THE NATURE OF LAW AND REGULATION
I. Philosophy & Law
A. Aristotle
B. Cicero
C. Basic issues in the Law
1. The problem of knowledge
2. The problem of conduct
3. The problem of government
II. Why Do We Do What We Do?
A. Morality
B. Behavior
C. Legality
III. Who Does What to Whom
A. Plaintiff (petitioner, complainant)
B. Defendant (respondent, accused)
C. Appellant (plaintiff in error)
D. Appellee (defendant in error, respondent)
IV. Civil Law v. Criminal Law
A. Who is bringing the action
B. Punishment
C. Burden of Proof
D. Right of appeal
E. Protections for the defendant
V. Where Does Law Come From
A. Constitutional Law
B. Statutory Law
C. Administrative Law
D. Common Law
VI. Determining if a Law Violates the Constitution
A. Strict Scrutiny
1. Does the law advance a compelling state interest?
2. Is the law narrowly tailored?
3. Is the law the least restrictive necessary?
B. Rational Basis
1. Is the law rationally related to a legitimate state
interest?
VII. Common Law
A. Precedent
B. Stare decisis
VIII. Constitutional Law
A. The role of the Constitution
1. The supremacy clause
2. Separation of powers
3. Judicial review
B. Interpreting the Constitution
1. Absolutist
2. Preferred position
3. Presumption of constitutionality
4. Compelling state interest
5. Over-breadth
VIII. Uh-Oh, You Lose
A. Injunctions
B. Restraining orders
C. Summary Judgment
IX. The Appellate Process
A. Trial courts and appellate courts
B. Federal courts
1. District courts
2. Court of appeals
3. U.S. Supreme Court
X. Authority
A. Primary v. Seconday
B. Mandatory v. Persuasive
XI. Reading the Law and the Citation System
A. Supreme Court cases
B. Court of Appeals cases
C. Federal District Court cases
D. United States Code
E. Law Reviews
XII. Reading and Applying the Law: The Pentagon Papers
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
I. Restraints on Speech and Action
A. Background
1. Treason
2. Sedition
3. Seditious libel
B. Historical development
1. Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)
2. The Civil War (1860-1864)
3. World War I
C. Cases and comments
1. Schenck v. U.S. (1919)
2. Gitlow v. New York (1925) and the theory of incorporation
3. Smith Act (1940)
4. Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)
II. Prior Restraint
A. William Blackstone and the Commentaries
B. Social and political control
C. Cases and Comments
1. Near v. Minnesota (1931)
2. Pentagon Papers 1971)
3. Aviation Week and Space Technology
4. United States v. Progressive (1979)
BROADCASTING AND THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
I. Philosophical Background
A. Public Interest, Convenience and Necessity
B. Scarcity vs. Access
C. Technology vs. Content
II. Rules and Regulations
A. Fairness Doctrine
B. Personal Attack Rules
C. United States Code
1. 312: Administrative Sanctions
2. 315: Candidates for Public Office
3. 317: Announcement of Payment for Broadcast
4. 326: Censorship
5. 508: Disclosure of Payments to Individuals
D. Cameras in the Courtroom
1. Chandler v. Florida (1981)
2. Federal Court Rules
3. Tennessee Court Rules
TIME, PLACE AND MANNER RESTRAINTS
I. Issues
A. Judicial Review (Content based v. content neutral)
B. Symbolic speech
C. Public facilities and the public forum
1. The traditional public forum
2. The limited public forum
3. The non-public forum
II. Cases and Comments
A. Kovacs v. Cooper (1949)
B. Southeastern Promotions v. Conrad (1975)
C. Texas v. Johnson (1989)
D. Barnes v. Glenn Theatre (1991)
E. Krishna Consciousness v. Lee (1992); Lee v. Krishna Consciousness (1992)
F. Snyder v. Phelps (2011)
III Institutional Concerns
A. Schools
1. Public schools
a. Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969)
b. Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982)
c. Bethel School District v. Fraser (1986)
d. Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeyer (1988)
e. Morse v. Frederick (2007)
f. Westside Community School District v. Mergens (1990)
