Mediaboss Marketing

David Jadon 2:39 p.m. ET June 20, 2017

David Jadon(Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

After more than a month of bad decisions, Indian River County School administrators finally have displayed some smarts. It took an honors student's steadfast belief in the First Amendment, and worldwide attention, to make it happen.

That honors student J.P. Krause, a top student, rising seniorand the winner of the vote for Vero Beach High School's senior class presidency never knew what hit him. His classmates in hisAdvanced PlacementU.S. History class asked him to give a speech in support of his campaign, and his teacher encouraged him to do so. He gave a lighthearted, 2016 presidential campaign-inspired, 90-second speech, and his classmates laughed.

Krause said he was for liberty while his opponent was for higher taxes. He said he was opposed to the rival high school Sebastian River, and his opposing candidate was for it. Krause proposed building a wall between the two schools and making the other school pay for it. Joy Behar of "The View" later said on national television that J.P.'s off-the-cuff speech was "smart."

MORE |Superintendent overturns principal's call on Vero Beach High School class election

"Smart" Behar had that right. Indeed, the very next day after the speech the day of the election Krause represented Vero Beach High in a national academic competition. He came in 10th individually while his Vero Beach team came in third nationally.

Smart.

Unfortunately, Krause had no idea trouble was afoot back at home. School administrators had learned of his campaign speech and decided it amounted to harassment. Of course, Krause had not harassed anyone in the speech, and anyone who saw the videoand knew Krauseknew he didn't and wouldn't have done so.

The principal disqualified Krause from the officeKrausewon fair and square, and punished him to boot. To add insult to injury, the principal decided the campaign speech should be entered into Krause's permanent disciplinary record as harassment.

Not so smart.

Laurence Reisman: Trump effect puts international spotlight on Indian River County school issue

When Larry Reisman of this newspaper heard about Krause, he wrote about the unfairness of the situation. Reisman called attention to the fact that Krausehad First Amendment rights the school did not consider. Pacific Legal Foundation, for whom I am working as a summer clerk, then got wind of it. Pacific Legal represents individuals and businesses when the government violates their constitutional rights. Punishing Krause for his humorous campaign speech clearly violated Krause's First Amendment rights.

Our Founding Fathers did not design the First Amendment to protect feelings. While under certain circumstances schools have the right to punish or censor student speech, this case did not fit those circumstances. Courts have ruled that school policies that go too far to censor speech are unconstitutional. So it is here.

A classmate had recorded the speech; the video demonstrated beyond dispute the school had wronged Krause.

Within days, the entire world had seen the video. Those on the left side of the aisle, including Whoopi Goldberg and Behar on "The View," and those on the right, including "Fox & Friends" and National Review, all sided with Krause. So did Univision, the New York Daily News and the London Daily Mail. The world took his side because reasonable people on the left, right and center know the First Amendment provides the bedrock for all of our freedoms.

The global attention finally caused some smarts at the local schoolhouse.

Sadly, this local uproar exemplifies a broader phenomenon across the country, where different viewpoints are censored or restricted by both college and high school administrators. The Founding Fathers and First Amendment scholars have recognized the importance of the "marketplace of ideas." Without it, free speech cannot truly exist.

Upon entering college, campuses greet students with free speech zones, oppressive speech regulations, banned speakers, safe spaces and censorship.Once the epicenter of discussion, debate and learning, campuses have become segregated intellectually, no longer challenging students to stand up, speak and engage civilly with one another.

Americans of all political stripes must speak up to put a stop to this nonsense.

J.P. Krause did nothing wrong. To the contrary, he is a champion of the First Amendment, standing up for his right to speak when so many others would bow down. Vero Beach High School should be proud of its new senior class president. The rest of the world is.

David Jadon, a summer law clerk at Pacific Legal Foundation, is a rising third-year law student at the University of Florida College of Law. Pacific Legal Foundation is representing J.P. Krause free of charge in his dispute with the Indian River County School Board.

Read or Share this story: http://www.tcpalm.com/story/opinion/contributors/2017/06/20/guest-column-first-amendment-wins-vero-beach-high-school/411648001/

Read the rest here:
Guest column: National debate leads to First Amendment smarts at Vero Beach High School - TCPalm

Be careful not to skim over potential First Amendment challenges to commercial speech regulations in labeling cases. By whey of example, the Eleventh Circuit recently found that the actions of the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and the Chief of the Florida Bureau of Dairy Industry violated Ocheesee Creamery LLCs First Amendment rights related to the labeling of its products.Ocheesee Creamery LLC v. Putnam, 851 F.3d 1228 (11th Cir. 2017).

