NCJ Number
121081
Journal
Trial Volume: 25 Issue: 12 Dated: (December 1989) Pages: 46-47,49,51
Date Published
1989
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Several recent Supreme Court first amendment decisions are discussed, with emphasis on the doctrine of independent appellate review in defamation actions and flag burning cases.
Abstract
While the Supreme Court considered many first amendment free speech issues last term, it acted on two issues likely to influence future litigation. In Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. v. Connaughton, the Court ruled on the issue of independent appellate review of libel or defamation cases and failed to adopt a view that was broader or narrower than a 1984 case favoring vigorous appellate review of findings of fact made by trial judges and juries. The Connaughton case therefore raised more questions than it solved. Another controversial issue addressed by the Court was flag burning, in which the Court supported the principle that certain kinds of offensive speech (such as burning the American flag) cannot be proscribed merely because they offend the sensibilities of the majority. Unlike other Bill of Rights provisions, first amendment protections do not seem to be circumscribed by the Supreme Court's increasingly conservative majority. 37 footnotes.