Monthly Archives: April 2010

Scott Southworth is at it again

By |2020-01-03T13:37:39-05:00April 28th, 2010|Blog|

Scott Southworth, the district attorney of Juneau County, Wisconsin, is threatening to prosecute teachers who comply with a new state law that requires sex education courses to include “medically accurate, age-appropriate” information, including information on contraceptives. Southworth claims the law “promotes the sexual assault of children,” “[u]ndermines parental authority,” “requires school districts to condone controversial sexual behavior,” and “provides access [...]

Nudity & Censorship in Art

By |2016-01-15T11:55:07-05:00April 26th, 2010|Videos|

In February, 2010, the NYPD attempted to shut down an art gallery in the West Village in NYC. They were responding to news about a nude sculpture on exhibit in the windows of Chair and the Maiden Gallery. The gallery consulted with NCAC on how to respond to the situation. This video is the first of a new series that [...]

Court to rehear online student speech cases in PA

By |2019-03-07T23:06:53-05:00April 23rd, 2010|Blog|

The 3rd Circuit has agreed to rehear two seemingly contradictory online student speech cases decided in February (see here for more about the cases). It has vacated the previous opinions and all members of the court will hear arguments in both cases on June 3. The cases were decided based on the criterion of whether the speech was likely to [...]

First Amendment Upheld in US v Stevens

By |2020-01-03T13:37:37-05:00April 21st, 2010|Blog|

In a much anticipated decision, the Supreme Court yesterday struck down a federal statute making it a crime to create, sell or possess “a depiction of animal cruelty.” In the 8 – 1 opinion, the Court characterized the law as "a criminal prohibition of alarming breadth," because of its potential to criminalize a vast array of legally protected expression, including [...]

Helping Readers See Themselves in a Text

By |2010-04-20T19:08:15-04:00April 20th, 2010|Uncategorized|

Every week during summer vacation, mom used to load us into the car and drive us to the library. While my sisters and brother were racing around with picture books and whatever toys they could get their hands on, I snuck off to a quieter corner of the ...

Virginia Attempts to Address Underage Drinking by Impinging Upon Free Speech

By |2020-01-03T13:37:36-05:00April 20th, 2010|Blog|

Last week, a panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ban on the advertising of alcohol in college newspapers.  The case involved a challenge to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission’s expansive ban on the advertising of beer, wine and mixed drinks in student-run publications throughout the state of Virginia. Beyond the obvious economic implications (the newspapers [...]

Setback for Net Neutrality

By |2020-01-03T13:37:36-05:00April 9th, 2010|Blog|

On Tuesday, a federal appeals court dealt a legal setback to supporters of “net neutrality.”  The court ruled (Comcast v. FCC) that the FCC does not presently have the authority to control an ISP’s network management practices and therefore cannot require Comcast (one of a small number of powerful corporations whose networks comprise the Internet) to treat all internet content equally. [...]

NCAC defends challenged GLBTQ books in NJ school library

By |2020-01-03T14:17:19-05:00April 8th, 2010|Updates|

NCAC, along with members of the Coalition, sent a letter to the Rancocas Valley School Board in Mt. Holly, NJ, regarding the recent challenge to books in its library. A small group of residents oppose the books because they appear on a list of gay and lesbian-themed books created by the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN).

Inspiring Writers with Student Poetry

By |2010-04-06T21:00:48-04:00April 6th, 2010|Uncategorized|

It’s National Poetry Month, so teachers everywhere are sharing poetry and experimenting with poetry writing in the classroom. The challenge is that those two activities are sometimes at cross purposes. Reading poetry by the literary greats can sil...

The End of Gene Patents? (Part 2)

By |2020-01-05T23:18:43-05:00April 5th, 2010|Blog|

Last summer, we reported that the ACLU and the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) were mounting a creative challenge to the constitutionality of gene patents, a questionable practice which till now was supported by U.S. Government policy.  The US Patent and Trademark Office has regularly granted property interests in certain types of living organisms and their constituent parts, including genes, the [...]

Federal Judge Holds Gene Patents to be Invalid

By |2020-01-05T23:50:48-05:00April 1st, 2010|Incidents|

In 2009, a handful of cancer patients, professional organizations, several individual doctors and researchers along with the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit challenging the decision to grant a patent to Myriad Genetics for the genes BRCA1 and 2, which are associated with hereditary breast cancer and ovarian cancer.  In March 2010, the New York federal court ruled that [...]

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