Ocheesee Creamery is a dairy company that produces milk and other dairy products. One such product is an all-natural, additive-free 100% skim milk, which Ocheesee Creamery labels as skim milk on the product packaging.

Florida law restricts the sale of milk and other milk products not classified as Grade A products. A Grade A designation requires that any vitamin A that is lost or removed from a product during the skimming process be replaced. Because Ocheesees product did not qualify for this Grade A designation, the state of Florida notified Ocheesee that its all-natural skim milk did not meet the definition of milk and, thus, Ocheesee could only sell this product if it was labeled as imitation skim milk. Ocheesee refused since the only ingredient in its product was, in fact, skim milk. Ocheesee also refused to add vitamin A back into its all-natural product. Ocheesee Creamery filed a lawsuit challenging this restriction in the Northern District of Florida, which found in favor of the State.

On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit applied the Supreme Courts test for evaluating restrictions on commercial speech, which was set forth inCentral Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission, 447 U.S. 557 (1980). UnderCentral Hudson, a court considering a restriction on commercial speech must first determine whether the speech is protected under the First Amendment. The First Amendment protects commercial speech unless it 1) concerns unlawful activity or 2) is false or inherently misleading. The Eleventh Circuit found that neither of these exceptions applied to Ocheesee in this case.

First, the Eleventh Circuit held that Ocheesees use of the term skim milk on its product label was not unlawful because the states position was that under Florida law Ocheesee could call its product skim milk as long as the label also indicated that the product was imitation milk. Second, the Eleventh Circuit held that Ocheesees use of the term skim milk was not inherently misleadingor even, according to the Court, potentially misleadingbecause it was a statement of objective fact. As a result, the Court concluded, Ocheesees commercial speech on its all-natural skim milk label was constitutionally protected.

The Court then proceeded to applyCentral Hudsonsthree-pronged intermediate scrutiny test. Under this test, the Court must determine: 1) whether the asserted governmental interest is substantial; 2) whether the regulation directly advances the governmental interest asserted; and 3) whether it is not more extensive than is necessary to serve that interest.

The Eleventh Circuit focused its analysis on the third prong of the test, finding that Floridas restriction is clearly more extensive than necessary to achieve its goals. The Eleventh Circuit noted that there had been extensive negotiations between Ocheesee and the State concerning the language used on Ocheesees all-natural skim milk label, and pointed out that numerous less burdensome alternatives existed and were discussed by the State and the Creamery during negotiations that would have involved additional disclosure without banning the term skim milk. Consequently, the Court concluded that the restriction was more extensive than necessary to achieve the goals of preventing deception and ensuring adequate nutritional standards. The Court thus concluded that Floridas restriction of Ocheesees commercial speech violated the First Amendment and vacated the district courts grant of summary judgment in favor of the State.

The Eleventh Circuits decision offers some reassurance to companies that the First Amendment provides some protection for objectively truthful descriptions of their products, even in the face of restrictions imposed by various state labeling laws, although this protection continues to be balanced against the state interests served by these laws.

2017 Proskauer Rose LLP.

View post:
Eleventh Circuit Does Not Skim Over First Amendment Concerns in Labeling Milk - The National Law Review

Analysis Law and Policy

Jun 19, 2017, 12:18pm Lisa Needham

One of the best ways to ensure people don't exercise their First Amendment rights is to make it far too hazardous and costly to do so. That is what is happening right now.

We live in an era of increasing crackdowns on public protests and whistleblowing: real, and increasingly effective, attacks on the First Amendment. The First Amendment, of course, promises us the right to free speech, but it also promises us the rights to assemble and to associate. In practical terms, this generally means that you can associate with whomever you choose to, assemble together in any fashion, and speak out against the government in whatever way you see fit.

One of the best ways to ensure people dont exercise their First Amendment rights is to make it far too dangerous and costly to do so. That is what is happening right now.

Attempts to brutalize protesters and criminalize protest are nothing new. The 2008 Republican National Convention (RNC), for example, saw police firing chemical agents and projectiles at peaceful crowds and mass arrests. The overcharging of arrestees that followed the convention only added to the feeling of dystopia. Prior to even engaging in any protests, eight individuals were arrested and eventually charged under an anti-terrorism statute. Why? Because they had some banal items like light bulbs, which police alleged could be filled with paint or chemicals and thrown, along with more obviously problematic things like U-locks (to chain themselves to things) and caltrops (steel points you put on the street to deflate tires). But the key point: They hadnt done a thing with those objects yet, so the anti-terrorism charge was more than a bit of a stretch. (Terrorism charges are more typically leveled when people are found with bomb-making material, or are found with innocuous material but have detailed how they plan to use that material to make an explosive.) Those charges were later dropped because the prosecutor felt that it would distract the jury.

