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Editorial: Honoring the First Amendment on its 231st anniversary

Updated: 7:12 PM EDT Sep 25, 2020

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PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER, MICHELLE. BYE. CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW RESPECTING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF OR ABRIDGING THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH OR OF THE PRESS OR THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO PEACEABLY ASSEMBLE AND TO PETITION THE GOVERNMENT FOR A REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES. THAT IS THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION A RIGHT AND PRIVILEGE OF THIS COUNTRY. SEPTEMBER 25TH IS THE 230 FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF ITS PASSAGE TODAY. ITS GUARANTEES OF YOUR FREEDOM OF SPEECH YOUR ABILITY TO WORSHIP YOUR WAY AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO PEACEFULLY PROTEST AND PETITION OUR GOVERNMENT AND ITS LEADERS. ITS AS IMPORTANT AS EVER. ITS ALSO THE BEDROCK OF WHAT WE DO AT WXII 12 NEWS WEAR TODAY. EVERY DAY WE ARE PROUD TO BE LOCAL BROADCASTERS THE FIRST AMENDMENT PROPOSED BY CONGRESS ON SEPTEMBER 25TH. IT EMPOWERS US ALL AND IT EMPOWERS US AS JOURNALISTS BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW THE RIGHT TO BE HEARD THE RIGHT TO DECIDE AND A WXII 12 NEWS. ITS OUR FIRST RESPONSIBILITY TO DELIVER THE FACTS HOLD THE POWERFUL ACCOUNTABLE BRING YOU THE STORY GIVE YOU A VOICE. ITS WHAT WE DO. ITS WHAT WE ARE WXII 12 NEWS WXII 12 WELCOMES RESPONSIBLE

Editorial: Honoring the First Amendment on its 231st anniversary

Updated: 7:12 PM EDT Sep 25, 2020

Friday marks the 231st anniversary of the passage of the First Amendment, protecting the freedom of speech, religion and the press. It's now honored as First Amendment Day.

Friday marks the 231st anniversary of the passage of the First Amendment, protecting the freedom of speech, religion and the press. It's now honored as First Amendment Day.

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Editorial: Honoring the First Amendment on its 231st anniversary - WXII12 Winston-Salem

Opinion

Editorial: The First Amendment

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The first amendment helps ensure these rights for all Americans.

Updated: 10:15 AM CDT Sep 25, 2020

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This is an editorial from KETV president and General Manager Shawn Oswald Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. The first amendment helps ensure these rights for all Americans. On its anniversary, we proudly celebrate the five freedoms the first amendment helps guarantee: religion; speech; the press; to peaceably assemble; and to petition the government. Now is the time to reflect on these freedoms and how they help move our great nation forward. (ROB) THE FIRST AMENDMENT... PROPOSED BY CONGRESS ON SEPTEMBER 25TH IT EMPOWERS US ALL (JULIE) AND IT EMPOWERS US AS JOURNALISTS BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW THE RIGHT TO BE HEARD THE RIGHT TO DECIDE (ROB) AND AT KETV NewsWatch Seven... IT'S OUR FIRST RESPONSIBILITY TO DELIVER THE FACTS HOLD THE POWERFUL ACCOUNTABLE BRING YOU THE STORY GIVE YOU A VOICE (JULIE) IT'S WHAT WE DO (ROB) IT'S WHAT WE'LL ALWAYS DO (ROB & JULIE) WE ARE KETV NewsWatch Seven

Opinion

Editorial: The First Amendment

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The first amendment helps ensure these rights for all Americans.

Updated: 10:15 AM CDT Sep 25, 2020

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The First Amendment helps ensure these rights for all Americans.On its anniversary, we proudly celebrate the five freedoms the First Amendment helps guarantee: religion; speech; the press; to peaceably assemble; and to petition the government. Now is the time to reflect on these freedoms and how they help move our great nation forward.

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The First Amendment helps ensure these rights for all Americans.

On its anniversary, we proudly celebrate the five freedoms the First Amendment helps guarantee: religion; speech; the press; to peaceably assemble; and to petition the government.

Now is the time to reflect on these freedoms and how they help move our great nation forward.

Continued here:
Editorial: The First Amendment - KETV Omaha

Two hundred and thirty-one years ago this week, Congress passed a collection of amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ten of which would become the Bill of Rights. Foremost in the Bill of Rights is the First Amendment, which allows Americans to worship how they please, speak their minds openly and have their voices heard by their government.

Our Founding Fathers, in their infinite wisdom, also included in the First Amendment the right to a free press. They understood that our democracy could not survive without the freedom to report the news without fear or favor. The times may have changed; that principle has not.

