First Amendment News
The Daily Signal covers First Amendment news with reporting, analysis, and commentary on free expression, press freedom, and religious rights.
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news
Jack Smith Scooped Up Reporters’ Phone Data in Trump Probe: ‘Massive First Amendment Breach’
Conservative media outlets pushed back after revelations that former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigators obtained communications from nearly 50 journalists at more than a dozen media outlets on both the right and the left. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, revealed the information Tuesday. The Senate Judiciary Committee previously exposed that Smith and the Justice… -
analysis
These Supreme Court Cases Could Reshape Gun Rights, Elections, and Parental Rights
The Supreme Court will hear arguments this fall in cases involving the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, parental rights, and election integrity. Here are five key cases to watch. 1. Another Test for the Second Amendment On Dec. 2, justices will consider whether state and local governments can ban semiautomatic rifles such as the AR-15… -
news
Georgia Tech Gets 3rd Place for Free Speech
Georgia Tech’s main campus placed third for free speech in a recent ranking released by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Out of the 261 schools surveyed, Georgia Tech’s main campus placed only behind the University of Chicago, which ranked first, and Claremont McKenna College, which ranked second. The report comes one year after… -
opinion
Does the First Amendment Give You the Right to Disrupt a Church Service?
The First Amendment protects both freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, but those rights do not give activists carte blanche to invade a church and take over the service. Or so I thought. Now, however, a group of activists who did just that has filed a motion to dismiss federal civil rights charges, arguing… -
news
Nick Shirley Rally at California Capitol Ends With Arrest After Clashes Over Newsom-Signed Law
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Hundreds of people gathered in front of the California Capitol on Wednesday for a rally tied to the so-called “Stop Nick Shirley Act.” Counterprotesters also showed up. Limited clashes between the two sides left three people detained and one person arrested, according to the California Highway Patrol. Assembly Bill 2624 was introduced in February… -
news
Plano ISD Sued by Mothers Over Alleged Takeover of Choir Booster Club
A group of Plano Independent School District mothers is suing the district, alleging employees attempted to take control of an independent booster club. The Jasper High School Choir Booster Club has operated as an independent nonprofit organization since 2022, allowing people with similar interests and goals to work together for a common purpose. The club maintains an IRS tax identification number and bank accounts at Prosperity Bank and… -
news
Court Stops Michigan From ‘Harming Children’ by Forcing Transgender Double Standard, Lawyer Says
A district court judge blocked Michigan from enforcing a “conversion therapy” law, in a ruling that protects children, according to the attorney representing Catholic therapists challenging the law. “Michigan was harming children—pushing kids toward a lifetime of harmful, irreversible medical interventions by muzzling compassionate counselors who could help them,” Luke Goodrich, senior counsel at the… -
opinion
Reclaiming Religious Liberty From Distortion
Government commissions come and go. Most deliver their reports to polite applause and prompt obscurity. But the Religious Liberty Commission that recently presented its draft report to President Donald Trump deserves a look that extends well beyond the Oval Office. At stake is something fundamental to the American character: our distinctive religious pluralism and the constitutional architecture… -
news
‘UNEVEN PLAYING FIELD’: Daughters of the American Revolution Leaders ‘Tilted’ Transgender Vote, Member Says
The Daughters of the American Revolution failed to adopt a resolution defining “woman” in the organization’s bylaws in a vote Friday, but campaigners claim that the vote did not meet the requirements in the organization’s bylaws, which require a separate meeting. “While I believe the vote count was accurate on Friday, leadership tilted the procedural… -
news
NOT SO FAST, MICKEY: FCC Puts Disney in the Hot Seat Over DEI
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr is pushing back after a TV broadcaster owned by the Walt Disney Company accused the commission of violating the First Amendment. WABC-TV, a New York affiliate of the American Broadcasting Corp., objected to the FCC ordering the station to apply for early license renewal amid an investigation into so-called… -
opinion
Cities Church Invasion Inspires Nationwide Movement to Protect Houses of Worship
When a horde of agitators took over a St. Paul, Minnesota, church service in January, shouting, “Who shut this down? We shut this down!” it unwittingly inspired a nationwide effort to defend the sanctity of church services. Four states have already passed laws cracking down on disrupting church services, and more legislatures are considering action…. -
news
Ohio Christian Organization Considers ‘Legal Recourse’ as Proposed Crosses Rejected
The Center for Christian Virtue is prepared to pursue legal action after the group’s proposal for displaying three crosses on top of its building was rejected by the city of Columbus, Ohio. The unanimous decision against the center, a 501(c)(3) family policy organization in downtown Columbus, was made on April 28 by six members of… -
news
Amy Acton ‘Domestic Dispute’ Report Stirring Up Ohio Governor’s Race
A recent report that police were called to the home of gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton during a 2019 “domestic dispute” is raising questions as the election race heats up in Ohio. Over the weekend, NBC News reported that Ohio’s former health director shattered a mirror pulled off the wall during a “verbal argument” with her… -
news
Judge Finds Cutting Taxpayer Funding From NPR and PBS Violates First Amendment
A judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from ending taxpayer funding of National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service. U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss of the District of Columbia determined President Donald Trump’s executive order stopping funding was not lawful because the First Amendment “does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this… -
news
First Grader’s ‘Any Life’ Message Sparks Major First Amendment Ruling
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of an elementary school student’s First Amendment rights after she was punished for adding the words “any life” to a picture of “Black Lives Matter.” The student, with the initials B.B., said she added the message while in first grade in 2021, inspired by a… -
opinion
Never Let Leftists Say They Are the First Amendment Stalwarts
The leftist media cabal constantly imagines itself as the grand embodiment of democracy and freedom of speech, even as it seeks to put Republicans in jail and hopes to censor them from speaking on social media. It doesn’t live up to its First Amendment boasting. For example, there’s “CNN International” host Christiane Amanpour, whose leftist… -
opinion
Free Speech Is on Life Support in the UK
Every day that goes by brings more confirmation that Vice President JD Vance was right: Europe has a massive free speech problem. And nowhere is it seemingly worse than the U.K. According to a report from Fox News, a 71-year-old retired special constable from Kent, England, sued the Kent Police (who he’d served for more than a… -
news
Free Speech Thrives Online: Welcome to ‘Era of Rumble’
Rumble is experiencing record revenues, revealing more content creators, and consumers are turning to the platform that upholds free speech in America and around the world. Rumble, a free speech video and cloud service platform, earned $30.2 million in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024, a 48% year-over-year increase. Rumble’s monthly active users averaged… -
opinion
Zuckerberg’s ‘Free Speech’ Pivot Falls Short: Here’s How Meta Can Make It Right
For far too long, tech monopolies have controlled free speech and political discourse online. It’s been incredibly clear that they have regularly restricted conservative speech—whether it be as overt as silencing full media organizations for sharing the Hunter Biden laptop story or as unknown as suspending your grandmother’s Facebook account for sharing a “spicy” meme… -
news
EXCLUSIVE: ADF Investigates Free Speech Violations by US Science Agency
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A religious liberty law firm has launched an investigation into censorship of Americans’ free speech within the government’s science agency. Alliance Defending Freedom’s Center for Free Speech filed two public records requests shared with The Daily Signal to federal government agencies seeking information related to possible free speech violations within the…