B. Colleges and universities
DEFAMATION
I. Background
II. Definition:
A. Any false statement that tends to
1. Bring a person into public hatred, contempt, ridicule
2. Cause a person to be shunned or avoided
3. Injure a person in their business or occupation
B. It is libelous per se if any of the following conditions exist:
1. You accuse someone of a crime and the person is innocent
2. Statements or insinuations of insanity or loathsome disease
3. Statements or assertions of a lack of capacity to conduct their business or profession
4. Any statement which tends to bring a person into public hatred, contempt or scorn
C. Group libel
III. How do you do it?
A. Publication
1. Dissemination to a third party
2. Each person can be sued
3. You do not need to have originated the libel to be sued
B. Identification
1. Plaintiff has to prove someone believed the reference was to him/her
2. That's why editors insist on complete identification, with no errors
C. Defamation
1. If there is no defamation, there is no libel
2. Any false statement that tends to
a. Bring a person into public hatred, contempt, ridicule
b. Cause a person to be shunned or avoided
c. Injure a person in their business or occupation
IV. Fault
A. Types
1. Negligence - Failure to do something you have a duty to do
2. Malice - Published with reckless disregard for the truth
B. Damages
1. Compensatory
2. Punitive
C. Strict liability
V. Defenses
A. Major
1. Truth
a. Plaintiff must show the elements of libel are present
b. Defendant must prove the statements are true, according to the rule of evidence
c. If the statement is true, then the motives for publication are irrelevant.
d. If the statement is false, then the key issue becomes fault (negligence or malice)
2. Privilege
a. Types
i. Absolute
ii. Qualified
b. Sen. William Proxmire's "Golden Fleece Award"
c. Section 315 Privilege
3. Fair Comment
a. There is no such thing as a false opinion
b. Protects the expression of opinion about the public performance of those who voluntarily
place themselves before the public
c. Protects expression if:
i. the expression is based on fact
ii. the expression is a critique of public performance, not private life
B. Minor Defenses
1. Neutral Reporting
2. Right of Reply
3. Consent
4. Statute of Limitations
VI. Cases
A. New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)
B. Curtis Publishing v. Butts (1967)
C. AP v. Walker (1967)
D. Rosenbloom v. Metromedia (1971)
E. Gertz V. Welch (1974)
F. Time v. Firestone (1976)
G. Herbert v. Lando (1976)
PRIVACY
I. Background
A. Privacy in American life
1. Personal privacy
2. Location Privacy
3. Information Privacy
B. Rights v. Laws
II. Issues
A. Invasion of Solitude
1. Wiretapping
2. Listening to private conversations
3. Photography
B. Publication of Private Matters
1. "The Truth Can Hurt"
2. Public records
C. False Light
1. Photography
2. Fictionalization
D. Misappropriation
1. Name
2. Likeness/Image
E. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
F. Right to Publicity
1. Bela Lugosi
1. Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard (1967)
2. The Lone Ranger
3. Columbia Broadcasting v. DeCosta (1967)
4. Carson v. Here's Johnny (1983)
III. Newsworthiness v. Misappropriation
A. The Kiss
B. How Much is Your Dead Name Worth?
IV. Defenses
A. Newsworthinesss
B. Consent
V. Cases
A. Sidis v. F-R Publishing (1940)
B. Time v. Hill (1967)
ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT INFORMATION, RECORDS AND MEETINGS
