Category Archives: First Amendment

First Amendment

Posted Feb 27, 2017 08:31 am CST

By Debra Cassens Weiss

Lawyers and First Amendment advocates joined a New York congresswoman on Saturday in blasting President Donald Trumps exclusions of some news organizations from a White House press briefing the previous day.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney held a news conference with the experts outside the headquarters of the New York Times, one of the news organizations banned from the press briefing, report Newsday, the New York Daily News, the Observer and the Associated Press.

Civil liberties lawyer Norman Siegel, the former leader of the New York Civil Liberties Union, called for a lawsuit by the news media that challenges the exclusion as prohibited viewpoint discrimination under the First Amendment.

You give censors an inch, Siegel said, and then they take a yard, and then they take a mile, and then you wake up one morning, and you dont have your rights anymore,

Press secretary Sean Spicer said during the briefing that were going to aggressively push back. Were just not going to sit back and let, you know, false narratives, false stories, inaccurate facts get out there.

A press release announcing the briefing cites a 1977 federal appeals court decision, Sherrill v. Knight, in which the Nation sued for denial of a press pass. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said in that case that arbitrary or content-based criteria for issuing press passes is barred under the First Amendment.

Besides the New York Times, news organizations banned from the Friday press briefing were CNN, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Daily News, Politico, BuzzFeed, BBC, the Huffington Post and the Guardian. Time and the Associated Press boycotted the briefing to show support for the banned media.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told the New York Times that all the news media was represented because pool reporters were invited. We decided to add a couple of additional people beyond the pool. Nothing more than that, Sanders said.

Siegel said he was also troubled by the Obama administrations decision to exclude Fox News from press access for a brief period in 2009. According to the Washington Post, the incident involved an attempt to bar the news organization from interviews with pay czar Kenneth Feinberg. Other media outlets protested the exclusion.

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Did White House exclusion of press violate First Amendment? Norman Siegel says suit should be filed - ABA Journal

Lauren Holst, Cedar Falls, Letter to the Editor 5:40 p.m. CT Feb. 27, 2017

Handguns at a shooting range in Boone, Iowa, in January 2016.(Photo: William Petroski/Des Moines Register)Buy Photo

Iowa Sen. Jake Chapman, R-Adel,has found yet another creative way for more Iowans, children and adults alike, to be shot.

A long list of professionals licensed by the state should take note.Chapman has just introduced Senate File 254, A person licensed to practice a profession under this (Code) chapter (147) shall not inquire about or otherwise request information about a patients or clients ownership or possession of firearms.

We should all be concerned about this foolhardy bill that does nothing to support Americans Second Amendment right to a well-regulated militia. It is time voters roar a reminder that the preamble to the Constitution makes clear the purpose of government includes the responsibility to insure domestic tranquility and promote the general welfare. Also, the First Amendment is explicitly clear that Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech. Apparently Chapmans budgetary concerns do not extend to using our tax dollars to entangle Iowans in lawsuits on constitutionality.

All Iowans and, most directly, the following professions are affected: physician and surgeon, podiatric physician, osteopathic physician and surgeon, physician assistant, psychologist, chiropractor, nurse, dentist, dental hygienist, dental assistant, optometrist, speech pathologist, audiologist, pharmacist, physical therapist, physical therapist assistant, occupational therapist, occupational therapy assistant, orthotist, prosthetist, pedorthist, respiratory care practitioner, practitioner of cosmetology arts and sciences, practitioner of barbering, funeral director, dietitian, marital and family therapist, mental health counselor, respiratory care and polysomnography practitioner, polysomnographic technologist, social worker, massage therapist, athletic trainer, acupuncturist, nursing home administrator, hearing aid specialist, or sign language interpreter or transliterator.

What kind of society are our elected officials and the voters of Adel creating for us? And why?

Lauren Holst, Cedar Falls

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New gun legislation violates First Amendment - DesMoinesRegister.com

Fort Worth Star Telegram

Appeals court: First Amendment gives public right to video police Fort Worth Star Telegram A witness, Brandon Brooks, uploaded this video of the incident to YouTube. In a recent 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, Justice Jacques Wiener wrote: Protecting the right to film the police promotes First Amendment principles. Brandon Brooks YouTube.

