By Tatiana Tway In what may be the first case of its kind, a federal judge in Virginia recently ruled that a politician violated the constitutional rights of a constituent by banning that constituent from his personal Facebook account. “The suppression of critical commentary regarding elected officials is the quintessential form of viewpoint discrimination against which […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Justin Silverman | 774.244.2365 | justin@nefac.org The New England First Amendment Coalition on Friday expressed strong concern over plans by the U.S. Department of Justice to revisit internal guidelines intended to protect journalists against federal subpoenas. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced in an Aug. 4 press conference a more aggressive effort by […]
By Tatiana Tway Colleges across the nation are struggling to find a balance between free expression and the safety and comfort of their students. With violent protests leading to the cancellation of events, the creation of safe spaces and trigger warnings and reports revealing students’ complicated viewpoints on speech, the First Amendment and the principles it embodies […]
By Edward Fitzpatrick | NEFAC and Roger Williams University On June 30, an epic impasse between Rhode Island House and Senate leaders left the state’s $9.2-billion budget in limbo along with scores of other pieces of legislation. But amid the State House’s marble maze of power politics and clashing priorities, two bills managed to emerge […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Justin Silverman | 774.244.2365 | justin@nefac.org The New England First Amendment Coalition recently renewed its call for immediate access to civil court documents in the Ninth Circuit, arguing in an amicus brief that such access allows the public to “engage in meaningful discussion and debate about pending lawsuits.” NEFAC joined 26 news […]
By Zachary Carlton The New Jersey Supreme Court recently ruled that police dashboard camera footage should be released under the state’s public records law in most circumstances, a decision that states grappling with similar access issues ought to consider. The laws on releasing police video — most often taken with dashboard or body cameras — in […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Justin Silverman | 774.244.2365 | justin@nefac.org The New England First Amendment Coalition wrote to Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo this week encouraging her to sign a bill protecting student journalism in the state. House Bill 5550 would prevent schools from retaliating against student journalists for reporting controversial topics. The bill is a “commonsense attempt […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Justin Silverman | 774.244.2365 | justin@nefac.org The New England First Amendment Coalition recently wrote to Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo in support of her “revenge porn” bill currently being debated by the state’s legislature. Revenge pornography is commonly considered the sharing of images depicting adult nudity without the consent of the person pictured. Such images are often shared to […]
By Tatiana Tway The nonprofit, nonpartisan Knight First Amendment Institute recently asked President Trump to unblock the accounts of Twitter users who post comments critical of him on his personal Twitter page. If Trump refuses to unblock the users, the institute has threatened to file a lawsuit on First Amendment grounds. In a June 6 letter to the […]
An archive of social media posts from NEFAC’s seventh annual New England First Amendment Institute. For more information, please visit www.nefac.org.