CBLDF Joins Challenge To Alaska Censorship Law


Posted Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

CBLDF joins a coalition of organizations and local booksellers filing suit to block a broad Alaska censorship law that bans constitutionally protected speech on the Internet on topics including contraception and pregnancy, sexual health, literature, and art and also threatens retailers of books, magazines, movies and other media.

Signed in May by Governor Parnell and effective July 1, the law, Section 11.61.128 of the Alaska Statutes, imposes two severe restrictions on the distribution of constitutionally protected speech on the Internet and in book and video stores and libraries. The law could make anyone who operates a website or communicates through a listserv criminally liable for nudity or sexually related material, if the material can be considered “harmful to minors” under the law’s definition. In effect, it bans from the Internet anything that may be “harmful to minors,” including material adults have a First Amendment right to view. Also, a bookseller, video retailer, or librarian can be prosecuted if he or she is unaware that it contains nudity or sexual content and unknowingly sells, rents, or loans a book, video, magazine or other media to a minor whether online or in a brick and mortar location. Violators of either part of the law can be sentenced to up to two years in prison, must register as sex offenders and could be forced to forfeit their business.

“This overbroad and unconstitutional law is a clear and present danger to cartoonists and retailers in the State of Alaska,” says CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein. “The internet is the modern marketplace of ideas, and this law infringes on the ability of artists to present works they feel are within their rights to offer online. Likewise, the penalties to retailers are too severe. No retailer can know the contents of each and every book they sell, and the risk of prison time and being listed as a sex offender for selling the wrong book to the wrong customer will impose an impermissible chill on their right to sell protected speech.”

Plaintiffs in the suit against state attorney general Daniel Sullivan are the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Alaska Library Association, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, the Association of American Publishers, Bosco’s Inc. the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Don Douglas Photography, the Entertainment Merchants Association, Fireside Books, the Freedom To Read Foundation, and Title Wave Books.

Since there is no way for websites to determine the age of an Internet browser and there is no way to block Internet users from Alaska regardless of the location from which the website originates, the law threatens Internet users nationwide and even worldwide. The suit seeks to have the law declared unconstitutional and void on its face, and to enjoin the state from enforcing it, on the basis of the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, and the Constitution’s Commerce Clause.

“While this Act may have been motivated by the desire to protect children from sexual predators on the Internet, its effect is much broader,” said Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the ACLU of Alaska. “Its inevitable effect, if permitted to stand, is that Internet content providers will limit the range of their speech. There are no reasonable technological means that allows Internet users to ascertain the age of anyone who might access their online communications and then restrict access for minors.”

In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Reno v. ACLU to invalidate a federal law, the “Communications Decency Act,” on First Amendment grounds, because it similarly restricted online communication. In 2003, the Third Circuit invalidated a second such federal law, the “Child Online Protection Act,” in ACLU v. Mukasey. Additionally, seven state laws containing similar content-based restrictions for online communication have now been struck down or enjoined as unconstitutional, in cases brought by Media Coalition members and ACLU affiliates in Virginia, Vermont, Michigan, New Mexico, Arizona, South Carolina, and New York.

“Courts have repeatedly rejected laws that lead to this sort of self-censorship,” said Michael Bamberger of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, general counsel of Media Coalition and counsel in the case. “We should have adequate safeguards to protect children, but those safeguards cannot unreasonably interfere with the rights of adults to access materials protected by the First Amendment.”

The plaintiffs in the case represent a range of speakers, content providers, and access providers who post and discuss online content such as resources on preventing HIV transmission, visual art and images, literature, and books and resources for gay and lesbian people. If this law is struck down, it will not limit the state’s ability to prosecute child pornography, speech intended to entice minors into inappropriate activity, or harassing speech.

Robert Corn-Revere Named CBLDF Legal Counsel


Posted Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is pleased to announce the engagement of Robert Corn-Revere as the organization’s new legal counsel. Bob will lead the CBLDF’s legal program, serving as the first responder to First Amendment emergencies that come to the organization’s attention, as well as providing guidance and assistance to the comics community on legal issues that impact their First Amendment rights. He succeeds legendary First Amendment advocate Burton Joseph, who passed away earlier this year.

