Senior Judge Diana Gribbon Motz, a Clinton appointee, joined by Chief Judge Albert Diaz, an Obama appointee, over a strong dissent by Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, a Reagan appointee long known as a leading voice on the bench on free-speech issues. The decision openly conflicts with rulings from the Fifth, Sixth, and Eleventh Circuits, while siding with a similar decision in the Seventh Circuit — all of which were brought by Speech First, a membership organization for college students challenging campus speech policies nationwide. A battery of amicus briefs were filed in mid-September asking the Court to take the case; the university’s response is due October 18.

Carolina Journal: Supreme Court to consider taking case tied to NC ‘ag-gag’ law

.....The nation’s highest court will consider Tuesday a pair of petitions related to a legal dispute surrounding North Carolina’s “ag-gag law.” Both state Attorney General Josh Stein and the North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation have asked the court to take the case in its upcoming term.

The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals issued a split 2-1 ruling in the case in February. Appellate judges struck down a portion of the law — officially, the 2015 Property Protection Act — that blocked animal-right activists groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals from conducting undercover “news” operations.

The 4th Circuit ruling upheld the rest of the law. That decision reversed sections of a 2020 trial court decision that blocked more of the law’s provisions from taking effect.

The Courts

Washington Examiner: Fifth Circuit to rehear Big Tech free speech case as Supreme Court eyes intervention

By Christopher Hutton

.....The 5th Circuit has granted a rehearing of the Missouri v. Biden case that previously resulted in a decision limiting Biden administration officials from communicating with Big Tech companies about content moderation related to free speech and misinformation.

The rehearing was granted on Monday after the Louisiana and Missouri state attorneys general filed a request on Friday requesting that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Stanford-based Election Integrity Project, and the State Department's Global Engagement Center be included in a 5th Circuit decision limiting communications between social media companies and federal agencies and government-funded entities.

Washington Post: Trump fights Jack Smith request for narrow gag order in Jan. 6 case

By Spencer S. Hsu and Amy Gardner

.....Attorneys for former president Donald Trump on Monday blasted U.S. prosecutors’ request for a narrow gag order that would bar him from attacking participants in the criminal case charging him with conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election, claiming he must be free to campaign for the Republican nomination in 2024.

After the government request was made public Sept. 15, Trump called special counsel Jack Smith “a deranged person” who “wants to take away my rights under the First Amendment.” His attorneys struck a more restrained tone in a 25-page court filing in Washington, D.C., writing that the court “should reject this transparent gamesmanship and deny the motion entirely.”

“Given the significant First Amendment issues presented by the Motion, President Trump respectfully requests the Court schedule a hearing at the first opportunity,” the filing states.

Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): Court Refuses to Dismiss Lawsuit Stemming from Parent's Speech About COVID Policies

By Eugene Volokh

.....From Hotchkiss v. Cedar Rapids Comm. School Dist., decided Thursday by Judge C.J. Williams (N.D. Iowa), the plaintiff's allegations (note that they are just allegations):

Congress

U.S. House of Representatives Committee Repository: Hearing: Oversight of the Federal Election Commission, Committee on House Administration

The Honorable Shana M. Broussard

Commissioner, Federal Election Commission

• Witness Statement [PDF]

The Honorable Sean J. Cooksey

Vice Chairman, Federal Election Commission

• Witness Statement [PDF]

The Honorable Allen Dickerson

Commissioner, Federal Election Commission

• Witness Statement [PDF]

The Honorable Dara Lindenbaum

Chair, Federal Election Commission

• Witness Statement [PDF]

Mr. Christopher Skinner

Inspector General, Federal Election Commission

• Witness Statement [PDF]

The Honorable James E. Trainor III

Commissioner, Federal Election Commission

• Witness Statement [PDF]

The Honorable Ellen L. Weintraub

Commissioner, Federal Election Commission

• Witness Statement [PDF]

FEC Commissioner's Joint Testimony [PDF]

Bloomberg Tax: Congress Should Expand Free Speech Rules for Tax-Exempt Groups

By Alexander L. Reid

.....Political censorship rules for nonprofits are complex, incoherent, and longstanding, due in large part to their placement in the tax law. Recently, House Republicans raised questions about how tax-exempt groups may be engaging in political activities, suggesting a broader probe and a potential move to lift a restriction that bars the IRS from offering guidance on certain nonprofit political activity.

Congress should seize this moment to recognize the important work that charities and social welfare organizations do for the public interest and loosen the free speech restrictions on them—not impose new ones.

U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration: AI and the Future of Our Elections

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Time: 03:30 PM

Location: Russell Senate Office Building 301

Presiding: Chairwoman Klobuchar

Ed. note: Click link to see witnesses.

Free Expression

Washington Examiner: Speech restrictions undermine colleges' diversity goals

By Debi Ghate 

.....The women’s movement is just one example of free speech’s essential role in the legal and social progress of historically disadvantaged groups. In fact, the First Amendment has been at the core of every major civil rights movement, enabling minority and dissident voices to speak out and secure rights denied to them.

Despite these successes, there is a tendency to downplay and even disparage free speech’s impact on social reform. In fact, free speech is increasingly viewed as risky, even though the status of racial, religious, sexual, and other minority groups has vastly improved under America’s free speech protections.

Yet the idea that speech restrictions are necessary to protect minority groups has taken hold in many institutions, thanks in large part to prominent academics who popularized the notion that certain groups could be harmed by free speech decades ago.

Perhaps it is no surprise, then, that an idea that started in the academy has now infiltrated it. According to a recent study by Gallup and Knight Foundation , more than 75% of college students think free speech and efforts to ensure diversity and inclusion “frequently” or “occasionally” come into conflict.