COLUMBUS, Ohio — The First Amendment right to free speech is no laughing matter, as illustrated by a new exhibit at the world's largest cartoon library. The political cartooning display runs the gamut from a 1774 etching by Paul Revere criticizing Britain's use of tea as a political weapon to...
Stockton School Newspaper Will Run Story on Student Working in Porn
STOCKTON — The Lodi Unified School District has decided to allow a high school newspaper to publish a profile of an 18-year-old student who works in the porn industry. The district won't stop the story from running Friday in the Bear Creek High School paper, the Stockton Record reported Thursday. The paper's...
Suit Targets California’s Ban on ‘Come on You Whites’ Plate
LOS ANGELES — A soccer fan says in a lawsuit that the California Department of Motor Vehicles violated his First Amendment rights by rejecting a personalized license plate he said would celebrate his favorite team, but which the DMV determined might be deemed offensive. Jon Kotler applied for a plate...
California Court: Old Police Misconduct Records Are Public
SACRAMENTO — Law enforcement agencies in California must release police misconduct records even if the behavior occurred before a new transparency law took effect, a state court of appeals has ruled. The 1st District Court of Appeal's decision released Friday settles for now a debate over whether records created before...
Students Will Learn From Who's Who of Valley Journalists on Friday
Four hundred students and their teachers will learn how to improve their skills at the third annual Fresno City College Journalism Conference on Friday. All of the presenters are local professional journalists, media experts, or instructors. They will cover all aspects of print, broadcasting and web news gathering during 40...
Trump Cheers as Supreme Court Deals Big Setback to Labor Unions
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that government workers can't be forced to contribute to labor unions that represent them in collective bargaining, dealing a serious financial blow to organized labor. The court's conservative majority scrapped a 41-year-old decision that had allowed states to require that public employees pay...
Trump Can't Block You on Twitter, Judge Rules
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump violates the First Amendment when he blocks critics on Twitter because of their political views, a judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Manhattan stopped short in her written decision of ordering Trump or a subordinate to stop the practice of...
What To Do About Jarrar? Ignore Her and Keep Elevating Fresno State.
Those offended by Fresno State professor Randa Jarrar's tweets can quit wasting their time demanding that the university fire her. Her ugly tweets — posted by Jarrar to call attention to herself — are protected by the First Amendment. For those who have forgotten exactly what it says, here is...
It's a New Platform, But I've Still Got My Eye on Fresno
Journalism started for me when I was 9 years old. We lived about 20 miles east of Portland, not far from the confluence of the Sandy and Columbia rivers, in a place called Troutdale. I went up and down the street knocking on doors to learn the latest "news," mostly...
It's a New Platform, But I've Still Got My Eye on Fresno
Journalism started for me when I was 9 years old. We lived about 20 miles east of Portland, not far from the confluence of the Sandy and Columbia rivers, in a place called Troutdale. I went up and down the street knocking on doors to learn the latest "news," mostly...