Corn-Revere is one of the country’s most prominent First Amendment experts, with extensive publications and litigation experience. He is a partner in the firm Davis Wright Tremaine for whom he specializes in First Amendment law and communications, media and information technology law. His litigation highlights include serving as co-counsel for respondent in U.S. v. Stevens, in which the Supreme Court invalidated a federal law prohibiting depictions of “animal cruelty” as a violation of the First Amendment; and as lead counsel in United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc., where the Court struck down Section 505 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. He currently is serving as counsel for CBS in litigation against the FCC in cases challenging fines arising from the 2004 Super Bowl half-time show, and the FCC’s application of broadcast indecency rules to “fleeting expletives.” He also successfully petitioned Governor George E. Pataki to grant the first posthumous pardon in New York history, to the late comedian Lenny Bruce in a landmark pro bono case.

On joining the CBLDF as counsel, Corn-Revere says, “It is an honor to be asked to advise and support the comic book industry, which has been no stranger to significant First Amendment challenges over the years. It is particularly meaningful to me to follow in the footsteps of my friend and mentor Burt Joseph. I only hope to live up to his example.”

CBLDF President Larry Marder says, “The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund strives to provide the comics industry with the best First Amendment advocacy and education possible, and with Bob joining our team, we’re poised to do that job better than ever!”

CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein says, “Bob joining as counsel completes a trifecta in terms of establishing changes that will allow us to better perform our mission. The Board of Directors adding Dale Cendali, a leading intellectual property attorney, to serve alongside entertainment attorney and long-time board member Louise Nemschoff, gives us a solid trust of legal talent to draw from at the Board level. Creating the Advisory Chair for Education and Outreach and appointing Betsy Rosenblatt, the Director of the Center for Intellectual Property Law at Whittier Law School, gives us the ability to better channel the resources of volunteers to create more and better education tools. Bob is an exciting addition to that group. His extensive experience and passion for the First Amendment rounds out the Fund’s powerhouse legal team, and insures that we’ll be able to serve the comics community even better in the years to come!”

More on Bob Corn-Revere

CBLDF Announces Changes To Board of Directors


Posted Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund announces changes to its Board of Directors made at the board’s meeting at Comic-Con International. Chris Powell stepped down as President, citing successfully meeting the goals he set upon taking the presidency in April of 2009 as the reason for the change. Powell will remain on the Board as a director. Larry Marder, the creator of Beanworld, and editor of CBLDF’s Liberty Annual 2010 was elected to succeed Powell as President. Dale Cendali, a nationally recognized leader in the field of intellectual property, joins the Board as a director.

On leaving the presidency, Chris Powell says, “I always had specific goals for the Fund that I wanted to accomplish during my term as President, and thanks to the solid efforts of my fellow board members, and the CBLDF office, we’ve been able to meet those goals in just over a year. Specifically, we relocated into a larger space that will allow us to perform our program work better, got a new website up and running, streamlined our donation processing to make our donors’ experience better, and implemented new policies that will guide the Fund as a growing organization. I’m comfortable stepping aside now to focus more on my other pursuits, and to see Larry Marder help guide the Fund into new heights of fundraising and outreach.”

Larry Marder was elected unanimously as Powell’s successor. Entering the position, Marder says, “I’m a life long believer in the words of the First Amendment. Freedom of speech is not a privilege –it is a constitutionally guaranteed right to every American regardless of his or her political beliefs. Attempts to censor artistic expression must always be challenged.” Marder adds, “2011 will be the 25th anniversary of the founding of the CBLDF. Now, as then, it is our responsibility to remain vigilant and aggressively protect the First Amendment rights of the entire comic book community of creators, retailers, publishers, and readers. I’ll continue to work hard to maintain and expand our relationships with that community, and to oversee the Fund as a transparent, responsive force for good in this industry.”

Dale Cendali joined the board at the meeting. Cendali is a partner in the prestigious law firm of Kirkland & Ellis, where she heads the firm’s Copyright, Trademark and Internet Practice Group. She has successfully litigated and tried numerous high profile cases and has argued before the United States Supreme Court. Her clients include myriad prominent individuals and companies who rely on her for her expertise in copyright, trademark, patent, Internet, trade secrets, defamation, false advertising, privacy and contractual matters. She has extensive experience representing clients in the entertainment, consumer products and technology sectors. Managing Intellectual Property Magazine named her trial victory for J.K. Rowling in the well-known “lexicon” fair use case the “Copyright Trial of the Year.” When she is not trying cases, Dale is an avid comic book collector and fan and has been since she was five years old. She is a big believer in comics as an artform and is deeply committed to the arts since her days as President of the Yale Dramatic Association.