As grim as the RNC charges were, theyve got nothing on the latest episode of overcharging protesters. More than 200 people were arrested for protesting during President Trumps inauguration in January. Most protesters were originally charged with only one count of felony rioting but, after very few of them pleaded guilty, a new grand jury indictment was returned that charges nearly all of them with eight felony counts, including inciting to riot, conspiracy to riot, and destruction of property.

Rewire is a non-profit independent media publication. Your tax-deductible contribution helps support our research, reporting, and analysis.

DONATE NOW

Make no mistake: Many of these individuals were first punished for exercising their right to protest, and are now being punished for exercising their right to demand a trial rather than a plea deal. The government is also attempting totry all the defendants together, which brings up serious questions of fairness.

As reported by BuzzFeed, Jason Flores-Williams, an attorney representing three of those defendants, has already asked District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz, who is presiding over all of the Inauguration Day prosecutions, to require a separate trial for one his clients, rather than agree to the governments plan to try defendants together.

There is a spillover prejudicial effect where when evidence against one person as I said ends up in the jurys mind being evidence against everyone else who was there, regardless of whether that evidence was actually against them or proven against them in any direct or specific way, Flores-Williams toldBuzzFeed.

The Inauguration Day protesters face felony charges that carry up to ten years in prison. Thats far too high a price to pay.

Equally chilling, six journalists were also arrested during the inauguration and charged with felony rioting. (Charges have since been dropped for all but one of the journalists).

Another way to ensure that people arent able to speak truth to power is to restrict them from documenting abuses of that power. States keep trying to pass laws that criminalize the filming or photographing of police. Indeed, whether you can record police or not is still an open question for the courts. A divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuitrecently ruled on the case of a Texas activist who was filming police activity outside a police station. The court held that individuals have a First Amendment right to film the police within the states of the Fifth Circuit: Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. The Fifth Circuit also noted that every circuit court that has ruled on the issue has found that the First Amendment does actually protect the right of people to film police officers while those officers are performing their duties. However, several circuits havent ruled on the matter, or have stated that the right isnt clearly established. Regardless of court rulings, police continue to push back: Just in the last year, the ACLU has had to go to court in Louisiana, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania to defend the right of individuals to record the police. Being able to record the police and share those recordings is, of course, a key component of journalism in the modern digital and visual era.

Clamping down on whistleblowers and leakers is another way to ensure that people dont speak out. If the price of speaking out is too high, people will stop. The Obama administration aggressively prosecuted leakers at a much higher rate than during the administrations of his predecessors, even going so far as to oppose allowing leakers to mount a defense based on the First Amendment. In other words, the prosecutors filed motions to prohibit defendants from saying that they were performing a public service by leaking to the press. However, the defense should be allowed because the public has a First Amendment interest in knowing about the workings of government, and government employees are in the best position to share that information.

The Trump administration looks to be equally aggressive, if not more so, having undertaken its first leak prosecution by going after Reality Winner, who allegedly leaked information about Russian interference in the 2016 election. To be sure, what Winner allegedly leaked is information that the public absolutely does need to know about: the depth and breadth and persistence of Russian attempts to hack the 2016 U.S. election. However, she now faces a fine of up to $250,000, a prison sentence of up to 10 years, or both.

Trump has stated hed consider jailing journalists over leaks, while people like former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R), and others,have stated that federal employeeleakers who talk to the press are committing treason. They arent, of course. In the United States, treason generally refers to U.S. citizens who use force to align with enemies of the country. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, of course, wants to actively pursue and prosecute leakers rather than address his own peculiar failure to remember when he talks to Russians.

At the same time as the threat of leak prosecutions looms, congressional Republicans are looking to lock down press access to their members, in large part because they dont want to talk about the nightmare that is their health care bill. Journalists were told they couldnt film interviews with senators without getting permission from the (Republican-led) Senate Rules Committee. Tim Scott (R-SC) bizarrely claimed that if journalists could roam the halls and talk to senatorssomething they have always been able to dothe cameras might capture his ATM PIN and he needed to keep that private. This effort, mercifully, failed relatively quickly, but theres no reason to think that congressional Republicans who have been dodging things like town halls left and right wouldnt welcome greater press restrictions.

Criminalize protest, veil the work of police, prosecute those who share vital information with the American people, and limit availability and accountability of elected officials. These are pages from an authoritarian playbook, not a democratic one, but it is the world we live in now. We need to be vigilant against further depredations where the right to speech is concerned by supporting protesters and whistleblowers in any way we can.