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Appeals court: First Amendment gives public right to video police - Fort Worth Star Telegram

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday morning over the First Amendment rights of sex offenders in North Carolina. The justices will consider a North Carolina law that forbids offenders from accessing Facebook and other social media.

In 2002, Lester Packingham pleaded guilty to taking indecent liberties with a child in Cabarrus County. In 2008, state lawmakers banned sex offenders from using social networking websites that minors frequent. Two years later, Packingham was arrested in Durham in relation to a Facebook post in which he praised God for the dismissal of a traffic ticket.

The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that law does not violate the First Amendment right to free speech. The state court noted that Packingham could still use other websites, and that the law furthered a governmental interest of protecting children.

Packingham's attorneys appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that's "an alarming departure from our legal tradition" and an "obvious and flagrant violation of the First Amendment." They'll try to convince the justices to strike the law down. They say the ban also applies to amazon.com and nytimes.com, although the state disputes that.

North Carolina's attorneys argue the ban does not burden speech any more than necessary to achieve its purpose. Attorneys general from 13 other states, including South Carolina, filed a brief in support of the law.

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US Supreme Court Hears Arguments Monday Over First Amendment And NC Sex Offenders - WCQS

Its no longer hyperbole or angry overstatement to say that Donald Trump and his supporters are leading the United States into a period of undeniable fascism. Regardless of your party affiliation, you should be worried and resist a leader who attacks the media solely because they disagree with his actions. Describing the media as the enemy of the people is nearly unimaginable. Banning The New York Times and CNN from news briefings is a brazen form of controlling information.

Read history and be warned; this is how fascism begins. If you are a Trump supporter, please pressure your elected officials to tell the White House to honor the First Amendment. Otherwise it could well be your expression thats throttled next.

John Costello

Eugene

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First Amendment in danger | Opinion | Eugene, Oregon - The Register-Guard

Patch.com

Marchers Rally For Free Press, First Amendment In Metro Detroit Patch.com They carried signs, chanted this is what democracy looks like and said in interviews that President Donald Trump and his administration have demonized the media and waged war against the First Amendment. The protest outside the printing plant on ...

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Marchers Rally For Free Press, First Amendment In Metro Detroit - Patch.com

UPDATED: President Trump understands press freedom about as well as he grasps humility.

In other words, not at all.

But that doesnt stop him from sounding off. His rip-roaring speech Friday to the Conservative Political Action Conference contained an unnerving threat and ironic demands.

Trump renewed his complaints about the media or as he calls it the fake media.

I say it doesnt represent the people, it doesnt and never will represent the people, and were going to do something about it because we have to go out and have to speak our minds and we have to be honest, Trump said.

That going to do something sounded ominous, yet if he just keeps talking, he is going to continue to do wonderful things for TVratings and newspaper subscriptions. Thank you, Mr. President.

Trump gave a journalism lecture: I'm against the people that make up stories and make up sources.They shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody's name. Let their name be put out there.

That will never work, but the president happily spins the fantasy.

Unnamed sources drive a lot of coverage, inside and outside Washington. Trump made the complaintshortly afterhis own White House aides gave a briefing on the condition of anonymity.

Ah, hypocrisy. It never registers with the president, who just keeps complaining.

If unnamed sources arent used, Trump predicted, you will see stories dry up like you've never seen before.

He followed that by announcing: I love the First Amendment. Nobody loves it better than me. Nobody. I mean, who uses itmore than I do?

But theres a difference between reportingand shooting your mouth off.

If you want to see stories dry up, you cant really love the First Amendment. Dogged reporting can get at major issues facing the country. Perhaps Trump loves parts of the First Amendment, but the love in this case needs to be all the way.

President Trump has a tendency to make everything personal. He comes at the issues not as a politician but as a TV star who was treated to largely favorable press when he was a performeron The Apprentice.

He made that approach pay offfor him during the unpredictable 2016 campaign, but he cant seem to shift gears as president.

Thin-skinned and self-absorbed, he is not prepared for the rough-and-tumble of Washington.

