2016 | mediacoalition

Tobinick v. Novella

Mar 8, 2018 | Litigation, 2016, New Hampshire, U.S. Circuit Court, U.S. District Court, amicus briefs, other content restrictions, tort claims and civil law, standing in First Amendment cases

Dr. Edward Tobinick sued Dr. Steven Novella, a professor at Yale University Medical School, for criticizing his unusual medical treatments that he provides at his clinics in Florida and California. In a blog post on his website “Science Based Medicine,” Novella called Tobinick’s clinic, the Institute of Neurological Recovery, a “quack clinic.” Novella also took issue that Tobinick used the anti-inflammatory drug Enbrel to treat Alzheimer’s disease, as reported by an article in the Los Angeles Times.

Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Wasden

Jan 4, 2018 | Litigation, 2016, Idaho, U.S. Circuit Court, U.S. District Court, amicus briefs, other content restrictions, tort claims and civil law, ag-gag

Media Coalition Foundation joined an amicus brief urging the Ninth Circuit to uphold the lower court’s ruling that Idaho’s “ag-gag” law is unconstitutional.

Press Release: Louisiana’s Online Age-Verification Law Is Enjoined for Violating the First Amendment

Oct 10, 2016 | Press Releases, 2016, Louisiana, U.S. District Court, cases brought by Media Coalition, harmful to minors, age verification

Booksellers and publishers secured a preliminary injunction against a new Louisiana law that requires websites to age-verify every Internet user before providing access to non-obscene material that could be deemed harmful to any minor.

Press Release: Federal Court blocks Louisiana’s Online Age-Verification Law for Violating First Amendment

Oct 10, 2016 | Press Releases, 2016, Louisiana, U.S. District Court, harmful to minors, age verification

On Friday, October 7, 2016 Chief Judge Brian A. Jackson of federal district court signed an order permanently preventing Louisiana from enforcing a 2015 Louisiana law that required websites to age-verify every Internet user before providing access to non-obscene material that could be deemed harmful to any minor.

Rhode Island House Bill 7537 and Senate Bill 2510

Aug 11, 2016 | Legislation, 2016, Rhode Island, other content restrictions, nonconsensual distribution of images

Rhode Island H.B. 7537 would bar the dissemination of a nude or sexually explicit image of another person without consent, under circumstances in which a reasonable person would know or understand the image was supposed to remain private.

California Assembly Bill 1671

Aug 11, 2016 | Legislation, 2016, California, other content restrictions, confidential information

California AB 1671, would make it a crime to disclose or distribute the contents of a “confidential conversation” if it was originally heard or recorded using an electronic amplifying or recording device. It also makes it illegal to aid, abet or employ anyone who discloses or distributes the content of such a conversation.

Alabama House Bill 167 and Senate Bill 222

Jul 27, 2016 | Legislation, 2016, Alabama, zoning and licensing

Alabama House Bill 167 and Senate Bill 222 would define a business as a “sexually oriented business” if it has “any business offering for sale, rent or the exhibit of items or services intended to provide sexual stimulation or sexual gratification to the customer.”

South Dakota House Bill 1243

Feb 17, 2016 | Legislation, 2016, South Dakota, other content restrictions, nonconsensual distribution of images

South Dakota H.B. 1243 would criminalize the distribution of images of a person without clothing, under or through the clothing of the person or a person depicted in a sexual manner, without the consent of the person depicted.

Iowa Senate File 2039

Feb 17, 2016 | Legislation, 2016, Iowa, harmful to minors, applies harmful to minors law to the internet

Iowa S.F. 2039 would apply the state’s “obscene for minors” law to “electronic communication devices.”

Nebraska Legislative Bill 892

Feb 11, 2016 | Legislation, 2016, Nebraska, other content restrictions, annoying and offensive speech

Nebraska L.B. 892 would criminalize electronic communication with another person using indecent, lewd or lascivious language or to suggest a lewd or lascivious act with the intent to annoy, offend, harass or terrify.

Maryland House Bill 30

Feb 3, 2016 | Legislation, 2016, Maryland, display, harmful to minors

Maryland H.B. 30 would bar the display of material if its cover or content is “harmful to minors.”

New Hampshire Senate Bill 465

Feb 3, 2016 | Legislation, 2016, New Hampshire, other content restrictions, nonconsensual distribution of images

New Hampshire S.B. 465 would criminalize the dissemination of a nude or sexually explicit without consent of the person depicted if the picture was known or understood to remain private.

Indiana Senate Bill 14

Feb 2, 2016 | Legislation, 2016, Indiana, sexually explicit content and minors

Indiana S.B. 14 would amend the existing state statute criminalizing sexually explicit depictions of minors. The existing law applies to descriptions of minors, drawings of minors and depictions of adults who appear to be minors.

Category: 2016