Cendali says, “I am honored to be joining this distinguished group and in helping the CBLDF fulfill its mission supporting comic books and their creators.”

Under the leadership of Larry Marder, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s board is: Joe Ferrara – Vice President, Milton Griepp – Treasurer, Louise Nemschoff – Secretary, Dale Cendali, Peter David, Neil Gaiman, Steve Geppi, Paul Levitz, and Chris Powell.

Introducing CBLDF's Education & Outreach Initiative


Posted Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

By Betsy Rosenblatt

As an advocacy group, the CBLDF spends most of its time handling emergencies when they come in: a creator, retailer, library, or reader gets threatened, arrested, or sued, and the CBLDF goes to work, helping with legal arguments and litigation costs. But what if someone is prosecuted and doesn’t know about the CBLDF before it’s too late—they’ve lost a case, settled for a lot of money, or—even more frightening—gone to jail. We can’t help unless people know about us, know their rights, and know how to protect themselves. So what we want to do now, as Executive Director Charles Brownstein said, is to “harness the energy that we use for fighting a case to make tools that help prevent future battles from occurring.”

How do we do that? Every time the CBLDF goes on the road (and sometimes even when we don’t), we hear “what can I do to help”? Until recently, the answer typically was “donate money.” That hasn’t changed—we still need money!—but lately, the CBLDF has been looking into other ways that people can pitch in, too. We’re in the process of building information resources (to be available on the CBLDF website and in hard copy for distribution at conventions and other live events) that will give people ideas for how they can get involved. We are looking for your help in building these resources.

So—how can you help? Here are a few ideas:

* Apply to be part of the CBLDF’s Advisory Legal Committee or Advisory Library Committee. The CBLDF is particularly interested in getting the word out to lawyers and librarians. These two committees will help the CBLDF reach out to the legal and library communities by writing informational materials, responding to queries, spreading the word, and helping to plan events. If you are interested in being a part of either committee, send an e-mail to outreach@CBLDF.org with information on why you should be put on the committee, including your name, contact information, qualifications, relevant experience, and ideas for what you’d do to help.

* Host a CBLDF party. Invite your friends and be creative! Swap comic books, serve comics-related food or beverages have a raffle or auction to raise money for the CBLDF . . . the possibilities are endless. For larger-scale events, the CBLDF may be able to send someone to speak. For events of any size, the CBLDF is working on materials including a “How to Host a CBLDF Party” information sheet on how to get information from the CBLDF, how to plan an event, and how to send us the proceeds.

* Host or attend a CBLDF information session The CBLDF is interested in training people to do presentations about the CBLDF and our First Amendment work. If you are interested in being such a person—or holding a training session—let us know at outreach@CBLDF.org.

* Make the CBLDF the beneficiary of your eBay auctions, and shop CBLDF on eBay. When you set up an eBay auction, you can give 10% to 100% of the final auction value to the Fund by using eBay Giving Works. The CBLDF has been a recognized charity on eBay since 2007, our nonprofit ID is 19329. Not only will the sale benefit the CBLDF, but also your auction may be featured on the CBLDF website, which will draw more potential bidders. Information, instructions, and shopping links to all CBLDF auctions are available at http://bit.ly/givingworks

* Social Network the CBLDF. Link to CBLDF in your blog. Profess your “like” for the CBLDF on Facebook (where you can also find CBLDF-related Facebook posts and events). Tweet about the CBLDF and follow @cbldf on Twitter.

* Select the CBLDF as the benecifiary of a charitable wedding. The I Do Foundation allows marrying couples and their guests to make wedding-related purchases that generate donations for the CBLDF or to make donations in lieu of gifts. Of course, weddings aren’t the only opportunities for planned giving—for more information on bequests, gifts of stock, and other sorts of planned giving to the CBLDF, contact CBLDF Development Manager Cheyenne Allott at cheyenne.allott@CBLDF.org.

Do you have an education or outreach idea of your own that you think we should add to the list? Let us know at outreach@CBLDF.org.

A Word from CBLDF's Advisory Chair For Education & Outreach


Posted Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

Hello!