And were all paying for it because hes easily distracted and offended. He says his achievements arent saluted, but he and his White House keep tripping themselves up.

Maybe he was serving distractions Friday from CNN and New York Times reporting about contacts between Trump associates and Russian intelligence officials. He finds ways to divert attention frombad press.

He can bean aggrieved star, and his White House can take revenge on reporters he doesnt like. Reporters from CNN, The New York Times, Politico, the BBC, the Huffington Post and The Los Angeles Times were kept out of a White House briefing on Friday.

Even so, the administration is probably helping those news organizations gainrespect. The digging about Russia wont end; Trump gives the press more reason to keep looking. Thank you, Mr. President.

The president has announced he wont attend the White House correspondents dinner in April. Thats for the best. Why try to fake that youre having a good time in front of the fake media?

For now, Trump is sending more than enough head-scratching messages. His media bashing on Friday was especially confused. But thats because when Trump talks about the First Amendment, hes just giving lip service.

hboedeker@orlandosentinel.com

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Trump: Fake love for First Amendment - Orlando Sentinel

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Donald Trumps attacks on our nations news media and his attempts to position his Twitter account as the only official news outlet of the administrationeffectively a state-run media outlet built upon a social media platform. Unfortunately, since I wrote that piece, Trump and his entire administration have effectively tripled-down on their war against the American news media and have taken unprecedented actions to counter it.

If youve had a chance to watch any of Sean Spicers White House press briefings over the last month (I usually see them on CBSN), you have probably seen at least a couple of instances of Spicer directly arguing with and attacking individual reporters, much the way that Trump did with Katy Tur during the campaign. Spicer has already shown himself to be combative with the news media, and Trump himself continues to decry established media outlets, such as CNN and The New York Times as fake news and now, very fake news (emphasis mine).

This, of course, is just a small sampling of his tweets directed at delegitimizing the entire media apparatus of this nation. But that last one may be the most alarming: Trump has officially declared the news media the enemy of the American People. Let that one sink in just for a minute.

The American news media is effectively our liaison into the workings of our state and federal governments. Whenever reporters include quotes in newspaper or on-line reports, or sit down with officials in one-on-one interviews, they are giving the American people a brief glimpse into that representatives policy positions, personality, and method of governing. Reporters can communicate with inside sourcesoften anonymously for fear of reprisalsand find out more of what is going on behind the scenes, which is often how questionable policies and even outright corruption are revealed to the populace. The media also brings crucial information, such as product recalls, threats to public safety, and foreign policy, to the attention of the populace. Their ability to communicate effectively has only grown in the technological age, with social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook serving to provide additional ways for people to receive their news and stay informed.

It is perhaps this latter outlet which Trump is trying to monopolize and control. By labeling many media organizations as fake news through his Twitter account, Trump seeks not only to control his own narrative, but also the medias ability to effectively communicate with the American people. Every time Trump mentions a specific organization or reporter in a speech or in a tweet, he is singling that person or entity out for public ridicule, knowing that if they have a public Twitter account (the vast majority do), his supporters and followers will assail them with harassment. This is a way to not only undermine their credibility with the nation, but also an attempt to silence them completely. Individual journalists especially may feel pressured to disconnect from social media due to constant harassment and threats made against them. Donald Trump is both enabling and encouraging such behavior.

So maybe it should come as no surprise that, just a few days ago, the Trump Administration literally blocked a number of news media outlets from participating in a press briefing. Reporters from CNN, The New York Times, Politico, and The Los Angeles Times were all barred from entry. In fact, according to the report, Sean Spicer was literally hand-picking the news outlets he wanted in attendancea form of journalistic discrimination. This is potentially the beginning of a total media blackout of journalistic outlets the administration seeks to impugn. If Trump and his team can ultimately position the American news media as something to be shunned and discredited, his supportersand potentially a large chunk of the American populacewill be less likely to trust their reporting as the full gamut of their offenses comes to light. This in itself will make it much harder to eliminate the threats his administrations policies present to America.

