Welcome to the Citizen Media Law Brief, a weekly newsletter highlighting recent blog posts, media law news, legal threat entries, and other new content on the Citizen Media Law Project's website. You are receiving this email because you have expressed interest in the CMLP or registered on our site, www.citmedialaw.org. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, you can unsubscribe by following the link at the bottom of this email or by going to http://www.citmedialaw.org/newsletter/subscriptions.
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The latest from the Citizen Media Law Project...
David Ardia applauds a new free case law archive.
1.8 Million Steps Forward in the Direction of a Comprehensive Public Case Law Archive
Sam Bayard reports on the "smack down" of a libel case against Perez Hilton.
Ronson v. Lavandeira: Court Puts Smack Down on Libel Claim Against Perez Hilton
Sam Bayard points to commentary on the constitutionality of an intrusion verdict.
Snyder v. Phelps: Westboro Verdict Criticized as Unconstitutional
David Ardia looks at the options for open govenment reform in Califonia.
Assessment of California's Open Government Reform Initiatives for 2007
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Other citizen media law news...
N.Y. High Court Takes Up Case of Saudi Billionare v. U.S. Author
First Amendment Center - Fri. 11/16/07
Jailed Blogger Singled Out for Mistreatment, Lawyer Says in Complaint
Reporters Without Borders - Thurs. 11/15/07
Infringus Maximus! Rowling Gets Injunction Against Harry Potter Lexicon
Ars Technica - Wed. 11/14/07
Kremlin Uses Software Piracy Laws to Shut Down Dissident Media Outlets
Boing Boing - Wed. 11/14/07
Op-Ed: Dan Gillmor on "Net Gains"
Boston Globe - Sun. 11/11/07
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Recent threats added to the CMLP database...
Gonzales v. Dunkle
Posted November 15, 2007
Pivar v. Myers
Posted November 15, 2007
Galveston Independent School District v. Tetley
Posted November 15, 2007
Avis v. Turkewitz
Posted November 12, 2007
Fandino v. Lebanon Truth
Posted November 12, 2007
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The full Brief...
"Public.Resource.Org and Fastcase, Inc.
announced this week that they will make 1.8 million pages of federal
case law, including all Courts of Appeals decisions from 1950 to the
present and all Supreme Court decisions since 1754, available in a free
public archive. The entire archive will be in the public domain and
usable by anyone for any purpose. Lawyers have long anticipated -- and hoped for -- such a case archive
because court decisions and statutes are not copyrightable."
David Ardia, 1.8 Million Steps Forward in the Direction of a Comprehensive Public Case Law Archive
"As anyone who follows the celebrity rags already knows, a California
judge dealt a mortal blow to Samantha Ronson's libel suit againt
litigation-magnet Mario Lavandeira (aka Perez Hilton) two weeks ago.
Sadly, we've missed the scoop on this one, but I do have a copy of the transcript of the court's November 1st ruling. Surely the gossip hounds among you won't mind if I delve into the details a little."
Sam Bayard, Ronson v. Lavandeira: Court Puts Smack Down on Libel Claim Against Perez Hilton
"Following up on my earlier post
about the $10.9 million jury verdict against Fred Phelps and the
Westboro Baptist Church, I wanted to point our readers in the direction
of some excellent commentary on the topic by Eugene Volokh at the Volokh Conspiracy. In a series of posts collected in a single thread,
Volokh argues that the intentional infliction of emotional distress and
intrusion torts, which are the claims that the jury found liability on, are unconstitutionally overbroad and vague when applied to speech."
Sam Bayard, Snyder v. Phelps: Westboro Verdict Criticized as Unconstitutional
David Ardia, Assessment of California's Open Government Reform Initiatives for 2007
