Countries suppress the information exchange that enriches and develops human capitalhttp://www.newser.com/2008 - Newseren-usNewser Feed GeneratorThu, 20 Nov 2008 1:35:15 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/41487/palin-media-threatening-my-first-amendment-rights.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSarah Palin seems to think the Constitution is supposed to protect her from criticism. On a conservative radio show, Palin said the media is unfairly attacking her for her shots at Obama on Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright, and that if the media “convinces enough voters that that is negative campaigning, then I don’t know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media.”http://www.newser.com/story/41487/palin-media-threatening-my-first-amendment-rights.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSat, 01 Nov 2008 10:32:03 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/40607/afghan-writers-death-sentence-reduced.html?refid=rss_all_defaultParwez Kambakhsh won’t be executed for distributing literature on women’s rights, but the student and part-time journalist will spend the next 20 years in prison, an Afghan appeals court ruled yesterday. “This is arguably worse for him,” one human-rights advocate told the Los Angeles Times of the 24-year-old’s death sentence for blasphemy being reduced, noting the influence of radical Islam on the country’s “kangaroo-court justice.”http://www.newser.com/story/40607/afghan-writers-death-sentence-reduced.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 22 Oct 2008 8:04:56 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/37306/va-court-voids-spam-law.html?refid=rss_all_defaultVirginia’s anti-spam laws are unconstitutional because they prohibit behavior shielded by the First Amendment, the state’s supreme court ruled today. The ruling overturns the conviction of Jeremy Jaynes, who received the nation’s first felony spam conviction in 2004, the Richmond Times-Dispatch says. Prosecutors alleged Jaynes sent up to 10 million emails a day from his North Carolina home.http://www.newser.com/story/37306/va-court-voids-spam-law.html?refid=rss_all_defaultFri, 12 Sep 2008 12:00:20 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/34357/denver-can-corral-convention-protesters-court.html?refid=rss_all_defaultA federal judge has ruled that protesters can be confined to a fenced-in zone at the Democratic National Convention because security concerns outweigh activists' right to free speech, Reuters reports. The ACLU and a coalition of protest groups had brought a lawsuit against Denver and the Secret Service over plans concerning what activists have labeled a"freedom cage."http://www.newser.com/story/34357/denver-can-corral-convention-protesters-court.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThu, 07 Aug 2008 3:27:17 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/33452/french-fight-ban-on-insulting-civil-servants.html?refid=rss_all_defaultA Paris publisher has launched a high-profile crusade to legalize an increasingly popular crime: the insulting of public officials, the London Times reports. After being fined €150 for calling a cop a connard —or stupid bastard—Jean-Jacques Reboux got even angrier, and accused civil servants of abusing the law to make money. "It's like something from the ancien régime," Reboux said.http://www.newser.com/story/33452/french-fight-ban-on-insulting-civil-servants.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSat, 26 Jul 2008 18:24:37 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/32286/teenagers-have-rights-too.html?refid=rss_all_default"Teenagers have constitutional rights." That shouldn’t be controversial, but several schools are in court arguing that the First Amendment doesn't apply to students, writes Frank LoMonte in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Morse v. Frederick set a precedent last year, when Supreme Court judges ruled that students could be punished for a “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” banner—even though it was off school grounds.http://www.newser.com/story/32286/teenagers-have-rights-too.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSat, 12 Jul 2008 14:40:41 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/31836/online-spaces-snub-free-speech-that-offends.html?refid=rss_all_defaultA variety of websites are deleting postings that could offend, and with full legal protection—sparking debate about whether free speech exists online. Case in point: an image of a young smoker posted on Yahoo's photo service. It was cut for promoting underage smoking, but the photographer calls it a comment on Romanian street life. "I never thought of it as a photo of a smoking kid," he said.http://www.newser.com/story/31836/online-spaces-snub-free-speech-that-offends.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 07 Jul 2008 17:00:12 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/31658/real-patriots-criticize-the-government.html?refid=rss_all_defaultPatriotism is the word of the day, but what does it mean? For Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution , it means fighting for your country’s ideals. "I believe I'm lucky to be an American because our founding document embraces the revolutionary idea that any citizen should be able to criticize his government without fear of retaliation," she writes.http://www.newser.com/story/31658/real-patriots-criticize-the-government.html?refid=rss_all_defaultFri, 04 Jul 2008 13:55:00 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/31522/philly-guides-seek-liberty-from-licensing-law.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThree tour guides in the cradle of democracy are taking the city to court over a law they say tramples on their constitutional rights, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer . The law compels Philadelphia guides to pay a fee and take a test to get a tour license—and the plaintiffs argue the requirements violate their First Amendment right to free speech.http://www.newser.com/story/31522/philly-guides-seek-liberty-from-licensing-law.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThu, 03 Jul 2008 1:50:42 CDT