I’m Betsy Rosenblatt, the new CBLDF Advisory Chair for Outreach and Education. What does that mean? It means that I’ll be volunteering for the CBLDF—and, I hope, working with some of you—to get the word about the CBLDF out to new communities: lawyers, librarians, donors,
readers, and everyone else.

Here’s a little about me: I’m a law professor and reader of comics. After graduating from Harvard Law School, I worked for nearly a decade at a large Los Angeles law firm before making the jump to academia. Now, I teach and direct the Center for Intellectual Property
Law at Whittier Law School (in Costa Mesa, California). On my comics shelves are a wide range of titles: indies, major imprints, manga…

I’m volunteering for the CBLDF because I care about comics and I care about free speech—the freedom of creators to create, the freedom of retailers to sell, and the freedom of readers to read. These freedoms should just happen naturally, but we know from experience that sometimes they don’t—they need help from organizations like the CBLDF, and I want to help. I know that there are a lot of people out there who, like me, care about the mission of the CBLDF—not just comics creators, publishers, and retailers, but everyone who reads comics and even those who don’t read comics but still understand the importance of living in a society with the freedom to express oneself, to create, and to read. Many of these people know about the CBLDF, what it does, and why it’s important, but many of them don’t—and that’s what the CBLDF’s outreach and education program aims to fix.

Over the coming weeks and months, we will be rolling out our own ideas for how you and others can get involved—not only by donating money, but also by being part of the CBLDF community: making the CBLDF a beneficiary of an eBay auction; boosting the CBLDF’s signal on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking outlets; hosting events; and helping to create educational materials. But our ideas are just part of the picture: If you have ideas for how people can get involved, let us know at outreach@CBLDF.org.

Thanks!

– Betsy Rosenblatt

CBLDF Joins Challenge to Massachusetts Internet Censorship Law


Posted Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund joined a coalition of organizations and local booksellers today in filing suit to block a broad Massachusetts censorship law that bans constitutionally protected speech on the Internet for topics including contraception and pregnancy, sexual health, literature, and art.

Signed in April by Governor Patrick and effective yesterday, the law, Chapter 74 of the Acts of 2010, imposes severe restrictions on the distribution of constitutionally protected speech on the Internet. The law could make anyone who operates a website or communicates through a listserv criminally liable for nudity or sexually related material, if the material can be considered “harmful to minors” under the law’s definition. In effect, it bans from the Internet anything that may be “harmful to minors,” including material adults have a First Amendment right to view. Violators can be fined $10,000 or sentenced to up to five years in prison, or both.

“The Internet is the new gallery, the new museum,” said Glenn Ruga, executive director of the Photographic Resource Center in Boston. “This law infringes on our right to present images that we feel are vital to free expression and within bounds of socially acceptable imagery, yet someone with no particular legal authority may decide to be harmful for children.”

“The risk of five years in prison or a $10,000 fine will certainly have a chilling effect on booksellers with websites that describe their books available online or in a store,” said Chris Finan, President of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE). “Most bookstores are small businesses, and it is very likely that booksellers will try to avoid problems by engaging in self-censorship.”

“This law infringes on the rights of artists who are using the comics medium as a means of expression, and the retailers who sell that expression,” said CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein. “This law makes both artists and retailers vulnerable to prosecution, and creates a strong threat of self-censorship.”

Plaintiffs in the suit against state attorney general Martha Coakley and Massachusetts district attorneys are the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, the Association of American Publishers, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, the Harvard Book Store, the Photographic Resource Center, Porter Square Books, and licensed marriage and family therapist Marty Klein.

Since there is no way for websites to determine the age of an Internet browser and there is no way to block Internet users from Massachusetts regardless of the location the website originates from, the law threatens Internet users nationwide and even worldwide. The suit seeks to have the law declared unconstitutional and void on its face, and to enjoin the state from enforcing it, on the basis of the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, and the Constitution’s Commerce Clause.

“Courts have repeatedly rejected laws that lead to this sort of self-censorship,” said Michael Bamberger of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, general counsel of Media Coalition and counsel in the case. “We should have adequate safeguards to protect children, but those safeguards cannot unreasonably interfere with the rights of adults to access materials protected by the First Amendment.”

