The Washington Post reports that a court has given preliminary approval to the Google Books settlement. Comments on the revised settlement are due February 4 and a hearing is scheduled for February 18. EFF continues a multi-part series examining the settlement.
Abcnews.com reports on the popularity of the slogan “Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8.” The psalm reads, “Let his days be few; and let another take his office.” A subsequent verse reads, “Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.” Both the ACLU and Anti-Defamation league sources quoted in the article say that this is protected speech.
The Denver WestWord blogs on the 10th Circuit argument in Weise v. Jenkins. Diclosure: I am counsel in this case. In 2005, the Bush Administration ejected two individuals from one of the President’s taxpayer-funded, open-to-the-public speaking engagements because they arrived in a car with the bumper sticker “no more blood for oil.” The individuals sued, arguing that ejecting them because of their viewpoint violated the First Amendment. The district court rejected that argument and the individuals appealed. The 10th Circuit must decide whether this was a constitutional violation and, if so, whether the constitutional right at issue was clearly established at the time of the incident. The Denver WestWord provides commentary on the hearing. The Denver Post and AP also ran stories.
The Dallas Morning News runs a story on student speech online. The story was sparked by an incident in which middle schoolers created a Facebook page called “I hate Mrs. X” (where X is the name of a teacher) and stated “Join now and maybe we can all kill her together.” the students were suspended. The article explores schools’ struggles to decide what is harmless if juvenile banter and what is genuinely threatening or punishable. It also explores the extent to which schools have the authority to punish out-of-school speech.