News & Media

See Washington Post. My military legal experience is limited. But, if there’s one thing I learned when I was in the Army — there’s no First Amendment on base. That said, it seems perverse that a guy can’t engage in political speech just because he is in the military. UPDATE: Eric Mayer, who knows from this stuff, tells me that this is the best treatment of the story he’s seen so far.

Wow… I never really asked what got Crystal Cox all interested in the whole Summit Bankruptcy thing. Philly Law Blog asked that question — and answers it.

Now THIS is what I call an “investigative blogger!” Personally, I think this may be a gay conspiracy Please, spread the word. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c6HsiixFS8]

I’m late to the party on this one, so I won’t comment too heavily on the Supreme Court’s recent decision that American citizens can be strip-searched after arrests for any infraction whatsoever. (NYT article here) I’d just like to suggest how we deal with this. If there are any cops out there in the DC area who still believe in the Constitution, please, FUCKING PLEASE, keep your eye on Justice Kennedy, Justice Roberts, Justice Scalia, Justice Roberts, and Justice Thomas. If they break the speed limit by 1 mile per hour, jaywalk, or fail to properly sort their recycling, grab

Mike at Crime & Federalism makes a good case for not giving a shit when you see someone getting harassed or picked on. (here) Essentially his point is that if she’s not actually getting raped or killed, you have more of a chance of winding up in prison for being a “White Knight,” so better to let small petty annoyances go unchecked. Why? Because we have a “pussified legal system.” I am not sure if I’d 100% sign on to his view. But, it is persuasive. We have become pussified. There was a time when you could rightfully punch a

Color me embarrassed. Carlos Miller is one of my First Amendment heroes. He fights for the rights of photographers everywhere. I’m not talking as some cushy lawyer. He is in there, in the trenches, and gets arrested for it. He wrote about the Crystal Cox extortion case back in December, and I missed the story. He’s done as good a job as anyone, if not better, in showing how this is not a bloggers vs. journalists story at all.

David Carr brings us “Judge Clarifies That Bloggers Can Be Journalists (Just Not One in Particular)” this column on the Crystal Cox “bloggers vs. journalists” story. The first time this story broke, much of the reporting on it was sloppy. Bloggers and “traditional” journalists alike all latched on to the narrative that Judge Hernandez locked bloggers out of the journalism club (Carr was one of the few who was not fooled). This time around, the blogosphere seems to see this case for what it is: A repudiation of extortion, not of blogging. Judge rules, again, that blogger Crystal Cox is

Ars Technica reports: Bruce Schneier, the security expert who coined the term “security theater” to describe the Transportation Security Agency’s airport screening procedures, was uninvited from speaking on a Monday Congressional panel at the insistence of the TSA. (source)

For those of you who did not pick up on it already, yesterday’s post on Section 230 reforms was an April Fool’s Day prank – concocted by Eric Turkewitz. Read his deconstruction of it here.

If you read yesterday’s post, Judge rules, again, that blogger Crystal Cox is not a journalist. You know why? Because she ISN’T a journalist, it likely made you throw up in your mouth a bit. But, in a way, this nutcase is helping to prove why, when confronted with bad speech, the best cure is more speech. When she turned her attention to Kevin Padrick, there wasn’t much he could do about it except take the traditional road of filing a lawsuit. While that was successful, the damage was done — and seemingly couldn’t be undone. Other parties, who contacted

For those of you not familiar with the the Crystal Cox “bloggers are not journalists” case, it was a bit of a blogosphere kerfuffle when U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez ruled that Cox is not a journalist under the definition of Oregon’s Shield Law. A number of poorly-researched blog posts went up thereafter, with the blogosphere rallying behind her cause. After all, are bloggers not journalists? (Of course they are, but some are “not like us” says Simple Justice). Unfortunately, not very many bloggers/journalists did their homework the first time around. They were sloppy. They read the simple version “Oregon

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=K-nknEIXa84] Disclaimer: I am trademark counsel to Ryca Motors. Super Brag: I am trademark counsel to Ryca Motors.