In an opinion yesterday, Judge Buchwald found that President Trump’s practice of blocking users on Twitter (typically after they post a comment critical of the President) violates the First Amendment. The plaintiffs (who included individual users as well as the Knight First Amendment Institute) claimed that preventing them from viewing comments, replying to tweets, and participating … Continue Reading
Last week, Judge Buchwald heard oral argument (see transcript here) on summary judgment motions in Knight First Amendment Institute v. Donald J. Trump (see our previous coverage here). The suit alleges that President Trump and others violated the First Amendment when they blocked Twitter users who wrote tweets critical of the president. The plaintiffs claim that preventing them from … Continue Reading
Yesterday, the Second Circuit affirmed Judge Stein’s decision last year to dismiss a suit by Citizens United challenging New York’s charity reporting laws (see our previous coverage here). Citizens United challenged the New York Attorney General’s requirement that charities file an un-redacted Schedule B, a form listing the names and contribution amounts of the charity’s … Continue Reading
In papers filed Friday, lawyers for President Trump sought summary judgment in a First Amendment challenge to the President’s blocking of users on Twitter (see our prior coverage here). The brief argues (among other things) that President Trump’s use of Twitter does not constitute “state action”:… Continue Reading
Today, Judge Castel formally upheld New York State’s “ballot selfie ban” at the conclusion of a bench trial. The ruling comes after Judge Castel denied a preliminary injunction shortly before the November 2016 election (see our previous coverage here). Considering whether the law violated the First Amendment, Judge Castel found that the law survived strict scrutiny because … Continue Reading
In an opinion Wednesday in a case under the TCPA, a law that (among other things) bars calls without consent to cell phones via automatic dealings systems, Judge Oeken rejected the defendant’s argument that, by exempting government debt collection calls from the ban, the law is a form of speech discrimination that violates the First Amendment. … Continue Reading
A complaint filed today alleges that President Trump and others violated the First Amendment when they blocked Twitter users who wrote tweets critical of the president. The plaintiffs claim that preventing them from viewing comments, replying to tweets, and participating in comment threads denies access to an important public forum in the 21st century. According … Continue Reading
On Friday, Judge Netburn rejected the New Yorker magazine’s letter request to release a sealed deposition of former NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly, in a case brought by Muslim officer who sued Mr. Kelly and New York City for discrimination but lost on summary judgment. She found that she lacked jurisdiction to grant the request because the … Continue Reading
In an opinion yesterday, Judge Schofield invoked so-called “Pullman”-abstention and thereby declined to rule on a case raising a novel state question. The case is a constitutional challenge by PR firms to a New York law requiring lobbyists to make certain disclosures. The firms argued that an advisory opinion by state regulators could be interpreted … Continue Reading
Today, Judge Castel denied an attempt to enjoin the enforcement of New York’s Election Law § 17-130, or the so-called “ballot selfie” ban. Judge Castel found that the state’s interest in protecting against voter fraud and intimidation by preventing voters from revealing the content of their ballots (even if through Instagram) was a reasonable First Amendment … Continue Reading
In an opinion this afternoon, the Sixth Circuit refused to block Michigan’s “ballot selfie” ban, and, in doing so, echoed the very same concern from Judge Castel on Wednesday (covered in this post, immediately below), about delay in bringing suit: One hundred and twenty-five years ago, Michigan enacted a law designed to protect the secret … Continue Reading
On Wednesday, a new complaint sought a TRO and preliminary injunction against a law banning so-called “ballot selfies” on the ground that the law violates the First Amendment. According to the complaint, “Taking a photograph of a filled out ballot is a powerful political statement that demonstrates the importance of voting. Without the photograph, the message … Continue Reading
Today, Judge Stein dismissed claims by Citizens United challenging New York’s reporting requirements for charities in the state (see our previous coverage here). Citizens United challenged the New York Attorney General’s requirement that charities file an un-redacted Schedule B, a form listing the names and contribution amounts of the charity’s donors, before receiving a license … Continue Reading
Last week, Judge Seibel dismissed a First Amendment challenge to a Dutchess County law requiring retail supermarkets to clearly post prices on each item using a sticker, tag, or other label. The plaintiff claimed that changing the price tags on items each time the store held a sale was an improper burden on the store’s … Continue Reading
In a decision today, Judge McMahon granted a preliminary injunction allowing subway ads about a humorous documentary called “The Muslims Are Coming!” The ads included statements such as: “The Ugly Truth About Muslims: Muslims have great frittata recipes,” and “Muslims invented Justin Timberlake.” One reason the film producer (a company referred to as VQP) chose to … Continue Reading
The Second Circuit this morning upheld New York State’s ban on credit card “surcharges.” Judge Rakoff had earlier found (see our coverage here) that the law, § 518 of the General Business Law, likely violated the First Amendment because it imposed criminal penalties for calling extra credit card fees “surcharges” but allowed merchants to offer the … Continue Reading
The SDNY Blog is relaunching as a publication of Steptoe & Johnson LLP. We expect to post several times a week on decisions and other developments in the Southern District of New York. You can find us right here at www.sdnyblog.com, or follow us on Twitter or Facebook. Here’s a quick summary of what’s been happening in the Southern … Continue Reading
In an opinion today, Judge Crotty, based on the Supreme Court’s rulings in Citizens United and McCutcheon, enjoined New York’s state laws limiting donations to “Super-PACs,” but it was clear he did so reluctantly:… Continue Reading
In an opinion today, Judge Furman dismissed, on First Amendment grounds, a suit accusing Baidu, a Chinese “search engine akin to Google,” of blocking pro-democracy search results:… Continue Reading
The producers of American Idol last week moved to dismiss a discrimination suit alleging that African-American contestants with prior arrests or convictions were shamed and disqualified while similarly-situated white contestants were promoted as “second chance” stories. (See our prior post here.) The motion begins by highlighting the success of African-American contestants generally:… Continue Reading
In an opinion today, Judge Oetken dismissed a defamation suit brought by GOP donor Sheldon Adelson because (among other reasons) the allegedly defamatory language hyperlinked to an AP article about a lawsuit, and thus constituted a privileged “attribution” of the assertion to a judicial proceeding. The suit related to an online petition entitled “Tell Romney … Continue Reading