The administration has also taken the media to task as of late for its very use of anonymous sources. On CBS Face the Nation recently, Reince Priebus declared:

This is disingenuous at best, given the administrations use of its own anonymous sources in an attempt to confuse the public. Furthermore, there is little question that, for certain types of stories, anonymity is the only way to get the story out there. Sources may be, depending on the story, risking their careers and potentially even their lives by simply speaking to a reporter. Outing the identities of these sources simply puts a target on their backswhich, given how vindictive this entire presidency has become, may be exactly what Trump and Priebus are hoping for, to squelch as much public criticism as possible.

And then earlier tonight, this story popped up on my Twitter feed. Sebastian Gorka, an Islamophobe who was also hired by Steve Bannon to serve as a terrorism advisor to Trump, personally phoned one of his critics with threats of a lawsuit for tweeting his criticism of Gorka. Michael S. Smith II, a regular contributor to discussions on terrorism and how groups like ISIS are using social media to leverage support, has tweeted criticisms of both Trumps and Gorkas handling of radical Islam. Gorka apparently expressed hurt feelings at being criticized by someone hes never met and threatened the lawsuit at the beginning of the conversation:

Which begs the question: Is the Trump Administration now seeking to pursue lawsuits against individual Twitter users who denounce and criticize their policies on the platform? If Gorka does indeed press for charges against Smith, it would certainly set that precedent. It would also send a clear and direct message to every citizen in the United States: Donald Trump is not to be questioned. In fact, Stephen Miller, Trumps senior advisor, recently said in so many words:

This should make every American tremble in fear. Welcome to the new reality under Donald Trump.

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Trump's Unprecedented War on the First Amendment Has Gone ... - Huffington Post

A man who loves free speech more than you do. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

On Friday, president Trump said that the media shouldnt be allowed to cite anonymous sources because Americas most respected newspapers routinely make up such sources, and publish stories of their own invention. He reiterated his contention that fake news outlets like the New York Times, NBC News, ABC News, CBS, and CNN are the enemy of the people, and suggested that Americans should not protest their government in between elections.

The president also said, I love the First Amendment nobody loves it more than me.

Trump and his administration have been waging a war on objective reality and those tasked with describing it from the moment he was sworn in. In his first appearance as White House press secretary, Sean Spicer demanded that reporters believe the presidents estimate of the size of his inaugural crowd over their own lying eyes. As Trumps tumultuous (and not terribly productive) first month in office progressed, he grew ever more preoccupied with discrediting the Fourth Estate.

On Thursday, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Steve Bannon and Reince Preibus instructed the audience not to believe any negative news they read about the administration, over and over again. By the end of their conversation, the word media had been spoken 19 times, and the phrase opposition party, Bannons favorite synonym for the mainstream press, six times.

It wasnt terribly surprising, then, that the president opened his remarks to CPAC with a long diatribe against the media. But Trumps speech did represent a significant escalation in his crusade against independent journalism.

Previously, the president had criticized the press for printing illegal leaks from anonymous government officials and suggested that those officials have often shared false information. But hed never before claimed that major newspapers were fabricating sources out of whole cloth and presenting works of fictions as reportage.

The leaks are real. Youre the one that wrote about them and reported them, I mean, the leaks are real, Trump told reporters at a press conference last Thursday. You know what they said, you saw it and the leaks are absolutely real.

As of Friday morning, the president still maintained that the anonymous officials quoted in the media were genuine members of the government.

But hours later Trump suggested that reporters cant find actual government officials to leak to them, and thus are forced to invent them.

A few days ago I called the fake news the enemy of the people. And they are. They are the enemy of the people, Trump said. Because they have no sources, they just make em up when there are none Im against the people that make up stories and make up sources.

The people that make up stories ostensibly includes all of the major outlets listed in this recent tweet.

Late Thursday night, the Trump administration admitted that it had encouraged the FBI to anonymously leak exculpating information about the presidents relationship with Russia. On Friday morning, Trump declared, They shouldnt be allowed to use sources unless they use somebodys name They should put the name of the person. You will see stories dry up like youve never seen before.

Then, after briefly praising the First Amendment, the president said that media doesnt represent the people, and were going to do something about it.