More here:
The First Amendment Is in Increasing Danger Under a Trump Administration - Rewire

PARSIPPANY Council President Louis Valori continued tointerrupt Bill Brennan during a public session regarding the Township Budget on Thursday, June 8.

Mr. Valori as well as Township Attorney John Inglesino keptinterrupting Mr. Brennan during his comments regarding the budget, and how Inglesino and Mayor James Barberio are a pair of criminals. He contents there is a Criminal Conspiracy going on.

Mr. Brennan said Your are violating my constitutional right tofree speech, you dont like the content of my speech, and you are calling me names, you areallegedly that Iam an embarrassment. Yes, you said I should behave myself. This is the third time youinterrupted me. You know what, I am speaking my mind in an open public forum. Now you are passing notes back and forth and interrupting me. May I have my three minutes? May I have my three minutes? So you are telling me that I dont get my three minutes? You were able to interrupt me the whole time. I didnt get to finish what I had to say. I am not putting the mic down. I insist that if I violated a law, I would be charged. I have three minutes. Iam not goingvoluntarily I am not disrupting the meeting. I wasdisrupted the three minutes which I was given to speak. I was given three minutes to speak. Am I under arrest? Yes, and I want to go on the record before I leave that I did not get my three minutes, I was interruptedrepeatedly. I will take this up in a Civil Suit with this municipality.

Mr. Brennan was escorted from the Council Chambers by two Parsippany Police Officers that were on duty during the Council Meeting.

Requests for comments from Mayor James Barberio, Council President Louis Valori, Council Vice President Robert Peluso and Councilman Carifi and dePierro went unanswered.

Editors Note: The video is only a segment where Brennan speaks. The complete video of the Council Meeting of Thursday, June 7 can be seen by clicking here.

Comments

Original post:
Parsippany welcomes another lawsuit; Council President Valori violates First Amendment Rights of Public Speaker - Parsippany Focus

Now that the courts have ruled that doctors have a First Amendment right to ask their patients if they own guns, I want to remind the patients that they also have the same First Amendment right.

To keep your gun ownership private, do not tell the doctors you own guns as it will become part of your medical records and every agency of our federal government will have a ready-made list of gun owners.

If I am asked I would say:

Doc, it is none of your business but if I owned a gun, and I am not saying that I do, I want you to know that I am aware of how to store and handle guns and I would ensure that they are kept safe from children and other unauthorized people for their safety and mine.

BRUCE MILLS, NORTH PALM BEACH

I was appalled by the letter Words mattertake care with drug use (Wednesday) by professor George Stoupas. Though I agree that addicts deserve our compassion, his comparison to people on the autism spectrum is fundamentally wrong and misleading.

People on the autism spectrum are born that way and cannot be cured. They, however, are taught to make the most of their strong points and live productive lives.

Drug abusers, as well as alcohol abusers, become users as a choice. Yes, addiction is a disease, but they can be cured if they choose to go through the extremely difficult and rigorous detox process. I personally know people who made that choice and live happy and productive lives.

JOSEPH WILLINGER, BOYNTON BEACH

Kudos to my mayor, Jeri Muoio, for joining the Compact of Mayors on Climate and Energy. Within three years, participating cities will endeavor to report their greenhouse gas emissions, set emission reduction targets and develop climate action plans.

By withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, President Donald Trump has done damage to our countrys standing with the rest of the world. The original U.S.-Paris agreement actually expires in 2020. Hopefully, by then, a wiser public will have voted him out of office. In the meantime, much can be done by local governments.

A National Geographic report asserts that Floridas coastline could be radically changed by as much as a 5-foot sea-level rise by 2100, putting Miami and other coastal cities under water. This would impact Floridas major industries as well as $390 billion worth of properties. In the wake of climate change, temperature swings are projected to be more volatile by centurys end.

It is therefore imperative that the mayors do everything within their powers to countervail this imprudent step by the president.

MARCIA DE FREN, WEST PALM BEACH

A recent letter suggested President Donald Trumps decision to leave the global warming agreement was another slap in the face of President Barack Obama and more evidence of hatred. After all, the entire agreement was voluntary.

It allows China to continue its increase of pollution at any rate until 2030. What is clearly not voluntary is the U.S. commitment to provide billions of taxpayer dollars to other countries.

So unless you believe that its all Americas fault, and we should be punished financially, you should support an agreement that commits all the largest polluters to make progress today, not 13 years from now.

Similar to NATO, everyone has to meet commitments, not just wink and expect America to do it all with our money.

JOHN GIGANTI, BOYNTON BEACH

Read the rest here:
Letters First Amendment not just for doctors; patients can opt out - Palm Beach Post