Federal judge ruling that college alcohol-ad ban violates free speech

The AP reports that a federal judge today has overturned Virginia’s decades-old ban on alcohol-related advertising in college newspapers, saying that the law violates the student publications’ right to free speech.
U.S. Magistrate Judge M. Hannah Lauck sided with the student newspapers at the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech, which said the restrictions of certain references to alcoholic beverages in print and online media hampered their ability to make money because they’ve had to turn down potential advertisers.
The Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s rules were adopted in 1988 to curb underage student drinking, but Lauck ruled Monday that the department has failed to show that the ban reduced such behavior.

Read More

News executives, correspondent win open-government awards

By The Associated Press
03.03.08
WASHINGTON — Associated Press President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Curley, CBS News correspondent Bob Schieffer and NBC Universal Vice President Paula Madison will be honored this week for their roles in promoting open government and free speech.

The Radio and Television News Directors Foundation announced Feb. 28 that it had chosen the three for First Amendment awards to be presented at its annual banquet here March 6. A special award also will be presented to former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Richard Wiley.

"The work that these individuals have done to advance the First Amendment and a free electronic press is important," said Barbara Cochran, the foundation's president.

Curley was selected for his role in pushing for more openness in government and prioritizing reporting on First Amendment issues. "He's being recognized for the leadership he has shown in getting journalists to work in a coalition for press freedom," Cochran said.

Schieffer, CBS News' chief Washington correspondent, was selected as "a journalist who's known for his fairness and integrity, and he's covered every major beat in Washington," Cochran said.

Madison was chosen for her long-standing advocacy for diversity both in the newsroom and in programming, Cochran said.

Wiley, now the top attorney in Wiley Rein LLP's communications division, was chosen for his role in launching the transition to digital television as FCC chairman, Cochran said. He was also selected for his legal work on behalf of First Amendment rights.

The RTNDF is the educational division of the Radio and Television News Directors Association. Cochran is president of both organizations.

David L. Hudson Jr.

David L. Hudson Jr. is a scholar at the First Amendment Center. Hudson writes for firstamendmentcenter.org and for other publications devoted to First Amendment issues.

Hudson is a First Amendment contributing editor for the American Bar Association's Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases. His articles have been published in The National Law Journal, the ABA Journal and the Tennessee Bar Journal. He is a member of the First Amendment Lawyers Association.

Hudson graduated from Duke University in 1990 and obtained a law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1994. He has been licensed to practice law in Tennessee since 1994.

After working as a judicial law clerk, Hudson joined the First Amendment Center in 1995. He also teaches classes in constitutional law at Middle Tennessee State University and legal research and writing at Nashville School of Law.

Hudson has authored several books, including The Bill of Rights: The First Ten Amendments of the Constitution (2002), The Fourteenth Amendment: Equal Protection Under the Law (2002), The Rights of Students (2004), the First Amendment Center’s The Silencing of Student Voices: Preserving Free Speech in America’s Schools (2004) and Open Government: An American Tradition Faces National Security, Privacy and Other Challenges (2005). He also was a co-author (along with Charles Haynes, Sam Chaltain, John Ferguson and Oliver Thomas) for First Amendment Rights in Education (2003).