Month: November 2017

Baltimore DA Allowed to Fire Assistant DA for Supporting Political Opponent

Keri Borzilleri was an Assistant State’s Attorney in Baltimore when elections were held for the office of State’s Attorney (her superior’s office) in 2014.  In the Democratic primaries of that election, Borzilleri publicly supported incumbent Gregg Bernstein over his challenger Marilyn Mosby who won the primaries and, in November, the general election.  A day after… Read More Baltimore DA Allowed to Fire Assistant DA for Supporting Political Opponent

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California Allowed to Ban Liquor Advertising in Liquor Stores

Huh? Banning liquor ads in liquor stores? Yes. That’s what California does. The state law goes back several decades to when (apparently) large alcohol manufacturers tried to use their market power to control distributors and retailers.  That law is still on the books, and is part of California’s three-tiered market system for alcohol: manufacture, distribution, and… Read More California Allowed to Ban Liquor Advertising in Liquor Stores

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Police Okay to Remove Protesters from Missouri Highway Overpass

This is another highway-overpass-protests case. In 2013, in St. Charles, Missouri — about 30 minutes northwest of St. Louis — Jimmy Duane Weed participated in a protest of President Obama’s policies on a highway overpass.  Weed and his fellow protestors held signs directed at the traffic beneath them. After the protestors arrived on the overpass,… Read More Police Okay to Remove Protesters from Missouri Highway Overpass

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Court Upholds Ordinance Banning Signs From Wisconsin Freeway Overpass

Gregory Luce and Nicholas Newman, two members of the local Tea Party, placed  banners bearing messages such as “HONK TO IMPEACH OBAMA” on a pedestrian overpass in Wisconsin.  After receiving complaints, the local municipal legislature enacted an ordinance forbidding all signs, flags, and banners (other than traffic-control information) on certain overpasses, or within 100 feet… Read More Court Upholds Ordinance Banning Signs From Wisconsin Freeway Overpass

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Chicago May Ban Women from Exposing Breasts in Public

In August 2014, Sonoko Tagami was in Chicago participating in GoTopless Day—an annual celebration of women’s suffrage.  The police cited her for violating a city ordinance prohibiting public nudity. The City of Chicago’s public-nudity ordinance is quite specific.  It prohibits appearing in public “in such a manner that the genitals, vulva, pubis, pubic hair, buttocks, perineum, anus,… Read More Chicago May Ban Women from Exposing Breasts in Public

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Kansas Police Okay to Stop Suspect’s Prayer to Arrest Her

[UPDATE: On June 28, 2018, the Supreme Court reversed the decision described below.] Two police officers went to the home of Mary Anne Sause in Louisburg, Kansas, 40 miles south of Kansas City, to investigate a noise complaint.  Sause eventually invited them inside.  Sause mentioned the Constitution and Bill of Rights, for which the officers… Read More Kansas Police Okay to Stop Suspect’s Prayer to Arrest Her

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Gag Order in Comic-Con Trademark Case Violates First Amendment

The San Diego Comic Con (“con” is short for “convention”) is an international convention held each summer in San Diego, California.  Attendance in recent years has been around 130,000. The San Diego Comic Conn (or SDCC for short) sued Dan Farr Productions, the producers of the “Salt Lake Comic Con”—a similar convention but half the… Read More Gag Order in Comic-Con Trademark Case Violates First Amendment

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