How far as a society are we willing to go to accept wrongdoings of public figures when we believe in the policies they promote? Are we really willing to separate personal decisions from professional ones? Are they truly not one…
Last Friday, September 22, Golden State Warrior’s player Stephen Curry had a press conference[1] during the Warriors’ Media Day. This year’s Media Day marks the unofficial start of the 2017-2018 basketball season where the players pose for photos, record…
Potential First Amendment violations involving freedom of the press are of growing concern, especially in the wake of controversy surrounding Trump’s criticism of the media. The president is certainly entitled to his own First Amendment protection when disapproving of the…
Apple is accustomed to being a controversial pioneer in the tech world. Yet, a patent it was recently awarded is garnering more than the usual interest, and not for positive reasons. The patent entitled “[s]ystems and methods for receiving infrared…
On September 29, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to revisit a controversial issue surrounding the federal government’s ban on offensive trademarks, specifically whether this ban violates free speech under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The Federal…
Colin Kaepernick, back-up quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, most likely knew that he would not face legal consequences when he decided to indefinitely sit (or kneel) during each pregame performance of the national anthem. Kaepernick also knew that it was a risk that…
Emojis, or emoticons, have become increasingly common fixtures in our everyday lives. Described by one court as the “little cartoon face that can be added to the text of an instant message . . . used to illustrate how the…
A Florida jury has decided that a grainy sex tape released without permission is worth $115 million in compensatory damages, plus $25 million in punitive damages, resulting in a staggering award of $140 million.[1] Retired wrestler Hulk Hogan, whose real…
The long-simmering struggle between two essential American interests came to a dramatic head this week when Apple indicated its intent to appeal a court order directing the company to unlock an iPhone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the…
“Freedom of expression is the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every other form of freedom.” —U.S. Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo In fall 2015, a unique class-action lawsuit was filed against the City of New York for unconstitutional arrests…
As the popularity of social media continues to grow, people are increasingly using it to express themselves. While expressing oneself on social media sites is a documented right as per the First Amendment, what is less clear is whether threats…
Autocomplete is a feature provided by many search engines that uses an algorithm to automatically display search suggestions to fill queries as information is inputted. These search suggestions are based on a user’s search history, popular search queries, and a…
