FIRE analyzes two big online speech cases in colleges. Looking at the MSU student found guilty of spamming for sending out emails to professors, and the blocking of JuicyCampus at TSU, the article looks at the legal and social implications of these decisions and how they could shape expression on campus.
Gene Policinski looks at the state of the First Amendment, starting with freedom of the press in a time of shrinking newspapers and growing new media. Also includes: Facebook/Myspace v. schools, license plates and the Pulpit Initiative.
In How the Ongoing Transitions in Journalism May Affect the First Amendment’s “Marketplace of Ideas” Julie Hilden looks at the declining printed press and the growing digital press. Tidbit: “The Supreme Court’s ideal of the First Amendment’s “marketplace of ideas” is that it should be “uninhibited, robust, and wide open” – as Justice Brennan wrote in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan … Here, I will argue that the transition taking place in journalism is likely to promote Justice Brennan’s ideal in the long term, but inhibit it in the short term. Indeed, in the short term, with the transition artificially rushed by the recession, serious free speech costs are inevitable.”
The free speech fight in San Antonio. Why you should care: “We just think the larger community, not just San Antonio, but the nation, continues to lose access to the commons,” said Esperanza Peace & Justice Center Executive Director Graciela Sánchez. “Dissent continues to be quieted down and stifled … These streets and the parks and the public venues, it’s the only thing we have left.”