I. Philosophical Background
A. Informed Debate
B. Public Access v. News Media Access
C. Why Do You Want To Know That?
D. Computer Access v. Paper Access
E. Government Records v. Business Records
F. Access to the Judicial Process
II. Historical Background
A. George Washington and the St. Claire Disaster
B. Ike and the U-2
C. JFK and the Bay of Pigs
III. Tennessee
A. Public records law
1. What is available
2. Confidential Records
3. Denial of Access
B. Open Meting (Sunshine) laws
1. Access
2. Notice of Public Meetings
3. Records of Meetings
4. Nullification
IV. Federal Freedom of Information Act
A. Overview
1. Any person
2. All Federal Agencies
3. FOI Officer
4. Response Time
B. Coverage
C. Making the request
D. Exemptions
1. National security
2. Internal agency/personnel rules
3. Information specifically exempted
4. Trade secrets
5. Internal policy discussions
6. Personal privacy matters
7. Law enforcement investigations
8. Federally regulated banks
9. Oil and gas well information
V. Reporting First Amendment Activities
VI. Federal Privacy Act
VII. Federal Open Meeting Law
Mass Media and National Security
I. A Brief History
I. Access to Information
II. Laws – A Quick Primer
III. Right of Access to Information
A. Phillippi v. CIA (1976)
B. Flynt v. Rumsfeld (2004)
IV. Right to Publish Information
A. United States v. Marchetti (1972) and Knopf v. Colby (1975)
B. Agee v. CIA (1980) and Haig V. Agee (1982
C. Snepp v. U.S. (1980)
V. Spies, Reporters and Whistleblowers
VI. USA PAtriot Act
A. Background
B. Analysis
1. Section 212 - Service providers
2. Section 213 - Delaying notice of execution of warrant
3. Section 214 - Pen Registers / Trap and Trace
4. Section 215 - Access to records
5. Section 220 - National subpoenas
F. Section 507 - Disclosure of educational records
C. When "they" show up at your door
1. Confidentiality of records
2. Subpoenas v. search warrants v. notification
D. FISA Court
E. Doe v. Gonzales (2007)
THE INTERNET: SPECIAL CASES AND SPECIAL ISSUES
I. Overview
A. Technical issues
B. The Global Village
II. You ended up where?
A. Regulatory problems
B. Blocking software
III. Issues
A. Cyber Alphabet Soup
1. CDA - Communication Decency Act
2. COPA - Child On-Line Protection Act
3. CPPA - Child Pronography Protection Act
4. PROTECT
5. CIPA - Children's Internet Protection Act
6. COPPA - Children's On-Line Privacy Protection Act
7. Others
B. Social networking
1. School issues
2. Privacy concerns
C. CyberCrime
1. Computers as targets
2. Computers as storage devices
3. Computers as communication tools
4. Encryption
D. Cyber-Jurisdiction
1. Jurisdiction
2. The forum state
3. The minimal contact rule
THE PUZZLE OF PORNOGRAPHY
I. Societal issues
A. Background
1. Sexuality and society
2. Pornography - erotic, sexually stimulating
3. Obscenity - pornography that is offensive to society
4. Indecent - who knows??
B. What the law says . . . and doesn't say
1. Obscenity - Not protected
2. Pornography - Protected
C. Some definitional problems
II. Effects
A. Theoretical Foundations
1. Suggestions and Causes
2. Causes, Effects and Correlations
3. Causal Ordering
B. Emotional and Physical Effects
1. Cathartic
2. Accumulative
C. Government Involvement
1. Lockhart Commission
2. Meese Commission
IV. Zoning Regulations
IV. Case Histories
A. Regina v. Hicklin (1868)
B. Comstock (1873)
C. Roth v. US (1957)
D. Ginzburg v. US (1966)
E. Memoirs v. Massachusetts (1966)
F. Stanley v. Georgia (1969)
G. Miller v. California (1973)
H. Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (2002)
COPYRIGHT
I. Philosophy and Background
A. The Constitution
B. Copyright Protection
C. Copyright Basics
1. Intellectual property
2. Infringement v. plaiarism
3. Ownership v. copyright
4. Claiming copyright
5. Transfer of copyright
6. The nnythical and mystical copyright notice
II. Fair Use
A. Tests
1. Purpose of the use of the work taken
2. Nature of the work taken
3. Proportion of the work taken
4. Economic impact of the taking
B. Incidental Use
C. Creative Commmons
III. Copyright and the Internet
A. Public Domain
B. Frames and Linking
C. "Deep Linking"
IV. Creative Commons
V. Cases
A. Baker v. Selden (1879)
B. International News Service v. Associated Press (1918)
C. Sony v. Universal City (1984)
D. Mills Music v. Snyder (1985)
E. Harper & Row v. Nation Enterprises (1985)
F. Campbell v. Acuff-Rose (1994)
ina
VI. Software Piracy
ADVERTISING / COMMERCIAL SPEECH
I. Philosophical Background
A. Mass Production
B. Distribution
C. Marketing
D. Advertising
II. Major criticisms
A. Persuades us to buy goods we don't need
B. Appeals to emotion rather than intellect
C. Biased
D. Conflicting claims
E. Repetitious
F. Vulgar
G. Subliminal advertising
III. The Development of Regulation
A. History
1. Laissez-faire capitalism
2. Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)
3. Federal Trade Commission (1914)
4. Wheeler-Lea Amendment (1938)
5. False, Deceptive and Unfair Ads
B. Current Lack of Rigor
1. First Amendment protection
2. Political climate of deregulation
IV. Cases
A. Valentine v. Christensen (1942)
B. Bigelow v. Virginia (1975)
C. Va. Pharmacy Bd. v. Citizens Consumer Council (1976)
D. Warner Lambert v. FTC (1977)
E. First National Bank v. Bellotti (1978)
F. Liquormart v. Rhode Island (1996)
G. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)
H. McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission (2014)
FREE PRESS / FAIR TRIAL
I. The Conflict
A. First Amendment
B. Sixth Amendment
II. Historical Concerns
A. Ruth Snyder execution photograph (1928)
B. Lindbergh kidnapping trial (1935)
C. Julius & Ethel Rosenberg (1951)
III. Cameras in the Courtroom
IV. Cases and Comments
A. Sheppard v. Maxwell (1966)
B. Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart (1976)
C. Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia (1980)
D. Chandler v. Florida (1981)