Trumps only substantive argument for why his audience shouldnt trust the media was that most of these outlets pre-election polling suggested that he would not win. He then credited the Los Angeles Times poll for its singular accuracy. That poll predicted that Trump would win the popular vote, making it one of the least accurate national polls of the 2016 cycle.

But in the presidents telling, fake news outlets and skewed pollsters arent the only ones who have been abusing their First Amendment rights the other enemies of the American people are the American people who didnt vote for Donald Trump.

Referring to the town hall protests in support of Obamacare, Trump said, The people that youre watching, theyre not you. Theyre largely many of them are the side that lost, you know they lost the election. Its like, how many elections do we have to have?

The election is over. The worlds biggest fan of the First Amendment won. So, if you voted against him, its time to shut up.

This Obscure News Story, Which Should Be Huge, Shows How Trump Gets Away With Corruption

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Trumps Counterterrorism Adviser Sebastian Gorka Has Links to Anti-Semitic Groups

The boxing legends family is considering a lawsuit over the incident.

The California Republican thinks Attorney General Jeff Sessions should recuse himself.

As conservatism faces an existential crisis, a tour through CPACs after parties proves educational.

A small dip from 2015, but the third-straight yearly decline under Vision Zero.

Former Kentucky governor Steve Beshear is an out-of-work centrist representing a party thats energized on the left.

A leaked document shows House Republicans mulling controversial ideas like ending Medicaid as we know it and a new tax on employer-provided insurance.

It says citizenship in the Muslim-majority countries included in the ban is an unlikely indicator of a terrorism threat.

Dont feel bad for Paul Ryan, hell end up getting a big tax cut for the rich in the end.

Its been a hot month, with nearly 4,500 record highs set, compared to 29 record lows.

The White House denied any links to President Trumps rhetoric.

Earlier in the day, Trump explained that the media isnt the enemy of the people but the fake news media is.

Kevin Hassett once co-authored a book imploring investors to enter the stock market just before the dot-com bubble burst.

Is the mainstream right ready to replace its traditional values with pure nationalism?

It looked like Attorney General Jeff Sessionss warm-up act in loosening protections for all minorities.

The president told CPAC the media shouldnt be allowed to cite anonymous sources, and suggested people shouldnt protest after an election.

We will not answer to donors, lobbyists, or special interests now heres another story about me answering to special interests.

This may be the lowlight of a week that also saw him make an unhinged phone call to a critic that got recorded and published.

This isnt the first time the president has appeared to advocate for nuclear proliferation.

The White House asked the FBI to leak exculpating details about Trumps ties with Russia. It leaked the details of that conversation instead.

The Republican Partys best chance to repeal Obamacare is already gone.

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Trump Praises First Amendment, Calls for Media Suppression - New York Magazine

From left: Tom Fiedler, Donna Green, Margaret Sullivan, Judith Meyer, and Michael Donoghue at the New England First Amendment Coalitions annual awards luncheon on Friday.

The New England First Amendment Coalition presented its top honor to Margaret Sullivan, the media columnist for The Washington Post.

Sullivan accepted the Stephen Hamblett First Amendment Award on Friday before a large crowd of journalists, lawyers, educators, students, and media executives at NEFACs annual awards luncheon at the Marriott Long Wharf.

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The award is named after the late publisher of the Providence Journal who passed away in 2005, and past recipients have included US Senator Patrick Leahy; former federal judge Nancy Gertner; former Globe editor Marty Baron; James Risen and Anthony Lewis of The New York Times; and GlobalPost founder Philip Balboni.

The New England First Amendment Coalition also presented Judith Meyer, executive editor of the Sun Journal of Lewiston, Maine, with the Michael Donoghue Freedom of Information Award, and Donna Green of New Hampshire received the Antonia Orfield Citizenship Award.

Among those in attendance at the luncheon were Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition; Dan Kennedy of Northeastern University; Michael Rezendes, Larry Edelman, Emily Procknal, Jasmine Wu, Nick Osborne, and Linda Pizzuti Henry of the Globe; Mike Beaudet of WCVB-TV; Tom Fiedler, dean of the College of Communication at Boston University; and WBZ political analyst Jon Keller, who served as emcee.

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Margaret Sullivan receives First Amendment Award - The Boston ... - The Boston Globe