LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal charges against three alleged members of a violent white supremacist group accused of inciting violence at California political rallies were dismissed by a judge who found their actions amounted to constitutionally protected free speech.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The First Amendment right to free speech is no laughing matter, as illustrated by a new exhibit at the world's largest cartoon library.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Media law experts pushed back against the San Francisco police chief, who said a freelance journalist allegedly conspired to steal a police report, saying that it is not a crime to disclose a public record.
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona has banned prisoners from reading a book that discusses the impact of the criminal justice system on black men, drawing outcry from First Amendment advocates who say the move is censorship.
HARRISBURG (AP) - A proposal to force people in Pennsylvania convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence or subject to protective orders to surrender their guns within 24 hours moved closer to becoming law Wednesday after approval by the state House.
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Student journalists at a Vermont high school who were asked by the principal to remove a story they broke about unprofessional conduct charges against a guidance director can now repost the article.
ATLANTA (AP) - Once again, they filed out of class. In a new wave of school walkouts, they raised their voices against gun violence. But this time, they were looking to turn outrage into action.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - As schools around the country brace for student walkouts following the deadly shooting in Parkland, Florida, principals and superintendents are scrambling to perform a delicate balancing act: How to let thousands of students exercise their First Amendment rights while no…
HARRISBURG (AP) - The federal government says grass and guns don't mix, and that is putting gun owners who use marijuana - and the strongly pro-gun-rights administration of President Donald Trump - in a potentially uncomfortable position.
The Oil City VFW will be hosting a rededication ceremony when the Tyrants Bench is relocated to its property early next month.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Prominent Washington journalists, if not Hollywood stars, celebrated the First Amendment during the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner, an event that lacked the glitter of past years because of the absence of the president of the United States.
On some college campuses, students and outsiders are allowed to protest and distribute fliers only in so-called "free speech zones." Supporters say it's a way to protect against disruptions to school operations, but opponents call it censorship.
NEW YORK (AP) — Whenever Donald Trump fumes about "fake news" or labels the press "the enemy of the people," First Amendment scholar David L. Hudson Jr. hears echoes of other presidents — but a breadth and tone that are entirely new.
NAZARETH, Pa. (AP) — A Northampton County town has settled a federal lawsuit with three men who allege the town's police department violated their free speech rights after they protested law enforcement practices.
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Fans and foes agree that Milo Yiannopoulos specializes in controversy. The polarizing editor from Breitbart News is a self-proclaimed internet troll who has been criticized as racist, misogynist and white supremacist.
HARRISBURG (AP) — Pennsylvania's highest court is reviewing the conviction of a Pittsburgh man for making threats against police in a rap song after he was charged with drug offenses.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Slants aren't exactly a household name when it comes to music, but the Asian-American rock band has certainly made its mark in the legal world.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — University of Kansas students are being offered buttons through the school's library system meant to make their preferred gender pronouns clear.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a man who was sentenced to six months in jail for hanging a black-faced dummy in his front yard.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Rolling Stone magazine, its publisher and a reporter defamed a University of Virginia administrator who sued them for $7.5 million over a discredited story about a gang rape at a fraternity house, a federal jury said Friday.
Freedom of religion means that nobody - not the government nor the surrounding culture - can tell you what to believe. All people are free to reach their own conclusions about faith.
Area students who want to participate in national Bring Your Bible to School Day on Thursday can do so freely, local superintendents said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is taking up a First Amendment clash over the government's refusal to register offensive trademarks, a case that could affect the Washington Redskins in their legal fight over the team name.
HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) — A judge is allowing a lawsuit alleging a Roman Catholic school in New Jersey fired an employee because she's married to a woman to move forward.
URBANA, Ill. (AP) - Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz had just finished walking in a July 4th parade when her assistant told her a central Illinois man had been arrested on suspicion of burning an American flag.
NEW YORK (AP) — An editor of a Turkish daily newspaper who was sentenced to nearly six years in prison after reporting allegations that Turkey sought to supply weapons to Syrian opposition groups is among the recipients of the 2016 International Press Freedom Awards.
WASHINGTON (TNS) — Under pressure, the Obama administration reversed course Monday and released full transcripts of the 911 calls made by the Orlando, Fla., shooter to police during his June 12 shooting rampage at a gay nightclub.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday quizzed attorneys for North Carolina's largest public university why constitutional free-speech protections allow the school to require students who want to engage others in extended debate or proselytizing to secure a permit.
AMITE, La. (AP) — A Louisiana chapter of the NAACP wants a school superintendent and three school board members to resign after a high school valedictorian was blocked from participating in graduation for refusing to shave his beard.
Have you ever been SLAPP’d?
The rising global furor over the trove of financial records and other documents contained in the Panama Papers also speaks to any number of Digital Age canards about journalism and a free press.
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's term-limited Gov. Nathan Deal took a stand against his own party and averted threatened boycotts by major corporations on Monday by announcing his veto of a "religious freedom" bill.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging a ban on letters, magazines and other mail sent to inmates at a Kentucky prison that contains material with gay-related content.
TUCSON, Ariz. — Donald Trump’s presidential campaign will add security to larger events so campaign staffers don’t assist in removing protesters, as boisterous confrontations between the Republican front-runner’s supporters and detractors escalate.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Republican lawmaker is defending his comments that free speech rights on Tennessee college campuses should apply to everyone — even recruiters for the Islamic State group.
NEW YORK (AP) — Nico Deyo, a 33-year-old e-commerce specialist from Milwaukee, used to enjoy mixing it up with players from around the world in the popular online fantasy game "World of Warcraft." Then a stalker began harassing her on the game's forums, impersonating her in the game and, lat…
(Editor's note: This is one of several stories by The Associated Press, McClatchy and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel marking Sunshine Week, an annual celebration of access to public information.)
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont lawmakers are looking to expand the anti-stalking statute to cover instances in which a person "observes" or "monitors" another. But some see the changes as impinging on constitutionally protected free expression.
PHOENIX (AP) — The House is set to debate two measures protecting students' rights to free speech on college campuses.
When a group of armed men took over a wildlife refuge in Oregon on Jan. 2, the story was broken by a right-wing YouTube talk show host named Peter Santilli.
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (AP) — Springfield motorists could face a $50 fine for paying panhandlers, which members of the America Civil Liberties Union say may be unlawful.
CHICAGO (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former investigator for Chicago's Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates police shootings.
WASHINGTON — When the U.S. Supreme Court last summer gave same-sex couples the right to marry, Republican Rep. Raul Labrador of Idaho said Congress should move quickly to protect the religious liberty of citizens who believe in traditional marriage.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti's outgoing president has released a brash pop song jeering at his critics and aiming sexually suggestive lyrics at his main target, an award-winning female journalist.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri lawmaker is touting a bill he said will protect the state's student journalists from censorship, written in part as a response to a recent confrontation between a University of Missouri assistant professor and a student videographer during protests on campus.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A high school student who was displaying a Confederate flag on the vehicle he drove to school has been told he can no longer show the flag on school property.
Can a state force pharmacists to prescribe abortion-inducing drugs at the expense of their religious beliefs? This is the central issue in a case the Supreme Court may agree to hear in its next term.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge ruled Friday that Iowa State University administrators violated the constitutional free speech rights of student members of a pro-marijuana group by barring them from using the university logos on T-shirts.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A theater is suing the Idaho State Police for threatening to revoke its liquor license after the theater served alcohol while showing "Fifty Shades of Grey."
WASHINGTON — Not much is expected in the final year of a presidential administration, especially one marked by partisan gridlock.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a pro-Israel group that wants to put ads on Boston-area mass transit that authorities rejected as inflammatory.
