First Amendment and Prior Restraint Cases - Prof. Sandra Davidson, Exams of Communication and Development studies

Download First Amendment and Prior Restraint Cases - Prof. Sandra Davidson and more Exams Communication and Development studies in PDF only on Docsity! 1--- Octomom (18 points) 1-2. Say the “Octomom” tells her mom, “NBC is going to run a program that portrays me as a crazy, child-neglecting twit. What can I do?” She calls her lawyer, demanding that NBC stop this “libelous smear job.” What case applies and what year was it decided? ______________________________________________________________________________ _____ 3-6. The case does allow for prior restraint in what types of cases? ______________________________________________________________________________ _____ ______________________________________________________________________________ _____ ______________________________________________________________________________ _____ ______________________________________________________________________________ _____ 7-8. To get an injunction in any case, a plaintiff must show “________________________________” harm or injury. In prior restraint cases, the Supreme Court says time and time again that there is a “heavy ___________________________” against prior restraint. 9. Say that the trial court grants an injunction for Octomom against NBC. Explain the special process that CBS could use to get the injunction lifted most quickly? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______ ______________________________________________________________________________ ________ HINDMAN, SCOTT & GOLDSTEIN Attorneys at Law 1001 East Walnut Street, Suite 300 Columbia, Missouri 65201 EIN 43-1220899 10. William Blackstone's interpretation of the First Amendment was almost right. What was his model? 11. What is the Supreme Court's model? 12. Briefly define “in loco parentis”: 13-14. A temporary restraining order is, of course, temporary, while a permanent injunction is permanent. In what other two ways do TROs and permanent injunctions differ? ______________________________________________________________________________ _____ ______________________________________________________________________________ _______ 15. Only judges hear cases involving injunctions. This is based on English law. What kind of courts in England historically heard injunction cases? _____________________________________________ 16. The Pentagon Papers case got to the Supreme Court in under two weeks. (yes or no) 17. An injunction that requires a defendant to do something instead of telling the defendant not to do something is called a ____________________________________ injunction. 18. Cecilia Lacks was lax and got the ax as a teacher because her students performed dirty plays in class. Did the Supreme Court overturn her firing as a prior restraint on expression? (yes or no) Dissenting (18 points) HINDMAN, SCOTT & GOLDSTEIN Attorneys at Law 1001 East Walnut Street, Suite 300 Columbia, Missouri 65201 EIN 43-1220899 4-5. In all cases, courts must have these two types of jurisdiction to hear cases: 6. How do lower federal courts bind state courts? ___________________________________________ 7. How do state courts bind federal courts? ________________________________________________ 8-9. If a federal court is hearing a case involving state law, the federal court can ask the state's highest court how it would decide a case. This process is called : . But let’s say that the federal judge did not use this process and made his or her best guess on how the state should rule in Mary’s case. Mary lost. But a few years later, the state decided a similar case–the other way. Mary should have won. Under the doctrine of res judicata, may Mary have a “do over” so that his case can be heard again? (yes or no) 10-11. The part of a case that gives the precedent is called the . The rest of the case, which can give the “handwriting on the wall,” is called _____________________. 12. The doctrine that precedents should be followed is called: 13. Explain whether you have the right of freedom of expression in malls. ______________________________________________________________________________ _____ HINDMAN, SCOTT & GOLDSTEIN Attorneys at Law 1001 East Walnut Street, Suite 300 Columbia, Missouri 65201 EIN 43-1220899 14-16. Say that a school’s principal lets her students out to watch the Olympic torch passing by. Now say that one of the students unfurls a 14- foot-long banner that says, “Obama smoked pot.” This scenario is similar to an Alaskan case where a student’s banner said this: ______________________________________________________________________________ ____ But the Supreme Court case from Alaska made clear that maybe the school would not have the right to punish students for a banner concerning drugs if: ______________________________________________________________________________ _____ ______________________________________________________________________________ _____ ______________________________________________________________________________ _____ Writs (16 points) 1. This kind of writ tells a governmental official to do his or her duty: ___________________________ 2. If a criminal defendant thinks that her rights were violated and thus she is being held in prison in violation of the U.S. Constitution, she may seek this type of writ:_______________________________ 3. The right to speak is surely a great right, but the Fifth Amendment gives us this equally important right: ______________________________________________________________________________ _____ 4. For the Supreme Court to hear a case, it must involve federal law and also have what? HINDMAN, SCOTT & GOLDSTEIN Attorneys at Law 1001 East Walnut Street, Suite 300 Columbia, Missouri 65201 EIN 43-1220899 5-7. "Federal law" involves one of these three things: 8. Oliver Stone lost his case to Patricia Byers, the 37-year-old shot during a crime spree by a couple who had watched Natural Born Killers multiple times, because of a "fluke" in Louisiana law. (true or false) 9. Linda Davidson sued Tupac Shakur's estate but lost. What incident started this Texas suit? 10-11. When it comes to "laundry lists" such as race, religion and national origin, the Supreme Court draws this distinction between "fighting words" statutes and "ethnic intimidation" statutes: ______________________________________________________________________________ _____ 12. Briefly, what does an "ethnic intimidation" statute let a state do? 13. State Senator Louie Louis is tired of what he calls "those heathen, unwashed flag burners." In order to "teach respect" to citizens, he proposes a mandatory fine of $1,000 or 1,000 hours of community service for every act of flag desecration. What is the name of the four-part test that the Supreme Court would apply? 14. The third leg of this test is the one flunked most often. What does it require? HINDMAN, SCOTT & GOLDSTEIN Attorneys at Law 1001 East Walnut Street, Suite 300 Columbia, Missouri 65201 EIN 43-1220899 1-5. The principal of the Bonnybelle High School got involved in a scandal of sorts when he showed up at a school function with what the local newspaper called "the foul stench of alcohol and tobacco on his breath." A group of parents started picketing on the sidewalks and roads outside the school, asking the principal to resign. Now the Bonnybelle School Board wants the Bonnybelle City Council to pass an ordinance restricting all "negative" signs within 100 feet of the school. What test would the Supreme Court require the ordinance to pass? ______________________________ What two things trigger that test? ________________________________________________________ What are the two requirements of that test? 6-8. Some parents send their children to school wearing red bandannas to signify the "scarlet, immoral character" of the principal. What is the name of the case that would permit such symbolic speech in school? (One word is enough.) But even that case says that student speech may be restricted if it does one of these two things: 9. In journalism class, a student writes an editorial condemning the principal, the parents who oppose him, and the world in general. What is the name of the case that controls in this situation? (One word is enough.) 10-11. The Supreme Court says that the questions presented by these two school-law cases are different. What are the questions, and make clear which case asks what question: HINDMAN, SCOTT & GOLDSTEIN Attorneys at Law 1001 East Walnut Street, Suite 300 Columbia, Missouri 65201 EIN 43-1220899 12. If a student thinks that the principal has violated his or her First Amendment rights, the student may bring a (four numbers are enough) ______________ action. 13. Utopia University collects mandatory student fees and then uses some of these fees to pay for publication of student newspapers. May the university deny such payments to student groups that are producing religious newspapers? (yes or no) 14. Courts uniformly strike down school uniforms because students have the right to express themselves through their clothing. (yes or no) 15. George creates a Web site called “Blood Suckers” that says that certain teachers are really vampires, witches or other ghouls, and the site lists names. For example, the site says: “Mrs. Myrtle’s breath smells so bloody awful that the foul stench could only come from sucking blood.” Explain whether a court would uphold George’s expulsion: ______________________________________________________________________________ _____ ______________________________________________________________________________ _____ ______________________________________________________________________________ _____ HINDMAN, SCOTT & GOLDSTEIN Attorneys at Law 1001 East Walnut Street, Suite 300 Columbia, Missouri 65201 EIN 43-1220899 Name:___________________________________________________ Student Number:_____________ Test 1--Communications Law Fall 2009 (100 points) Please do not ask questions about test questions during the test. But if you have a problem with a question's wording, please make a quick note in the margin of your paper. Please do not talk in the foyer outside of the auditorium when you leave. Break a leg! HINDMAN, SCOTT & GOLDSTEIN Attorneys at Law 1001 East Walnut Street, Suite 300 Columbia, Missouri 65201 EIN 43-1220899