Insurance Requirements and First Amendment Rights of Freedom of Speech and Assembly
7/6/20
By: Jessi Samford
There is no doubt that the world as we know it has changed dramatically this year, and the protests and marches amidst the global pandemic have been in the forefront of recent news. While some protests have …
Section 1983 First Amendment Retaliation by Litigation: SOL without PC
1/14/20
By: Brent Bean
“When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred.” – Thomas Jefferson
In a case of first impression in the Eleventh Circuit, the Court held that in a Section 1983 First …
Can Silence Be Bought as Part of a Settlement of a Use of Force Claim?
7/30/19
By: Jake Loken
Can silence be bought, especially of those who claim excessive use of force? The City of Baltimore thought so, until the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals said otherwise.
In Overbey v. Mayor of Balt., No. 17-2444 …
Supreme Court Revisits Interplay Between First and Fourth Amendments
11/29/18
By: Wes Jackson
Imagine you commit a minor crime and an officer approaches you. The interaction goes south when you call the officer a “pig” and remind him that your tax dollars pay his salary. He then arrests you. Were …
Supreme Court Ends Compulsory Union Payments for Government Employees – So What’s Next?
7/5/18
By: Brad Adler & Matt Weiss
On Wednesday June 27, the United States Supreme Court reached a landmark 5-4 decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 31 wherein it ruled that the Constitution’s First …
Philadelphia's “Salary History Ban Law” Gets Banned!
5/7/18
By: John McAvoy
More than a half-century after President JFK signed the Equal Pay Act, the gender pay gap is still with us. Women earn 79 cents for every dollar men earn, according to the Census Bureau. What will it …
1/8/18
By: Allan J. Hayes
Most businesses are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations. The business value at stake from legislative and government regulatory intervention is huge: about 30 percent of earnings for companies in most industries, according …
10/3/17
By: Bradley T. Adler and Will Collins
The recent Eleventh Circuit decision Gaines v. Wardynski, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 18276, No. 16-15583 (11th Cir. Sept. 21, 2017), is a good reminder of the importance and value of qualified immunity …
Fourth Circuit Voids NLRB Posting Rule
6/18/13
By: Anthony Del Rio
Last week the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the National Labor Relation Board’s (NLRB) 2011 poster rule. The rule required employers to post information regarding employees’ rights to organize under the National …
Eleventh Circuit Says No to ACLU's Standing on Ten Commandments Monument Challenge
8/21/12
By: Dana Maine
The Eleventh Circuit issued an opinion last week which clearly delineates elements of standing in First Amendment symbolic speech cases. In American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, Inc. v. Dixie County, Florida, decided on August 15, …
Extreme Limits of Protected Speech for “Symbolic” Nudity?
7/23/12
By: Sun Choy
A Portland judge recently ruled that a man who stripped naked at an airport to protest TSA screening is not guilty of indecent exposure charges, because “symbolic” nudity is protected free speech under Oregon law. As reported …