1st Amendment
516 – Suing the US Postal Service
Lebene Konan sued the Euless, Texas post office for what she claimed were there intentional failure to deliver mail to rental property she owned. The Supreme Court just said she didn’t have the right to sue.
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515 – Ending the Federal Vaccine Shield Law
In 1988, Congress passed the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The logic behind this law was the belief that vaccines were so important to public health that holding vaccine manufacturers accountable for any injuries caused by the products was too dangerous. To end this unconstituional law, Rand Paul has introduced Senate Bill 3853, the End the Vaccine Carveout Act.
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512 – Free Speech Reprieve in Hawaii
The Hawaiian legislature passed Act 191 in an attempt to prohibit “materially deceptive media” that would harm the “reputation or electoral prospects of a candidate in an election”. This seems like an infringement on free speech. Thankfully the District Court for the District of Hawaii agreed.
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509 – Congressional Subpoenas
In a recent press release, the House Oversight Committee voted to advance two resolutions to hold “President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with duly issued subpoenas.” The question is, were those subpoenas lawful?
505 – Unreasonable Searches
When a government agency searches without a reason it’s called “fishing”. When the Attorney General of New Jersey issued a subpoena demanding the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the donors to a pregnancy center, it wasn’t just fishing, it was searching for a white whale.
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498 – Colorado Conversion Therapy Oral Arguments
Who decides what treatment is best for your child? Most people expect the government to protect children from dangerous treatments, even if their parents want it. But shouldn’t the government need to prove harm beyond a reasonable doubt before criminalizing treatment? Sadly, that is not the question before the court in the case Chiles v. Salazar. Rather, it is a twisted attempt to use the First Amendment to strike down this Colorado law.
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494 – Flag Burning
When it comes to freedom of speech, there are two things that generate a fair amount of controversy. First is yelling “Fire” in a crowded theater and second is burning the United States flag. Recently, Donald Trump issued an Executive Order about flag burning. So let’s take a look at the order and some of the history around flag burning.
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490 – Access to Porn
As a society, we’ve decided that certain things like alcohol, tobacco, and pornography are not safe for minors. When I buy wine at the grocery store, I have to show my ID to verify my age. Take a look at my picture on the website and you’ll see I’m well over the age where I can purchase alcohol, but I’m still asked to verify my age. That’s because my rights end when it infringes on the rights of another. However, the Free Speech Coalition thinks an adult’s “right” to access pornography without age verification trumps the safety of minors. That is the basis of the case Free Speech Coalition, Inc., et el. v. Paxton, Attorney General Of Texas, which the Supreme Court decided this past term.
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