In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Reno v. ACLU to invalidate a federal law, the “Communications Decency Act,” on First Amendment grounds, because it similarly restricted online communication. In 2003, the Third Circuit invalidated a second such federal law, the “Child Online Protection Act,” in ACLU v. Mukasey. Additionally, seven state laws containing similar content-based restrictions for online communication have now been struck down or enjoined as unconstitutional, in cases brought by Media Coalition members and ACLU state chapters in Virginia, Vermont, Michigan, New Mexico, Arizona, South Carolina, and New York. An eighth such state law was challenged in Ohio and was substantially narrowed to not apply to websites, listserves, and public chatrooms.

The plaintiffs in the case represent a range of speakers, content providers, and access providers who post and discuss online content such as resources on preventing HIV transmission, visual art and images, literature, and books and resources for gay and lesbian people. If this law is struck down, it will not limit the state’s ability to prosecute obscenity, child pornography, speech intended to entice minors into inappropriate activity, or harassing speech.

CBLDF Relocates New York Headquarters!


Posted Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is pleased to announce that it is relocating its headquarters to a larger space in New York City. Effective June 1, the new CBLDF address is

255 W. 36th Street,
Suite 501,
New York, NY 10018.

All other contact information remains the same. The CBLDF will be closed until Monday, June 7 while setting up the new office, but can still be reached by emailing info@cbldf.org, or leaving a voice message at 212.679.7151 or 800-99-CBLDF.

Because of the office relocation, fulfillment of memberships and premiums is delayed. If you have already placed an order and it is behind, please feel free to email info@cbldf.org with concerns or questions. If you are interested in placing an order today, please note that our fulfillment operations will resume on Wednesday, June 9th. Thank you for your patience and support during this transition.

“Relocating to the heart of the Midtown West neighborhood into this new space is an essential part of the CBLDF’s growth campaign,” says CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein. “Our new space will allow us to open up to wider options of volunteer programs, fundraising and education work, and to improve our efficiency to better serve our contributors.”

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1986 as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of First Amendment rights for members of the comics community. They have defended dozens of Free Expression cases in courts across the United States, and led important education initiatives promoting comics literacy and free expression. For additional information, donations, and other inquiries call 800-99-CBLDF or visit them online at www.cbldf.org.

Danish Cartoonist Attacked During Free Speech Lecture for Exercising Free Speech


Posted Thursday, May 13th, 2010

By Alex Goldman


Lars Vilks, a Swedish artist whose depictions of Muhammad have made him the target of threats and an alleged assassination plot, was attacked on Tuesday during a speaking engagement at Stockholm’s Uppsala University.  Police used pepper spray and batons on protesters as they escorted Vilks from the lecture hall. Vilks, who was giving a lecture about free speech has said that he would  like to reschedule the lecture if Uppsala University would allow him.

The controversy stems from a series of drawings Vilks did in 2007 depicting Muhammad as what is called a “roundabout dog,” a popular form of Swedish art installation. After the Swedish newspaper Nerikes Allehanda printed one of the drawings in this series, it gained international attention as well as international criticism, causing several middle eastern governments to condemn Vilks just a year and a half after the international controversy surrounding the printing of Muhammad cartoons in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

New York cartoonist Matt Davies, a supporter of Vilks, is quoted in a Washington Post article vociferously defending Vilks’ right to discuss issues that may break Muslim religious taboos:

New York cartoonist Matt Davies…told [the Washington Post] of the attack: “Obviously there is an active fault line between our Western culture’s penchant for rigorous intellectual debate and the Islamic world’s desire to not have a rigorous intellectual debate.

“From what I understand: When he was attacked, Vilks was showing a video that dealt with homosexuality in Iran, which, like drawing pictures of Muhammad, is considered by Islamic adherents to be taboo.

“Nonetheless,” Davies continued, “no matter what a person’s position is on any given subject, as soon as they resort to violence, they are acknowledging that their verbal argument is unsupportable.

Since the attack, Vilks’ blog has been hacked, and all content replaced with a message about his drawings of Muhammad. Vilks has been resolute in his desire to continue lecturing in the face of these threats. “What you get is a mob deciding what can be discussed at the university,” Vilks told the Associated Press. “I’m ready to go up again. This must be carried through. You cannot allow it to be stopped.”

Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan and The First Amendment


Posted Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

By Alex Goldman

On Monday, Barack Obama selected Elena Kagan, current Solicitor General of the United States, as his Supreme Court nominee to fill the seat on the court left vacant by departing justice John Paul Stevens. While the media has released a torrent of analysis about everything from her educational background to her personal life, The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is, of course, most concerned with her scholarship and advocacy on First Amendment issues. Scholarly opinion on Kagan’s treatment of the First Amendment seem to be split.

