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The Supreme Court ruled this week to overturn a century-old limit on corporate spending in political elections. Corporations, unions and political groups can now spend as much as they want on political advertising, so long as they don't give directly to a candidate. No one's exactly sure what this means for future elections, but all are fairly certainly that we'll be seeing a lot more ads.
The Medill Journalism School and the Cook County District Attorney in Chicago are locked in a legal battle over a murder investigation conducted by Medill students as part of the Innocence Project. The DA has subpoenaed the students' academic records. Medill Dean John Lavine says the students are journalists, protected under the Illinois Shield Law.
This week, an appeals court issued some major decisions in the AIPAC lobbyists case which could determine the future legality of leaking classified information to reporters or anyone else. The Federation of American Scientists' Steven Aftergood explains why anyone who's ever pursued, heard or disseminated classified information should be watching the case closely.
Twenty years ago this week, the Ayatollah Khomeini called for the death of author Salman Rushdie for insulting Islam in his book The Satanic Verses. Rushdie's lawyer Geoffrey Robertson gave Rushdie a place to hide out in those days and defended Rushdie against the crime of blasphemy. Robertson reflects back on that time.
Every time bloggers hit publish they risk being sued for copyright infringement, invasion of privacy or defamation. While the risk seems small, groups like the Media Bloggers Association say frivolous lawsuits are chilling free speech in the blogosphere. So MBA founder Robert Cox has helped start insurance for bloggers in an attempt to protect against costly litigation.
A group of Canadian Muslim students has filed a complaint under their country's Human Rights Act against Maclean's magazine for a piece they feel violated their human rights. The case has sparked a debate in Canada about press freedoms and multiculturalism. One of the students who filed the claim, Naseem Mithoowani, explains why they did it.
Making its way through the New York state legislature is the Libel Terrorism Protection Act. The bill aims to mitigate the impact of libel tourism, which former civil-rights attorney Samuel Abady believes undermines our First Amendment.
The legal basis for this show, the various media we cover and, frankly, for the style of our coverage is the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. But how well do any of us know our beloved protection? Not that well, explains Anthony Lewis in his new book Freedom for the Thought We Hate.
