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Status of Recent Cases


For more information, see Freedom to Read Foundation News  |  FTRF Reports to ALA Council |  Current Litigation News (Media Coalition) |  Legislative Updates (Media Coalition)

ABFFE v. Strickland   (Ohio’s “Harmful to Juveniles” statute, formerly  Bookfriends, Inc. v. Taft)
FTRF role: Plaintiff
Status: Preliminary injunction issued in 2002 to bar enforcement was appealed to Sixth Circuit; Ohio legislature amended statute in an effort to moot lawsuit; Sixth Circuit remanded case in June 2003. Plaintiffs filed amended complaint on August 6, 2003. On September 27, 2004, the district court granted Plaintiffs’ summary judgment motion in part and overruled it in part, and issued an expanded opinion in September 2007, finding the statute violated the First Amendment because it was overbroad and not narrowly tailored to achieve the compelling interest of protecting minors from pedophiles online.  After the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the statute was limited in scope to online communication knowingly directed at a minor, on April 15, 2010, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the statute as constitutional, based on the narrowed scope.

ACLU of Florida v. Miami-Dade School Board ( Vamos a Cuba book removal case)
FTRF role: Amicus (PDF)
Status: After the Miami-Dade School Board voted to remove all copies of the book Vamos a Cuba and its English-language companion book A Visit to Cuba from its schools, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida joined with the families of Miami-Dade students and the Miami-Dade County Student Government Association to challenge the decision on First Amendment grounds. When the district court entered a preliminary injunction ordering the school district to immediately replace the entire series on library shelves, the Miami-Dade School Board appealed the decision to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which overturned the decision. The Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari by the plaintiffs, thus ending the litigation.

American Historical Association v. National Archives Records Administration (challenge to legality of Executive Order No. 13233)
FTRF role: Amicus
Status: After Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly dismissed NARA's suit in March 2004, plaintiffs asked for a reconsideration of her ruling. The judge ordered another round of briefing, and FTRF joined an amicus on November 30, 2005. The plaintiffs renewed their motion for summary judgment in January 2006. On October 1, 2007, Judt Kollar-Kotelly denied the motion but enjoined the Archivist of the U.S. from relying on the section of the Executive Order giving presidents a potentially unlimited timeframe for blocking the release of archives.  On January 21, 2009, President Barack Obama revoked the Executive Order.

Beard v. Banks (the free speech rights of prisoners and their media correspondents)
FTRF role: Amicus [PDF]
Status: On June 28, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in favor of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, reversing the Third Circuit's ruling that the prison regulation violated the First Amendment.

Chiras v. Miller (appeal of District Court decision allowing viewpoint discrimination in textbook selection)
FTRF role: Amicus
Status: In December 2005, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the district court's decision to dismiss the lawsuit, agreeing that school boards may reject textbooks if they disagree with the author's viewpoint when such "viewpoint discrimination" is "reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns." The plaintiffs chose not to seek certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court..

Library Connection v. Gonzales (Connecticut librarians' challenging receipt of National Security Letter (NSL))
FTRF role: Amicus
Status: Following the amending of the USA PATRIOT Act in 2006, the FBI dropped their attempt to maintain the gag order, and in June 2006 rescinded the NSL.

John Doe and ACLU v. Holder (Internet Service Provider challenge to National Security Letters provision of USA PATRIOT Act)
FTRF role: Amicus
Status: Victory in District Court, September 2004. Judge Victor Marrero struck down NSL statute and associated gag provision. Government appealed to Second Circuit Court of Appeals and FTRF submitted a second amicus brief. Following the March 2006 amendment of the NSL provision of the USA PATRIOT Act, the Second Circuit remanded the case to district court.  In November 2006, the government withdrew its request for records but kept the gag order in place. In September 2007, Judge Marrero struckdown the amended statute as unconstitutional. In December 2008, the Second Circuit upheld, in part, the district court's ruling, narrowing the NSL staute.  On August 10, 2010, following a settlement, the FBI partially lifted its gag order and John Doe was revealed to be Nicholas Merrill, president of Calyx Internet Access.

Entertainment Software Association v. Blagojevich (Illinois video game ban)
FTRF role: Amicus
Status: Victory. On November 27, 2006, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals found that Illinois's law banning the sale of video games with certain sexual content violated the First Amendment. The state previously chose not to appeal the district court ruling finding the Violent Video Games Law unconstitutional.

Entertainment Software Association v. Swanson (Minnesota video game ban)
FTRF role: Amicus
Status: Victory. On July 31, 2006, the district court judge permanently enjoined this law criminalizing the sale or rental of certain video games to anyone under 17.  The state then appealed to the Eighth Circuit, and on November 29, 2006, FTRF joined an amicus brief in support of the plainiffs. On March 17, 2008, the Eigth Circuit upheld the lower court decision.