The work of our most-trusted sources of news our local radio and TV stations, broadcast network partners and community and national newspapers during the most important events of the past six months have shown how essential a free press is to keeping people informed. Yet, these historic times have also laid bare the existential threats facing journalism brought on by economic, cultural and political factors.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, media outlets have been providing a comprehensive picture of how the virus has affected us all. They have expanded newscasts and aired special reports, hosted virtual townhalls with public health experts and brought audiences into hospital rooms to show the devastating toll of coronavirus. Journalists have dug deep into medical research to shine a light on the short- and long-term effects of COVID-19. Some have documented their own struggles after contracting the virus, while others have volunteered in vaccine trials. And, as the pandemic continues impacting all aspects of everyday life, local media outlets have explored the financial, psychological and societal toll coronavirus has taken on our communities.

Yet, even as media outlets cover the pandemic, they have faced historic advertising losses as businesses large and small cut ad budgets to save expenses during these difficult times. As a result, broadcast stations and newspapers have seen the financial underpinnings of their investment in journalism drop out. Unfortunately, some have had to shutter for good. Others are struggling to survive and recover, even as they revamp operations to create safe, socially distant workplaces. We should be reminded that good journalism takes investment, and that amidst a pandemic this investment is more challenging and more important than ever.

Journalists are also playing a unique role during the ongoing protests and civil unrest stemming from issues of racial injustice. They provide a platform for protesters to voice their grievances and shine a light on the challenges facing our nation. They bear witness to interactions between police and demonstrators to hold local officials and citizens accountable. They provide images, words and context for those at home, helping them connect to, learn and understand what is happening in the world.

Alarmingly, journalists covering these demonstrations have been targets of violence and harassment. Journalists have been pepper sprayed, tear gassed, arrested and shot with projectiles, even after identifying themselves as members of the media. They have been assaulted, had equipment destroyed or stolen, and their headquarters vandalized. This is unacceptable. It is incumbent on law enforcement and protesters to respect journalists who are doing the difficult jobs we need them to do.

Millions of voters are also turning to newspapers and broadcast outlets to help make informed choices at the polls during federal, state and local elections in 2020. Since the founding of our nation, Americas free press has been entrusted with the awesome responsibility of educating voters, examining the issues, promoting civil debate and holding our public officials accountable. That is a tradition that is alive and well today.

From my time in elected office, including 12 years as a U.S. senator from Oregon, I understand the desire of politicians to push back when frustrated by unfavorable news coverage. Indeed, criticism of the press is warranted and something we should expect of all our democratic institutions. But we should all be mindful of the difference between an adversarial relationship between elected officials and the media that is a sign of a healthy democracy and overheated rhetoric that jeopardizes journalists ability to legally and safely report the news.

When our Founding Fathers passed the First Amendment, they likely could not envision a year as challenging as 2020. Still, by enshrining the right to a free press in the bedrock of our nation, they showed their faith that journalism was necessary to our democracys survival even in the toughest of times. That is worth celebrating.

Gordon Smith has been president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters since 2009. He is a former two-term Republican U.S. senator from Oregon.

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First Amendment shines through during toughest of times | TheHill - The Hill

A lawyer representing Lighthouse Baptist Church in Horseheads, the source of a rapidly growing cluster of COVID-19 cases across New York, said Thursday the church is asking Chemung County to remove an order of closure, claiming its First Amendment rights have been violated.

In a statement, Buffalo attorneyJames Ostrowskisaid the church "is committed to cooperating with the County to reopen the Church in a manner consistent with the health of the community," but threatened a federal lawsuit if the county does not allow "free exercise of their religion."

About 300 people across New York have been diagnosed or identified as contacts potentially exposed to COVID-19 as a result of the cluster, according to the state health department. As of Monday, 75 confirmed cases in Chemung County and 15 cases in other counties are tied to the cluster.

Chemung County health officials originally traced a cluster of five positive cases to Lighthouse Baptist Church in early September.The number of confirmed cases quickly ballooned to at least 45 across multiple counties as officials learned several members of the Horseheads congregation attended a wedding in late August in Oneida County.

Lighthouse Baptist Church lawyer's statement

Ostrowski said the church voluntarily suspended services Sept. 6 after learning two members of its congregation tested positive and encouraged its members to be tested and quarantine.

He also claimed the church supplied a list of recent church attendees to county officials. Chemung County Executive Chris Moss has previously stated a list of members was received after the county filed a subpoena.

Ostrowski pointed to a "false media report" saying the church opposed proper medical treatment. The lawyer could not be reached for comment to clarify the claim Thursday.

