Category Archives: First Amendment

An unusual First Amendment fight has erupted in Houston where lawyers for the city have raised alarm bells among conservative religious leaders after subpoenaing sermons delivered by several local pastors.

The legal clash stems from a voter lawsuit against the city over its rejection of citizen petitions that were filed to repeal an equal rights ordinance approved by Houstons City Council in May.

Pro bono attorneys representing Houston have demanded copies of sermons and other speeches given by five pastors and religious leaders who have spoken out against the ordinance, which bans racial and sexual orientation discriminationin city employment and contracting, housing and public accommodations.

A subpoena on Pastor Steve Riggle, senior pastor of Grace Community Church, asks for all speeches, presentations, or sermons related to [the equal rights ordinance], the Petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity prepared by, delivered by, revised by, or approved by you or in your possession.

Alliance Defending Freedom, a national conservative legal group, filed a motion on Monday in Harris County district court objecting to the records request on First Amendment grounds.

City council members are supposed to be public servants, not Big Brother overlords who will tolerate no dissent or challenge, ADF senior legal counsel Erik Stanley said. In this case, they have embarked upon a witch-hunt, and we are asking the court to put a stop to it.

But in a breaking development Wednesday, Houston Mayor Annise Parker appeared to be backing away from the initial requests. Janice Evans, a city spokeswoman, told Law Blog in a statement:

Mayor Parker agrees with those who are concerned about the city legal departments subpoenas for pastors sermons. The subpoenas were issued by pro bono attorneys helping the city prepare for the trial regarding the petition to repeal the new Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) in January. Neither the mayor nor City Attorney David Feldman were aware the subpoenas had been issued until yesterday. Both agree the original documents were overly broad. The city will move to narrow the scope during an upcoming court hearing. Feldman says the focus should be only on communications related to the HERO petition process.

Houston City Attorney David Feldman suggested to the Houston Chronicle in a story published Tuesday that the documents demanded by the city could shed light on the extent to which signature gatherers opposing the ordinance were aware of the rules governing the referendum process.

Reports the Chronicle:

See the original post here:
Houston Mayor Says Citys Sermon Subpoenas Came as a Surprise

First amendment denied part 1 Baldwin county al
It was fine for me to record until I asked questions about wearing my hat then the deputy told the clerk I was recording I ended up pussing out and paying ti...

By: Thomas Duke

Excerpt from:
First amendment denied part 1 Baldwin county al - Video

First amendment denied at Baldwin county al clerks office
Just holding public servants accountable sorry the vid sucks first one very nervous.

By: Thomas Duke

Read the original here:
First amendment denied at Baldwin county al clerks office - Video

Houston demands pastors turn over sermons
I think the city of Houston is definitely violating our first amendment rights by issueing subpoenas demanding a group of pastors turn over any sermons dealing with homosexuality, gender identity...

By: DailyWorldwideNews

Read more:
Houston demands pastors turn over sermons - Video

First Amendment test. NYC FUCK YOU PIG!
Nypd pass first amendment test only after being reminded of oath. Fuck the police! COP=criminals on patrol, cowards on patrol.

By: Pocholo

Read the original post:
First Amendment test. NYC FUCK YOU PIG! - Video

Minneapolis officials are reportedly considering legal action to prevent the Washington Redskins name from being used at TCF Bank Stadium.

The Minnesota Daily reports that the city attorney is investigating whether the city has legal authority to ban the football teams name and logo.

I have my doubts, said Cam Gordon, who represents the University and surrounding areas on the City Council.

He said there might be issues with the ban violating freedom of speech. And at a council committee meeting late last month, the councilman called the issue a minefield.

You think?

Its the most horrific name in sports history, said Clyde Bellecourt, founder of the Minneapolis-based American Indian Movement.

Hes right, of course. It is.

And hate speech can be suppressed without violating the First Amendment if it causes the listener to react violently. But, the Supreme Court has made clear that people still have a right to hateful speech.

That officials in Minnesota are being pressed to challenge that right is not without some irony because Minnesota has had more than its share of assaults on the First Amendment.

A 1992 case before the Supreme Court defined the difference between hateful acts of hateful speech when it overturned the conviction of a teenager for burning a cross on the lawn of an African American St. Paul family.

Read more:
Racist names meet the First Amendment in Minneapolis

god and first amendment 10/9/ #39;14
ok all good peoples out there - - this video is about the lack of common sense being applied to all this religious controversy - - I know I probably have off...

By: dave esser

Read this article:
god and first amendment 10/9/'14 - Video

Filmmaker critical of Obama found GUILTY!
A conservative filmmaker who dared to exercise his First Amendment rights to be critical of Barack Obama, has received a sentence from a federal judge that includes five years probation, 8...

By: CleanTVcom

Excerpt from:
Filmmaker critical of Obama found GUILTY! - Video

Oppression Agenda Day 4 Cat Calling is protected by the first amendment
http://biffburroghs.blogspot.com/ http://poxyrants.blogspot.com/ https://twitter.com/PoxySquirrel https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001782467676 Thi...

By: Biff Burroughs

The rest is here:
Oppression Agenda Day 4 Cat Calling is protected by the first amendment - Video

Twitter filed a lawsuit against the federal government this week over First Amendment rights, marking the latest round in a battle between tech companies and the government over how much they can reveal about government requests for their user information.

This debate began when Edward Snowden revealed information about the PRISM program, which suggested that the government was asking tech companies for private user information. Tech companies can report the number of requests they receive in broad terms. Twitter hopes to put users at ease by giving them more detail about the requests, but the government is keeping them quiet.

Here are some questions we thought you might be asking:

What kinds of requests is Twitter is being told it can't talk about?

These are requests that basically could be related to people who the government thinks might be connected to, for example, terrorism. The government sends notices to a company like Twitter saying, "We want information about this individual or this group, and because it's a matter of national security, you can't even tell anyone we asked." In its lawsuit, Twitter is saying that it has a First Amendment right to reveal that the government is asking it for information.

What is the government saying?

The government says that this is a matter of national security and revealing any information at all could actually jeopardize the investigation.

Why is Twitter taking up this fight?

Twitter and other tech companies were really put on the spot when Edward Snowden leaked information about the so-called PRISM program, which suggested there was wide government surveillance of user information that was stored with tech companies. For a company like Twitter, Google, Microsoft or any of these big players, it left them in this position of not being able to deny or confirm how much information they had given to the government. This made their customers uneasy. So they basically have said to the government that they want to be able to say something, and they've been fighting with the government for at least some degree of transparency.

So they can't say anything at this point?

Read the rest here:
Twitter Is Suing The U.S. Over Free Speech (Its Own)