First Amendment February at the U.S. Supreme Court

My latest South Carolina Press Association column:

February may be the shortest month, but it is full of arguments in major First Amendment cases at the U.S. Supreme Court. And while none of the cases directly involve the media, whenever the High Court considers a free speech case there is the possibility of major impact on First Amendment law generally.

7th Circuit Holds Blogger Can Be Prosecuted For Threatening Juror

(cross posted at the Citizen Media Law Project)
An alleged white supremacist can be prosecuted under a federal solicitation statute for posting on his blog the name, address and photograph of a juror who helped convict the "leader of a white supremacist organization" of soliciting the murder of a federal district court judge and obstruction of justice, the federal Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held in a ruling in late June. U.S. v. White, No. 09-2916 (7th Cir. 2010).

Prosecutors Get Creative Online

The Internet Cases blog reports on a California appeals court decision allowing prosecution under the state's "false personation" statute (Cal. Penal Code section 529) of a man who created a fake MySpace profile of a church pastor, including statements that the pastor has engaged in homosexual activity and drug use. 

New Jersey Federal Judge Finds No Defamation in Homosexuality

(cross posted at the Citizen Media Law Project) 
On March 29, 2010, U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano of the federal court for New Jersey dismissed a defamation claim brought by freelance photographer Peter Murphy against two radio "shock jocks" who alleged that was homosexual. Murphy v. Millennium Radio, Civil No. 08-1743 (D. N.J. 2010).