The video game industry scored one for free speech recently when it convinced the South Australian government to remove misleading anti-video game billboards. Despite research to the contrary, these billboards attempted to claim that video games are are a gateway…
Author: Eric Margolis
NY District Court Upholds Government’s Right to Search Laptops at the Border
In 2010, a graduate student named Pascal Abidor was traveling from Canada to New York when he was removed from his train and detained by American border agents. In addition to being handcuffed and questioned, his laptop was also seized.…
Student Newspaper Apologizes for Allegedly Racist Cartoon
Sports fans all over the country were baffled over Auburn University’s recent defeat of the University of Alabama in the Iron Bowl. As a result, the University of Alabama’s student newspaper, The Crimson White, published a satirical cartoon depicting an…
School Threatens Expulsion of 8-Year-Old Arizona Boy Over Drawings
Last week, as many children throughout the country were celebrating Halloween by dressing up in costumes and trick-or-treating for candy, an 8-year old student at Scottsdale County Day School in Arizona was being threatened with expulsion for his drawings of…
Print Shops Refuse to Print Anti-War Comic Book in the UK
Across the Atlantic Ocean in the United Kingdom, Darren Cullen is currently fighting for his freedom of speech while he struggles to get his new comic book, (Don’t) Join the Army to the printers. The comic is a satirical depiction…
Obscenity Case Files: Jenkins v. Georgia
In 1972, a movie theater manager in Albany, Georgia, was convicted under a Georgia statute for the crime of distributing obscene material for showing the film Carnal Knowledge. The conviction took place during an odd limbo period between the decisions…
Laptop Searches at the U.S. Border Continue to Cause Concern
Imagine going on a relaxing vacation out of the country with friends or family, but upon your return to the United States, your laptop is taken from you by border security for what seems to be no reason at all.…
Obscenity Case Files: Stanley v. Georgia
In previous editions of Obscenity Case Files we looked at cases involving mailing obscene circulars and stores selling obscene books, but we have yet to explore the private possession of obscene materials in one’s own home. In Stanley v. Georgia…
Violent Content Research Act Raises Free Speech Concerns
Video games, the latest scapegoat in the war against gun violence, are being faced with yet another attempt to stifle their First Amendment rights. As a result of the Sandy Hook massacre and other recent tragedies, a new act is…
Obscenity Case Files: Smith v. California
It was established in Roth v. United States that the freedom of speech would not extend to materials that were considered obscene. But what happens to a book store that unknowingly carries books that contain obscene material? Is a book…