Previously, county officials said the church was not cooperating with the contact tracing, and Mosssaid of church leaders, "They said, 'God will look out for them.' But they are coming in contact with elderly folks and children and the outbreak grows and grows."

Lighthouse Baptist Church has refused to comment publicly on the cluster in its church despite being contacted multiple times.

Ostrowski further denied the cluster's connection to thedeath of a 76-year-old Chemung County man, who county health officials have said was not a member of the churchbut came into contact with someone who is.

"The Church had received no definitive proof that this tragic death was related to any church activity," he said.

COVID-19 church closures across New York

The Lighthouse Baptist Church is not the first religious institution that has faced a temporary closure order amid the COVID-19 pandemic in New York.

In March, New York halted services atthe Young Israel synagogue in New Rochelle, Westchester County, after discovering the state's first COVID-19 cluster. The virus spread to hundreds of congregants after a man who unknowingly had COVID-19 attended a crowded funeral service and bat mitzvah.

In June, a federal judge struck down an order from Gov. Andrew Cuomo that capped capacity at religious services to 25% and 33% in Phase 2 and 3, respectively, of the state's reopening process.

Instead, U.S. District Judge Gary Sharp allowed religious institutions to have 50% capacity for indoor services, the same cap afforded to restaurants, noting the state's previous limits should have applied equally.

Ostroswki said "the County itself must comply with the law in this regard or risk federal court litigation."

USA Today Network reporter Jon Campbell contributed to this report. Follow Katie Sullivan Borrelli on Twitter @ByKatieBorrelli. Support our journalism and become a digital subscriber today. Click here for our special offers.

This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Lawyer: Horseheads church should be reopened, First Amendment rights have been violated

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Lawyer: Horseheads church should be reopened, First Amendment rights have been violated - Hornell Evening Tribune

The passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will change the U.S. Supreme Court in too many ways to count. The first signs of that shift may be felt at the Courts opening conference for the term the long conference which, as of this writing, is still on the justices calendar for Tuesday. At that meeting, the Court will sort through a pile of thousands of pending petitions for certiorari. Almost all will be rejected; still, at least a handful will likely be granted to bulk up the docket for the term. Here are just a few of the petitions the Reporters Committee will be watching closely.

Border Searches Each year, agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection search a staggering number of travelers phones and laptops without obtaining a warrant. InWilliams v. United States, petitioner Derrick Williams is asking the justices to resolve whether the Fourth Amendment at least requires the government to demonstrate reasonable suspicion that the device contains contraband. Butas the Reporters Committee has argued, border searches also intrude on important First Amendment interests, including the ability of journalists to maintain their sources confidentiality, that only scrupulous adherence to a warrant requirement can protect.

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act The Supreme Court is already slated to hear one case on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act,Van Buren v. United States, toward the end of November. In that argument, which deals with a police sergeant who used his access to a license plate database for improper purposes, the justices will weigh what it means to exceed authorized access for purposes of the federal anti-hacking law. But LinkedIn is still asking the Court to hearits petitionon the meaning of another major CFAA provision the bar on accessing a computer without authorization as part of a long-running dispute over the scraping of personal data from the sites profiles.

As the Reporters Committee explained in itsfriend-of-the-courtbriefinVan Buren, web scraping is an important data-journalism tool and the CFAA should be construed to permit it, to avoid serious First Amendment and vagueness concerns.

Compelled Decryption The government wants to unlock your phone but doesnt know the password. Can you be compelled to tell them? InPennsylvania v. Davis, Pennsylvania is urging the justices to say yes, arguing that the Fifth Amendment doesnt protect against this kind of forced disclosure. The answer could have knock-on effects for reporter-source confidentiality.

Content Moderation Few laws inspire as much controversy asSection 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides internet intermediaries with broad-based immunity from liability for the user content they host. InMalwarebytes v. Enigma Software Group, a cybersecurity firm is seeking to overturn a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that carved out an exception for decisions motivated by anticompetitive animus. Malwarebytes warns that the opinion could open the door to liability wherever a party alleges that a platform made moderation choices in some sort of bad faith.

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The Technology and Press Freedom Project at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press uses integrated advocacy combining the law, policy analysis, and public education to defend and promote press rights on issues at the intersection of technology and press freedom, such as reporter-source confidentiality protections, electronic surveillance law and policy, and content regulation online and in other media. TPFP is directed by Reporters Committee attorney Gabe Rottman. He works with Stanton Foundation National Security/Free Press Legal Fellow Grayson Clary and Technology and Press Freedom Project Legal Fellow Mailyn Fidler.

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Four petitions we're watching as the US Supreme Court fills out its docket - Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press