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JOHN ASHCROFT, Petitioner v. AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, et al., Respondents No. 00-1293 In the Supreme Court of the United States On Petition for Certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit BRIEF AMICI CURIAE OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF SEXUALITY, THE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY OF HUMAN SEXUALITY, THE SEXUAL HEALTH NETWORK, THE [...]
by Donna Demac In the United States, freedom of speech has meant something like this: the government is forbidden under the First Amendment from censoring or punishing speakers, including the press, for what they say. A balance must be sought between uninhibited public debate about public issues and the state's interests in national security. Historically, the courts have treated art [...]
In 1671, the governor of Virginia said, "I thank God we have not free schools nor printing....For learning has brought disobedience and heresy, and sects into the world; and printing has divulged them and libels against the government."
NEWSDAY June 25, 2003 Three years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court compared the Internet to "a vast library including millions of readily available and indexed publications ... a vast platform from which to address and hear from a world-wide audience." Unfortunately, the library and the audience have just shrunk. On Monday, the court upheld the Children's Internet Protection Act [...]
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for the second time that a law prohibiting commercial websites from posting material that is "harmful to minors" is overly broad, not narrowly tailored, and impermissibly vague.
NCAC Censorship News Issue #81:
by Marjorie Heins
In January, the Supreme Court declined to review a sweeping decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that essentially denied state-employed professors any First Amendment right to academic freedom. The case of Urofsky v. Gilmore was a challenge to a Virginia law that barred state employees (with the exception of state police) from using state-owned or state-leased computers to access any "sexually explicit" Internet content without prior written approval from their "agency head."
Mayor Jay Lee of Virgin, Utah has a unique view of First Amendment rights. Local residents who want to comment on zoning and planning issues at Town Council meetings must pay $25.
NCAC Censorship News Issue #68: Winter 1997 The most significant First Amendment decision in recent history was the Supreme Court ruling in Reno v. ACLU---which held that communications over the Internet deserve the highest level of constitutional protection. In overturning the Communications Decency Act, the Court ruled that attempts to regulate the Internet to prevent children's access to "indecent" or [...]
NCAC Censorship News Issue #68: Winter 1997 Reason Prevails... ...in the Levittown, New York public schools where Robert Lypsyte's novel, One Fat Summer, was restored after representatives of NCAC, the Nassau County Chapter of NY Civil Liberties Union, and the Long Island Coalition Against Censorship met with school officials. The book had been removed as required reading after a [...]
Other News from the Courts -- Not So Go
The Supreme Court has declined to hear teacher Cissy Lacks' appeal.
The Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 which bans sexual depictions of anyone who "appears to be" younger than 18, was upheld by the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston--overturning a lower court's ruling that the law is unconstitutionally vague and could prohibit legal adult pornography.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Virginia law that restricts state employees from accessing sexually related materials online.
Embarrassed by an illustration of a vagina in a high school science textbook, school board members in Lynchburg, Virginia refused to approve the book unless the picture was covered or cut out. Some anatomical parts, apparently, are best unseen.
In the second week of January, Spotswood High School English teacher Jeff Newton, four high school students and five groups representing libraries, booksellers and authors filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, alleging that their First Amendment rights were violated when the school's principal ordered the removal of a list of banned books posted on Newton's classroom door. Background: Spotswood [...]
Since the inception of the public library movement in the mid 19th century, public libraries have occupied a unique and critical role in American society.
Introduction: "Avoiding Censorship in Schools" | Religious Expression in the Public Schools | Sex and Sexuality Education | Harassment and Hate Speech | Student Publications | Student Expression: Web Pages, Dress Codes, and More | Access to Information on the Internet | Teachers' Rights | Parents' Rights The Internet has given student journalists access to enormous sources of information and [...]
Public libraries in Loudoun County, Virginia, may not block sexually explicit material on the Internet, ruled a federal district judge in a decision that is expected to influence library policies elsewhere (Mainstream Loudoun v. Board of Trustees).
Most Americans - 93 percent according to a recent Freedom Forum poll - say they believe in the First Amendment. A recent incident in Hauppauge illustrates something else the poll revealed: Many Americans really don't understand it.
>SUNY Chancellor and Trustees Label Womens Studies Conference Content Needlessly Offensive
The National Coalition Against Censorship has joined the Internet Free Expression Alliance to insure that the Internet Online Summit, which is dominated by an effort to restrict children's access to certain kinds of materials on the Internet, does not promote policies and practices that violate the First Amendment right to freedom of speech and expression. NCAC urges participants in the [...]
The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault (Random House), Charlotte County, Florida CENSORSHIP REJECTED Fifth-century B.C. Athens is the setting of the historical novel that was challenged in a high school for references to homosexuality. Not only did the complainants and their supporters revile the book, which enlivened an honors history class, but they also attempted to humiliate [...]
