Justia Communications Law Opinion Summaries

Protestors, including those concerned with sexual abuse by clergy and those advocating the Catholic ordination of women and acceptance of gay, lesbian, and transgender people, raised a facial First Amendment challenge to Missouri's 2012 House of Worship Protection Act" Mo. Rev. Stat. 574.035, which prohibits intentionally disturbing a "house of worship by using profane discourse, rude or indecent behavior . . . either within the house of worship or so near it as to disturb the order and solemnity of the worship services." The district court upheld the Act. The Eighth Circuit reversed, noting that there was no evidence of actual disturbances to houses of worship or that protesters interfered with churchgoers' entry or exit. The Act draws content based distinctions on the type of expression permitted near a house of worship, forbidding profane discourse and rude or indecent behavior which would disturb the order and solemnity of worship services and runs "a substantial risk of suppressing ideas in the process." It impermissibly requires enforcement authorities to look to the content of the message and cannot survive strict scrutiny since its content-based distinctions are not necessary to achieve an asserted interest in protecting the free exercise of religion. View "Survivors Network v. Joyce" on Justia Law

In 2007, Werkheiser was elected to the three-member Pocono Township Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Hess was elected in 2009; Bengel was elected in 2011. Supervisors are permitted to be employed by the Township. Werkheiser was appointed Township Roadmaster by the Board. Hess, as Chairman of the Board, Secretary, and Treasurer, received $36,000 per year in salary and benefits. In 2012, Hess took 10-days leave. Froio was selected to assume Hess’s administrative duties. Over Werkheiser’s objection, Bengel and Hess voted to hire Froio as Township Administrator, with compensation of $70,000. As Froio’s position developed, Hess’s responsibilities and workload decreased. Hess continued to be paid. Werkheiser objected to creation of a new position with greater expense and to paying Hess when his duties were being performed by Froio. Hess and Bengel began private deliberations to deny Werkheiser reappointment and to replace him with Bengel. In 2013, Werkheiser was formally denied reappointment. Werkheiser sued, asserting First Amendment retaliation and state law violations. The district court reasoned that there were important differences between public employees and elected officials; found that Werkheiser had established a constitutional violation; and denied a motion to dismiss. The Third Circuit held that the defendants were entitled to qualified immunity; the contours of the First Amendment right at issue were not clearly established. View "Werkheiser v. Pocono Township" on Justia Law

In 2010, the House of Representatives passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), by a vote of 219 to 212, following significant debate over whether PPACA included taxpayer funding for abortion. Driehaus, a Representative from Ohio and an anti-abortion Democrat, was an outspoken advocate of the “no taxpayer funding for abortion in the PPACA” movement, insisting that he would not vote for PPACA without inclusion of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, expressly forbidding use of taxpayer funds “to pay for any abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion” except in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the life of the mother. Driehaus voted for the PPACA without the Amendment. President Obama later issued Executive Order 13535: “to … ensure that [f]ederal funds are not used for abortion services … consistent with a longstanding [f]ederal statutory restriction … the Hyde Amendment.” Debate continues as to whether PPACA includes federal funding for abortion. SBA, an anti-abortion public-advocacy organization, publicly criticized Driehaus, among other congressmen, for his vote. Driehaus considered SBA’s statement untrue and filed a complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission, alleging violation of Ohio Revised Code 3517.21(B) (Unfair Political Campaign Activities). OEC found probable cause of a violation. SBA sued, claiming that the statute was an unconstitutional restriction on free speech. Driehaus counterclaimed defamation. Staying the other claims, pending agency action, the district court granted summary judgment, holding that associating a political candidate with a mainstream political position, even if false, cannot constitute defamation. The Sixth Circuit Affirmed. View "Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus" on Justia Law

CenturyLink, a private telecommunications provider, contracted with Clark County to provide inmate telephone services for the Clark County Detention Center (CCDC) and to make records of the inmates’ calls available to the governmental agency operating the jail. Blackjack Bonding, Inc. made a public records request to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD), the governmental entity that runs the CCDC, seeking records regarding calls to all telephone numbers listed on the various bond agent jail lists posted in CCDC for certain years. LVMPD denied the request. Blackjack then sought mandamus relief to compel LVMPD to provide the requested records. The district court (1) granted in part Blackjack’s request, stating that the requested records were public records that LVMPD had a duty to produce; and (2) denied Blackjack’s motion for attorney fees and costs. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding that the district court (1) did not err in granting in part Blackjack’s petition for a writ of mandamus, as the requested information was a public record subject to LVMPD’s legal custody or control; and (2) abused its discretion by refusing to award reasonable attorney fees and costs to Blackjack. View "LVMPD v. Blackjack Bonding" on Justia Law

Animal Legal Defense Fund (plaintiff) sued LT and Frank, the head chef at Napa restaurant La Toque, (defendants), alleging defendants sold foie gras in their Napa restaurant in violation of Health and Safety Code 25982. Frank has been a vocal opponent of the 2004 ban on foie gras. After the ban went into effect, plaintiff paid an investigator to dine at La Toque three times; each time he requested foie gras and was told that if he ordered an expensive tasting menu he would receive foie gras. Twice it was described as a “gift” from the chef. He ordered the tasting menus and was served foie gras. He was not told he was served foie gras in protest against the ban and was not provided information about defendants’ opposition to the ban. The city declined to prosecute. Defendants unsuccessfully moved to strike under the anti-SLAPP statute, Code of Civil Procedure, 425.16. The court of appeal affirmed, construing the term “sold” in Section 25982 to encompass serving foie gras as part of a tasting menu, regardless of whether there is a separate charge, whether it is listed on the menu, and whether it is characterized as a “gift,” plaintiff established a probability of prevailing on its claim. View "Animal Legal Def. Fund v. LT Napa Partners, LLC" on Justia Law

