Email from The Institute for Free Speech The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech January 9, 2026 Click here to subscribe to the Daily Media Update. This is the Daily Media Update published by the Institute for Free Speech. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]. The Courts Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Candidate sues in federal court over Arkansas election law banning nonvoters from polling places By Ron Wood .....A Republican candidate for Arkansas secretary of state has filed a lawsuit challenging as unconstitutional a state law that bans all nonvoters from remaining within 100 feet of a polling place during voting hours. Bryan Norris said in a Thursday afternoon news release he was filing the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas in Fayetteville challenging the constitutionality of Arkansas Code § 7-1-103(a)(24), which prohibits electioneering within 100 feet of the entrance to a building where voting is taking place or being there for any purpose except to enter or leave the building… Until 2021, Arkansas law explicitly allowed exit polling, consistent with opinions issued by multiple Arkansas attorneys general over more than two decades, according to Norris. The 2021 amendment was written to end the practice of organizations handing out water bottles to voters standing in line and imposed a blanket ban on all nonvoters within 100 feet of polling places without carving out exceptions for the press, researchers or exit pollsters, Norris argues. Norris contends the law creates a “speech-free zone” that is not supported by any legitimate governmental interest. “Arkansas can protect voters from harassment without criminalizing journalism, research and citizen oversight,” Norris said. “This statute is not narrowly tailored. It doesn’t even mention exit polling, the press or political speech. That’s why courts across the country have struck down similar laws.” Bloomberg Law: California Climate Risk Case Tests Compelled Speech Limits By Taylor Mills and Maia Spoto .....Business groups will make their case before a federal appeals court to further delay enforcement of a California risk disclosure law originally slated to go into effect Jan. 1, setting the stage for a broader free speech fight against state-required private climate reporting. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is set to hear oral arguments Friday to consider whether the US Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups have valid First Amendment claims against California’s SB 261. The law would require companies to release a report once every two years on the financial risks they face from ... Congress Washington Post: Jack Smith’s First Amendment confusion By Editorial Board .....The House Judiciary Committee privately interviewed former special counsel Jack Smith last month and published the transcript last week. The good news is that the exchange was mostly substantive and respectful. The bad news is that Smith is still clinging to flawed legal theories. They’re worth highlighting because even well-intentioned prosecutors can do damage when they lose sight of constitutional limits. Smith’s August 2023 Trump indictment focused on Trump’s repeated claims that the 2020 election was stolen in the run-up to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Put simply, the indictment accused Trump of lying so pervasively about the election that he committed criminal fraud. The committee’s Republican majority, led by Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), pressed Smith on whether that theory of the case was constitutional: Wouldn’t Trump’s statements be protected by the First Amendment? Smith replied: “Absolutely not. If they are made to target a lawful government function and they are made with knowing falsity, no, they are not. That was my point about fraud not being protected by the First Amendment.” PEN America: Congressional Subpoena of Journalist Threatens Press Freedom .....PEN America is alarmed over a congressional subpoena targeting investigative journalist Seth Harp, who was wrongly accused of “leaking classified intel” and “doxxing” a Delta Force member in a post on the X social media platform. The free expression group warned today that bringing journalists before Congress for their reporting undermines the role of a free press. The soldier in question was part of the recent military operation in Venezuela. Free Expression Wall Street Journal (LTE): I Beat My Union in Court. Did Oregon Forget? By Mark Janus .....Your editorial “Oregon Punishes the Freedom Foundation” (Dec. 29) hits home. I thought Janus v. Afscme settled the issue that no government can force workers to fund unions they don’t support. I was wrong. Blue states have spent the seven-and-a-half years since the high court’s decision trying to find a workaround. As you note, Oregon has taken the most extreme step yet by targeting groups like the Freedom Foundation with a new statute effectively making it unlawful to tell public employees they have a right to opt out of union membership. Cato: Understanding Debanking: Evaluating