Forensic Advisors, Inc. v. Matrixx Initiatives, Inc.  (attempt to quash subpoena of private newsletter subscriber list)
FTRF role:  Amicus [PDF]
Status: Dismissed. In 2007, the Maryland court declared Forensic Advisors' lawsuit moot after Matrixx dropped its Arizona suit against its anonymous critics. Previously, in 2006, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals found that Matrixx could go ahead with its deposition of Forensic Advisors, but also found that Forensic Advisors could assert a "news media privelege" with respect to certain information.

Gonzales v. ACLU (Child Online Protection Act or CDA II)
FTRF role: Amicus
Status: Victory. After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down portions of the Communications Decency Act, Congress passed the Child Online Protection Act in 1998.  During an 11 year court battle, the Judge Lowell Reed on March 22, 2007, found COPA unconstitutional, permanently enjoining it. On July 22, 2008, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld this ruling and in 2009 the Supreme Court refused to hear appeals in the case.

For a complete history of Gonzales v. ACLU (“Child Online Protection Act”), including court papers and a list of ACLU clients and the material they fear will be censored, visit the ACLU's Online Free Speech page.

Gorran v. Atkins Nutritionals is the appeal by a disgruntled former Atkins dieter of the ruling by Judge Denny Chin of the Southern District of New York that dismissed his negligent misrepresentation, product liability, and state unfair competition claims.
FTRF role: Amicus in support of Atkins Nutritionals, Inc.
Status: Victory. FTRF's brief argued that First Amendment considerations protect the book Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution from personal injury claims.  On May 28, 2008, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal, holding that the ideas in the Atkins book and on its website are noncommercial speech entitled to First Amendment protection.

Kaczynski v. United States ("Unabomber" archives)
FTRF role: Amicus
Status: On July 21, 2005, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the federal government to sell Kaczynski's papers and to compensate the victims with the proceeds. Overall a positive decision.  Decision. [PDF]  In January 2007, the New York Times reported that Kaczynski expressed a desire to appeal the decision that approved the auction.

The King's English v. Shurtleff (Utah Internet censorship bill)
FTRF role: Plaintiff
Status: Pending.  Complaint (PDF) filed June 9, 2005. On August 25, 2006, following the failure of the state legislature to amend the law, the court entered a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of the law. In February 2007, the legislature adopted an amendment to the law, following which FTRF filed an  amended complaint (PDF) on April 30, 2007.

Lyle v. Warner Brothers  ("Friends" hostile environment suit)
FTRF role: Amicus [PDF]
Status: Victory. On April 20, 2006, the California Supreme Court dismissed the allegations of sexual harrassment, holding that the "creative necessity" test to judge the banter in the writers' room would harm the First Amendment.

Michigan v. Kilpatrick (Michigan "Son of Sam" law challenge)
FTRF role: Amicus [PDF] 
Status: Pending.  On November 1, 2011, FTRF filed an amicus brief with the Michigan Supreme Court arguing that the state's version of a "Son of Sam" law unconstitutionally chills protected speech.  The brief includes a bibliography of hundreds of works published by prisoners or former prisoners, many of which could have been affected by this type of law.

Muslim Community Association of Ann Arbor v. Ashcroft (facial challenge to Section 215 of USA PATRIOT Act)
FTRF role: Amicus
Status: On October 2, 2006, the trial court denied the government's motion to dismiss and held that the plaintiffs had standing to challenge the statute. On October 27, 2006, the ACLU withdrew its facial challenge to Section 215 citing the recent amendments to the USA PATRIOT Act.

Morse v. Frederick ("Bong Hits 4 Jesus" student free speech case)
FTRF role: Amicus in support of student Joseph Frederick
Status: On June 25, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that the Juneau, Alaska School District wrongly suspended Frederick for displaying a banner reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" across the street from his school during the 2002 Olympic Torch Relay.

Yahoo! v. La Ligue Contre Le Racisme et L'Antisemitisme (LICRA)
FTRF role: Amicus in support of Yahoo!
Status: Victory in District Court was reversed by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Ninth Circuit granted Yahoo! a rehearing en banc, which was held on March 25, 2005. On January 12, 2006, the Ninth Circuit affirmed its decision.

The Media Coalition

Current Litigation News and  Legislative Updates

The Freedom to Read Foundation is a member of The Media Coalition, and participates in much of the litigation discussed on its site. Contact FTRF for confirmation or clarification of our level of involvement in a particular case.

The Media Coalition is an association that defends the First Amendment right to produce and sell books, magazines, recordings, videotapes and video games; and defends the American public's First Amendment right to have access to the broadest possible range of opinion and entertainment.

The Media Coalition was founded in 1973. It represents most of the booksellers, publishers, librarians, periodical distributors, recording and video game manufacturers, and recording and video retailers in the United States.

Links to non-ALA sites have been provided because these sites may have information of interest. Neither the American Library Association nor the Freedom to Read Foundation necessarily endorses the views expressed or the facts presented on these sites; and furthermore, ALA and FTRF do not endorse any commercial products that may be advertised or available on these sites.