US appeals court: Beauty pageant can bar trans contestants
A federal appellate court says a national beauty pageant has a First Amendment right to exclude a transgender woman from competing, because including her could interfere with the message the pageant wants to send about what characteristics make an ideal woman.
Stone tablet marking First Amendment freedoms finds new home
The faade will be reinstalled at The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. The tablet is engraved with the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly and the right to petition the government. It's a gift from the Freedom Forum, the creator of the Newseum, a museum dedicated to the First Amendment. AdโItโs so meaningful to bring the text of the First Amendment to Philadelphia,โ National Constitution Center President Jeffrey Rosen said in a statement. He said it would โinspire visitors for generations to come.โA dedication ceremony is planned for later this year.
Religious, nonpublic Michigan high schools sue to reopen for in-person classes
LANSING, Mich. โ Nonpublic schools sued Monday after Gov. Gretchen Whitmerโs administration extended a coronavirus order that prevents in-person instruction at Michigan high schools, saying it violates the First Amendment right to practice religion. The federal lawsuit, filed in Michigan's Western District, was brought by a group representing more than 400 nonpublic schools across the state, as well as three Catholic high schools and 11 parents. It took effect Nov. 18 and also applies to public high schools and all colleges and universities. The plaintiffs include Lansing Catholic High School, Father Gabriel Richard High School in Ann Arbor and Everest Collegiate Academy in Clarkston.
Federal judge postpones Trump ban on popular app TikTok
NEW YORK โ A federal judge on Sunday postponed a Trump administration order that would have banned the popular video sharing app TikTok from U.S. smartphone app stores around midnight. The ruling followed an emergency hearing Sunday morning in which lawyers for TikTok argued that the administration's app-store ban would infringe on First Amendment rights and do irreparable harm to the business. In arguments to Judge Nichols, TikTok lawyer John Hall said that TikTok is more than an app, since it functions as a โmodern day version of a town square." In addition, Hall argued that a ban would prevent existing users from automatically receiving security updates, eroding national security. Trump set the process in motion with executive orders in August that declared TikTok and another Chinese app, WeChat, threats to national security.
Trump defies virus rules as 'peaceful protest' rallies grow
WASHINGTON โ President Donald Trump is running as the โlaw and orderโ candidate. But they have largely not tried to block the gatherings of thousands of people, which Trump and his team deem โpeaceful protestsโ protected by the First Amendment. An indoor rally that Trump held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June was blamed for a surge of virus infections there. Trump held an indoor rally at the Xtreme Manufacturing facility in Henderson, Nevada, on Sunday night. The state restricts gatherings to 50 people โ based on White House reopening guidelines โ- but thousands of supporters packed into the warehouse space nonetheless.
Tech-rights group sues Trump to stop social-media order
NEW YORK A tech-focused civil liberties group on Tuesday sued to block President Donald Trump's executive order that seeks to regulate social media, saying it violates the First Amendment and chills speech. Trump's order, signed last week, could allow more lawsuits against internet companies like Twitter and Facebook for what their users post, tweet and stream. Trump, without evidence, has long accused tech companies of being biased against conservatives. There was pushback against Trump's order from various sources. Civil rights and libertarian organizations and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also criticized Trump's order.