Lifting the Fog Over Lobbying Compliance - updated with impact of COVID-19 on NYS lobbying community
[WEBINAR] "Walking the Line" - Public Agencies', Officials' and Employees' Roles in Local Elections
[WEBINAR] Who Does What? Defining Proper Roles for Staff and Elected Officials
Bribery & Corruption in the Military. A Front-Line View (Part II)
Ethics Laws and the Importance of Transparency for Public Officials
Blogging for Lawyers
The Supreme Court started yesterday with 14 decisions yet to deliver and only reduced the number by two—neither of them the Trump immunity case nor the Loper case concerning the future of the agency deference doctrine of...more
As social media and K-12 education issues continue to evolve, on April 24, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in a case concerning an interesting, yet important issue: Under the First Amendment, when can elected...more
In 2018, the California legislature established a "ministry of truth" within the California Secretary of State's office - the Office of Elections Cybersecurity. By statute, the OEC has a duty “to monitor and counteract false...more
This week, the Court addresses whether the dismissal of a volunteer member of a municipal advisory board implicates the First Amendment and considers a challenge to zoning ordinances designed to limit sober living homes. ...more
The May 10, 2021 post The Donald Trump Twitter Case: Vacated and Dismissed as Moot by the Supreme Court reported how the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed Knight First Amendment Inst. at Columbia University v. Trump, in which the...more
The June 14, 2018 post “The President May Not Block Twitter Followers Because They Disagree With Him Politically” reported how the District Court in Knight First Amendment Inst. at Columbia University v. Trump, 302 F.Supp.3d...more
Widely considered a star of social media, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez backed down from a Twitter fight in the form of a lawsuit filed by one of her Twitter followers. The suit, filed by former New York assemblyman Dov Hikind,...more
The First Amendment continues to evolve to ensure speakers remain protected. This was recently substantiated by the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling in Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University,...more
A recent federal appeals court decision, Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump, concluded that action taken by the President through the use of his personal, not just official White House, Twitter account was considered...more
Two years ago, we wrote about a possible First Amendment challenge involving Donald Trump’s practice of blocking certain Twitter users from his @realDonaldTrump account. ...more
The court concluded its opinion with an observation that at this time in history, “wide-open, robust debate” is the best assurance of good government. The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled last week that public...more
In a closely watched case, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held on July 8, 2019 that President Trump violated the First Amendment by blocking disfavored users on his @RealDonaldTrump Twitter account. This important...more
Social media has transformed the ways legislators and their staff interact with constituents. Through social media platforms, our elected officials share insights into the legislative process, communicate with constituents,...more
As technology and social media continue to develop, so do legal questions surrounding their use by public entities and employees. On July 9, 2019, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Knight First Amendment Institute v....more
On July 9, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the First Amendment prohibits the government from blocking social media users from accessing the Twitter account @realDonaldTrump. See Knight First...more
Social media is the modern-day public square. Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms have effectively harnessed technology to turn communication into an interactive dialogue — fundamentally shifting the way...more
Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter typically allow users to delete unwanted commentary or block others with whom they disagree from posting on the user’s page or post. The subject matter of the offending...more
How and where public officials share information is critical to whether the dissemination is “protected activity” under California’s anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation statute, an appellate court has found....more
If a public official creates a public forum from his or her social media account — even if the account was established before taking office — the official cannot block people from the account in response to the person...more
The District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued a recent decision that that should remind public officials and employees that if they have social media websites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), the websites may be...more
As the national political climate heated up recently, some local governments are facing spillover effects, with local and sometimes even out-of-town activists and provocateurs attending city council, school board and other...more
Houston partner John K. Edwards recently argued before the Texas Supreme Court on behalf of a newspaper and reporter in an important libel case that started in 2003 concerning an article published in a Fort Bend County...more
Online journalists and scholars from the Americas and around the globe recently gathered at the University of Texas at Austin to assess the state of internet-based journalism. The keynote address of the 16th annual...more