Comm. Law: Day One

Communication Law
A few contemporary problems
Who’s right? You decide!
Mass Media Law, ‘05/’06By Don Pember,Preface
A lot has changed since 1st edition in 1978
Major issues then:
Development of libel law
Newsgathering rights, protecting sources
Major Issues Now
Laws targeting video games and minors
Infotainment industry (paparazzi, privacy, etc.)
Access to government information
Reporters and confidential sources
Music file-sharing
Celebrities protecting their images
Election campaign funding
Press coverage of war
Military tribunals and deportation hearings
Questions relating to the Internet
Other, non-governmental censorship
New York Times Reporter Jailed for Contempt 7/7/05
WASHINGTON -- Judith Miller, a reporter for The New York Times, was sent to jail yesterday for refusing to reveal the name of a confidential source to a grand jury probing the Bush administration's leak of an undercover CIA operative's name.
Elk Grove School District v. Newdow (2004)
An atheist doctor/lawyer/reverend in California sues his second-grade daughter’s school district for what is sometimes called “forced speech” for mandatory pledge of allegiance recitations in all classes.
FEC v. Beaumont (2003)
2002: Congress passed the most comprehensive campaign reform legislation since the mid-1970s, the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act. (p. 124)
So-called “soft money” cannot be accepted by political parties
interest groups cannot use soft money for electioneering communications
contribution limits to candidates from individuals was raised.
Are these unacceptable limits on free speech? Can speech be bought and sold?
Cohen v. California (1971)
A young man wears a jacket inside the courthouse. On the back of the jacket are the words “Fuck the Draft.” He is arrested for disturbing the peace and offensive conduct.
Alexander v. Minneapolis (1991)
A Minneapolis ordinance was designed to force adult bookstores and theaters into the city’s central business district. It was a small area with high real estate value. Ferris Alexander sued the city, claiming that having so few options for his businesses deprived him of his First Amendment rights.
Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969)
Mary Beth Tinker, age 13, and her friend wear black armbands with peace signs to school. The next day, Mary Beth’s brother wears a similar armband to school. They are suspended. Mary Beth sues the school district, saying her free speech rights were abridged.
Studelska v. Bemidji State University (1991)
The editor of BSU’s Northern Student requests crime reports from campus security. All the reports she receives have been heavily edited. The reason given is for student privacy. Such information is “educational data,” say administrators. The editor sues the university for denying her First Amendment right to have access to public data.
Steele v. City of Bemidji (1998)(The Northern Herald)
An alternative newspaper publisher is told he cannot distribute his newspaper near the Paul Bunyan Mall because he is standing on MnDOT property. He also cannot distribute near the Post Office because he’s obstructing traffic. He sues the City of Bemidji for $600,000,000,000 (that’s billion!).
Abington School Distr.v. Schempp (1963)
The PA legislature voted in 1959 that “ten verses from the Holy Bible shall be read” every day in each public school. Students could be excused on a written request from their parents. In Abington Sr. High, the Bible reading was followed by the Lord’s Prayer. Roger and Donna Schempp (students) were Unitarians, a church which rejected the Trinity. They sued the school district for the establishment of a religious belief.
Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc. (1991)
Darlene Miller was a “go-go” dancer at the Kitty Kat Lounge in South Bend, Indiana, and Gayle Sutro danced in a coin-operated booth at the nearby Chippewa Bookstore. Both women were forced by Indiana’s “public indecency” law to wear “pasties” and “G-strings.” They felt that shedding their skimpy costumes and dancing nude would encourage patrons to spend more on drinks and tips. They sued, saying Indiana law infringed on their freedom to express an erotic message.
Hazelwood School Distr. v. Kuhlmeier (1988)
The editors of the Spectrum, the newspaper of Hazelwood High School in St. Louis, submitted two articles to their journalism teacher. They were about divorce and teen pregnancy. The principal ordered the teacher to pull the articles. The editors sued for infringing on their First Amendment rights.
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)
In 1960, the New York Times published a full-page ad soliciting funds to pay legal expenses of civil rights protesters in the South. The police commissioner of Montgomery Alabama, sued for libel because of minor factual errors in the ad about actions of his and other law enforcement officials.
R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul (1992)
Russell and Laura Jones awoke early one morning to find a cross burning in their front yard. The Jones family was black and had moved into a mostly white neighborhood. The perpetrators were arrested and charged under St. Paul’s “hate crimes” ordinance. One of them sued, challenging the law as a content-based violation of the First Amendment.