Officer Matthews sued, alleging that the City of New York retaliated against him for speaking to his commanding officers about an arrest quota policy at his precinct. The district court granted the defendants summary judgment, holding that Matthews spoke as a public employee, not as a citizen, and that his speech was, therefore, not protected by the First Amendment. The Second Circuit vacated, reasoning that because Matthews’s comments on precinct policy did not fall within his official duties and because he elected a channel with a civilian analogue to pursue his complaint, he spoke as a citizen. View "Matthews v. City of New York" on Justia Law

Time Warner Cable buys content from programmers, who require it to offer their channels as part of TW’s enhanced basic cable programming tier. TW paid the Lakers $3 billion for licensing rights to televise Lakers games for 20 years. Subscription rates rose by $5 a month as result. TW paid the Dodgers $8 billion for the licensing rights to televise games for 25 years, raising monthly rates by another $4. Subscribers filed a class action lawsuit, alleging that the arrangement violated the unfair competition law (Bus. & Prof. Code 17200) because: acquisition of licensing rights to the games made TW both programmer and distributor; surveys showed that more than 60 percent of the population would not pay separately to watch the games; there were no valid reasons for bundling sports stations into the enhanced basic cable tier instead of offering them separately; TW expanded the reach of this scheme by selling its rights to the games to other providers, requiring those providers to include the channels as part of their enhanced basic tiers; and the teams knew the increased costs would be passed on to unwilling subscribers and were intended beneficiaries of these arrangements. The court of appeal affirmed dismissal: regulations implementing federal communications statutes expressly preempt the suit. View "Fischer v. Time Warner Cable Inc." on Justia Law

Knight, a member of the International Longshoremen’s Association, was financial secretary for the Local. In 2000, he distributed a flier stating the Local was hosting the Worker’s Coalition. McBride, director of Diamond State Port Corporation (which operates the Port of Wilmington where Union members work) offered to be a speaker and contributed $500 to the hotel hosting the meeting. The Union’s national vice president, Paylor, told McBride that Worker’s Coalition was not affiliated with the Union. McBride withdrew as a speaker, but he did not seek return of the $500. Knight filed Union charges against Paylor for interfering with the Local. Paylor counter-charged, alleging frivolous claims and using the Union name without permission. A hearing board cleared Paylor, but decided that Knight committed violations. Knight filed suit. On first remand, the district court ordered and the Union created a new policy and held a new hearing. The Union did not comply with an order to change its constitution. On second appeal, the Third Circuit held that Knight’s due process rights were not violated in the second hearing, but the district court awarded Knight attorney’s fees ($243,758.34), costs, and interest, reasoning that, because of Knight’s suit, Union members: can no longer be disciplined for harmless references to the Union name or logo; are more aware of disciplinary hearing due process rights; and, are properly informed about the Act. On third appeal, the Third Circuit affirmed. View "McBride v. Int'l Longshoremens Ass'n" on Justia Law

Bob has been the pastor of Visalia’s Calvary Chapel Church for 35 years; he wrote a book, “A Common Miracle,” runs a website to teach the Bible, hosts a radio show, and volunteers as a police chaplain. Bob has been married since 1977 and has four children, including Alex, a stepson who Bob raised since Alex was three years old. In 2004-2005, Alex accused Bob of emotionally and physically abusing him and his brothers. Tim joined the Church in 2005 and began an online discussion about Bob. Alex added comments. In 2010, Alex created his own website/blog where he writes about Bob and Calvary Chapel. Tim contributes comments. The two referred to Bob’s drug dealing, drug smuggling, child abuse, stealing money from the church, and spiritual abuse. Denying a motion to dismiss Bob’s defamation suit as a strategic lawsuit against public participation under Code of Civil Procedure 425.16, the trial court concluded that the alleged defamatory statements concerned an issue of public interest and that Bob was a limited purpose public figure, but that Bob had shown a probability of prevailing on the merits. The court of appeal affirmed, while holding that Bob is not a limited purpose public figure. View "Grenier v. Taylor" on Justia Law

The Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), 18 U.S.C. 2721, prohibits individuals from knowingly obtaining or disclosing “personal information” from a motor vehicle record. Chicago police officers brought suit against Sun-Times Media, alleging that the publishing company violated the DPPA by obtaining each officer’s birth date, height, weight, hair color, and eye color from the Illinois Secretary of State’s motor vehicle records, and publishing that information in a newspaper article that criticized a homicide investigation lineup in which the officers participated. Sun-Times unsuccessfully moved to dismiss the officers’ complaint, arguing that the published information does not constitute “personal information” within the meaning of the DPPA, or, in the alternative, that the statute’s prohibition on acquiring and disclosing personal information from driving records violates the First Amendment’s guarantees of free speech and freedom of the press. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. DPPA’s definition of “personal information” extends to the details Sun-Times published here; Sun-Times possesses no constitutional right either to obtain the officers’ personal information from government records or to subsequently publish that unlawfully obtained information. View "Dahlstrom v. Sun-Times Media, LLC" on Justia Law