Eugene Volokh, law professor at UCLA, First Amendment scholar, and founder of the blog The Volokh Conspiracy, has reviewed Kagan’s First Amendment scholarship and finds himself coming away impressed even when he disagrees in profound ways with her conclusions. In particular, he finds that “Kagan’s First Amendment work suggests a general acceptance of current free speech law, and an attempt to better understand it and make it more internally consistent rather than to radically change it.” Additionally, from her scholarship on the legal concept of obscenity, Volokh thinks it’s unlikely that she will take significant steps to change those rules as they currently exist:

while she might tolerate some restrictions on pornography — probably limited to pornography that depicts violent sex — it seems likely that she won’t go much beyond (and likely not at all beyond) restrictions on pornography that already fits within the “obscenity” exception. I am no fan of the obscenity exception, chiefly because of its nearly lawless vagueness. But while it sounds like Kagan probably wouldn’t vote to get rid of the exception, or even go so far as Stevens to argue that obscenity could only be punished through civil enforcement and not the criminal law, it also sounds like Kagan probably wouldn’t materially expand the exception, or create similar exceptions to join it.

In an article on the Hollywood Reporter blog, provocatively titled, “Why Hollywood should be very nervous about Elena Kagan,” author Eriq Gardner cites what he sees as her advocacy of fair use, the legal rules that allow use of copyrighted works for criticism, commentary, parody, and teaching purposes. In her tenure as the Dean of Harvard Law School, she recruited Lawrence Lessig, one of the country’s most outspoken proponents of fair use and looser copyright restrictions, and she has written opinions as Solicitor General against major Hollywood studios in which she specifically invoked fair use.

However, Kagan has also issued opinions in her tenure as Solicitor General that have some First Amendment scholars worried. David L. Hudson Jr. of the First Amendment Center notes her support of a broad, vague law that bans depictions of animal cruelty, recently struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. It’s important to note that as Solicitor General, it’s her job to take the position of the government before the Supreme Court whether or not it reflects her opinion personally. “All attorneys are required to represent their sides zealously,” says Robert Richards, director of the Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment Center. “It is more instructive to look at potential justices’ speeches and writings to get a glimpse into their own ideologies, temperament and philosophy of jurisprudence.”

Still, some critics have noted that her arguments on behalf of the government have gone above and beyond in attempting to limit speech. In a recent interview on NPR’s On the Media (full disclosure – I work for On the Media as an assistant producer), Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone singles out her argument as incredibly and unnecessarily overbroad:

what Kagan’s argument invited was casting aside this very rigid, contained analysis of value and instead opened the door to a much more freewheeling approach. And it was a really dangerous – that’s Chief Justice Roberts’ words – it really was a dangerous argument for the Solicitor General to make. It would have, if accepted, completely revolutionized a large part of First Amendment doctrine, losing the gains we’ve made throughout the 20th century.

Northeastern University Journalism Professor Dan Kennedy also takes issue with her support of a ban of military recruiters from the Harvard campus during her tenure as dean. While she did not create the rule, according to Kennedy her support of keeping it in place became an issue in her confirmation.

If she is confirmed, it remains to be seen how she will decide on First Amendment cases that come before her. Having never been a sitting judge, Kagan doesn’t have a history of jurisprudence that we can reference to anticipate her opinions. More will likely come out during her confirmation hearings, but in the meantime, SCOTUS Blog’s massive article on Kagan contains links to several pieces of her writing on First Amendment issues.

Bone Survives School Library Challenge!


Posted Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

UPDATE: Jeff Smith responds to school board

Twincities.com reports that the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school district has voted 10 to 1 that the graphic novel series Bone should not be banned in its schools.

The graphic novel series came under fire earlier this month when parent Ramona DeLay objected to the series’ placement in the school libraries because it contains depictions of adults smoking, drinking, and gambling.

Melinda Martin, the school district’s media specialist told twincities.com:

“It’s important to understand selection from censorship,” she said. “I respect her right to object to the series, but not for her to censor it for the rest. I feel you would be doing a disservice to our district if you remove this book from our elementary schools.”

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund applauds the school district for the fair hearing Bone received, and its decision to keep the series in its collection.

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Seth Kushner Photography