Governmental, Operational, Political, and Religious Financial Account Closures By Nicholas Anthony .....This study examines the growing phenomenon of debanking—the sudden and often unexplained closure of individuals’ or organizations’ financial accounts. While media and political narratives often attribute these closures to political or religious discrimination, this study finds that the majority of debanking cases stem from governmental pressure. To identify this cause more accurately, the study distinguishes between four forms of debanking—governmental, operational, political, and religious—evaluating each form in turn. Based on public evidence, governmental debanking appears to be the most significant issue. Congress can correct this issue by reforming the Bank Secrecy Act, repealing confidentiality laws, and permanently ending reputational risk regulation. Doing so would reduce the incentives to debank, expose how widespread debanking has become, and cut out the tools that the government has used to pressure banks and other financial institutions. Online Speech Platforms Wall Street Journal: Social Media Is a Trap for Politicians By Vivek Ramaswamy .....When I met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during her visit to the U.S. in July 2024, she told me she never reads or watches the news because she doesn’t want the media to influence her approach to governing. Instead, she travels her country and hears directly from citizens. What a beautiful idea. My New Year’s resolution is to do something similar: I plan to become a social-media teetotaler in 2026. The States Daily Montanan: Transparent Election Initiative files new plan to stop corporations from political spending By Darrell Ehrlick .....Less than 48 hours after the Montana Supreme Court stopped a first-of-its-kind constitutional measure that would prohibit corporations from spending money on political candidates or ballot issues, the Transparent Election Initiative in Montana resubmitted a revised proposal that its leaders said honored the court’s ruling and simplified the motion. The organization also submitted a similar measure for a statutory initiative, which wasn’t originally part of what the group calls “The Montana Plan,” but will be done to ensure Montanans can vote on the concept in the November election. A constitutional ballot initiative that receives a majority of votes would change the Montana Constitution while an initiative would modify state statute. Montana voters can propose and vote on laws except those which appropriate money, a power reserved only to the Legislature. The Oregonian: Oregon secretary of state asks for $25M to implement historic campaign finance law, warns final price tag could be higher By Carlos Fuentes .....The Secretary of State’s Office is asking lawmakers for an initial $25 million to stand up key provisions of a law that will limit political contributions and increase the transparency of spending in Oregon politics – even as agency leaders concede they cannot say what implementation will ultimately cost. A top agency official acknowledged that the agency couldn’t “provide a detailed cost estimate” or account for the law’s “ongoing costs,” raising the possibility that the eventual price tag could climb well above $25 million. The uncertainty stems from the fact the agency has not yet hired a contractor to carry out the extensive technological overhaul required by the 2024 law. FSView & Florida Flambeau: How Florida’s HB 725 could reshape political activity at FSU By Skyler Burrus .....Florida House Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman filed a new bill, "Political Activity on Public Institutions of Higher Education" (HB 725), on Dec. 10, 2025. The bill will "revise provisions relating to certain political activities on campuses of Public Institutions of Higher Education" and comes as a follow-up to HB 49, which was filed on Sept. 26 and then pulled on Oct. 3. In a phone interview with Florida Politics, Representative Gossett-Seidman said that HB 49 would prevent partisanship, ensuring fairness and equality between different groups in political speech at Florida colleges and universities. Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): Missouri Judge Removed from Bench for In-Court Political Activity By Eugene Volokh .....The Missouri Commission on Retirement, Removal, and Discipline of Judges charged Judge Matthew Thornhill with misconduct: Read an article you think we would be interested in? Send it to Tiffany Donnelly at [email protected]. For email filters, the subject of this email will always begin with "Institute for Free Speech Media Update." The Institute for Free Speech is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that promotes and defends the political rights to free speech, press, assembly, and petition guaranteed by the First Amendment. Please support the Institute's mission by clicking here. For further information, visit www.ifs.org. Follow the Institute for Free Speech The Institute for Free Speech | 1150 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 801 | Washington, DC 20036 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice