First Amendment Rights

Catholic Conundrum: What's an Anti-Abortion, Pro-Immigrant Voter to Do?

Fan of Tempe Mayoral Candidate Michael Monti Lets the World Know He Plans on Ripping Down Opponent's Signs

Here's a tip: If you're planning on doing something that may be a crime, don't tell the state's largest paper before doing so.Apparently our tip is a little late, as it would seem that a fan of Tempe mayoral candidate Michael Monti did that yesterday.Legislative District 17 Republicans chairman A.J. ... More >>

There's a Guy Named Johnny Bones, and He's Causing Drama in the City of Tombstone

​There's a gentleman in Tombstone who goes by the name of Johnny Bones, and he's causing a ruckus.Bones was arrested in February, and the American Civil Liberties Union now says Bones is being subjected to "malicious, unconstitutional" prosecution.There's some real Wild West stuff going on here.Ac ... More >>

Joe Arpaio on Blast by Citizens for a Better Arizona in New Video

CBA demands accountability of Arpaio in the latest video by Dennis Gilman A point some local journos missed concerning the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors' recent hearing on Sheriff Joe Arpaio's various misdeeds was that the special meeting, which addressed Arpaio's racial profiling and his bun ... More >>

Joe Arpaio's Rough Week: Is the Sheriff Finally Unelectable?

Jamie PeacheyFour more years (of civil rights violations, lawsuits, political witch hunts, and smugness)?​Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's had a pretty rough week -- aside from the Department of Justice determining that he's guilty of the worst racial-profiling practices in U.S. history, the s ... More >>

Joe Arpaio's Lawyer Grilled by Ninth Circuit About Why Sheriff Should Remain Exempt from New Times' False-Arrest Lawsuit

Sheriff Joe Arpaio​Editor's note: This post was written by Peter Jamison, who covered the hearing for us and our sister paper, the SF Weekly: An 11-member panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had tough questions today for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's ... More >>

Joe Miller, Probation Officer Fired for Statement in Support of Marijuana Legalization, Launches Lawsuit With ACLU's Help

Image: Huffington PostJoe Miller​Maybe one reason marijuana prohibition is still in effect is this:Law officers face being fired merely for stating publicly their views on legalization.That was the case for Joe Miller, a former Mohave County probation officer whose supervisors terminated him after ... More >>

U.S. Supreme Court Puts Kibosh on Arizona's Matching Funds

​The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this morning that the matching funds portion of Arizona's "Clean Elections" system is unconstitutional, meaning candidates in next year's election will not be given taxpayer money to match funds raised by their opponents.Under the matching funds system, publicly funde ... More >>

Russell Pearce, Flag-Desecrator and Lawbreaker?

Talk about no class. At least JT wore a suit, though he's sportin' an Old Glory tie...I feel a little like the Arizona Republic's Clay Thompson in discussing this issue, raised via e-mail by someone involved in the effort to recall state Senate President Russell Pearce. But here goes.Some have sugge ... More >>

Morning Poll: Should Westboro Baptist A-Holes be Allowed to Protest Funerals?

www.thepeoplegroupllc.com​The United States Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the anti-gay rights assholes from the Westboro Baptist Church -- as despicable as they may be -- are guaranteed the same First Amendment rights as those of us who don't abuse them just to draw attention to some absurd i ... More >>

Andrew Thomas and Lisa Aubuchon are Criminally Corrupt, Dishonest Conspirators and Just Plain Sucky Lawyers, Says Formal State Bar Complaint

Photo illustration: Ray SternAndrew Thomas and Lisa Aubuchon: The conspiracy was all theirs.​ The real conspiracy was on the other side.Former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and his lackey, Lisa Aubuchon, while alleging high crimes and conspiracies against county leaders, were conspiri ... More >>

Westboro Baptist Church Unified Democrats and Republicans Over One Thing: Limiting Freedom of Speech

Megan Griego, Fired Surprise Employee, Sues Over Claim That City Violated Her Right to Free Speech

​ A woman who was fired by the city of Surprise after arguing against budget cuts in a public hearing is suing in federal court over the alleged violation of her free-speech rights. Megan Griego had been working as an economic development coordinator for about three years when s ... More >>

Neo-Nazi NSM Invades Phoenix November 13: Wanna Do Battle? Why, Send in the Clowns

wikimediacommonsThis is a clown...And so is this, only the one in black is far more ridiculous...A lot of folks have been e-mailing me of late to wonder if I knew that the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement will be back in town on Saturday, November 13, to reprise their performance of last year at ... More >>

Burning Qurans, Flags, Bibles? The First Amendment Rules

~crystalina~ If the book burning was to be of Bibles instead of Qurans, would anyone have cared? All the sturm und drang of the past few days over a Florida pastor's plans to burn a pile of Qurans on September 11 may have paid off. The AP is now reporting that Pastor Terry Jon ... More >>

Flagstaff Tea Party Member Told to Cover Up Her Shirt by Poll Workers

Clint Bolick says a Flagstaff woman's First Amendment rights were violated when she was told not to wear a Tea Party T-shirt to the polls.​A Flagstaff woman was told she would not be allowed to vote if she wears her Tea Party shirt to the polls.And when Diane Wickberg called the Coconino Cou ... More >>

Clean Elections Law Deemed Constitutional by 9th Circuit; Goldwater Institute Attorneys Expect Supreme Court to Intervene

www.firstfriday.com​Arizona's controversial Clean Elections Law got a new lease on life Friday when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a ruling of the U.S. District Court in Phoenix, which found the law to be unconstitutional.The three-judge panel ruled unanimously that the law does ... More >>

Arizona Clean Elections Ruling to Be Reviewed by U.S. Court of Appeals on Monday

www.spamtacular.com​The Goldwater Institute announced today that the U.S. Court of Appeals will review the decision of a lower court that put an end to matching funds for political candidates who run under Arizona's publicly funded elections system.If you're unfamiliar with matching funds, o ... More >>

Clean Elections Matching Funds Update: Goldwater Tries to Stop the Stay

Nick Dranias, attorney for the Goldwater Institute​Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver put an end to all-important "matching funds" provisions in Arizona's clean elections system, saying that -- absent a stay from the appellate court -- publicly funded candidates will onl ... More >>

Steven Anderson's Three Alarm Baptist Church: Barry Lynn of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State Weighs In

DayPortPlayer.newPlayer({articleID:"24035",bannerAdConDefID:"35",videoAdObjectID:"34",videoAdConDefID:"11",playVideoAds:"true",autoPlay:"true",categoryID:"3",accPos:"CCTVI.VIDEO.LOCAL",accSite:"KNXV",playerInstanceID:"79E9B438-E8FF-FFD4-61AC-E88644E2C20B",domain:"knxv.dayport.com"});ABC 15's raw foo ... More >>

Free the Fonz! Fronzo West Jailed for Telling Authorities "Fuck the Police" (w/Update)

Why are cops afraid of The Fonz? A combination of camcorder and freedom of speech. Phoenix civil liberties activist Fronzo West is currently doing time in the Maricopa County jail for exercising his freedom of speech rights as enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Fo ... More >>

ACLU Slams Joe Arpaio Over Jail Lockdown, and Channel 3's Marissa Wingate Digs Joe's Slop

The Arizona ACLU says what Joe's doing in his jails is unconstitutional. Hardly a first there. Today the Arizona ACLU blasted Sheriff Joe Arpaio for locking down his jail facilities in response to a massive hunger strike inspired by the liquefied slop the MCSO feeds inmates on a dail ... More >>

ACLU Says School District Agreed to Permit Student to Wear Gay-Pride Accessory; District Says Wristband Ban Never Existed

The Peoria Unified School District has agreed "it will no longer prevent" a 14-year-old student from wearing a gay-pride wristband, the ACLU says today. The district, however, says it never agreed to any such thing -- because the student was never disallowed from wearing the accessory ... More >>

Feedback from the Issue of Thursday, April 16, 2009

ACLU Demands Peoria School District Allow Kid to Wear "Rainbows are Gay" Wristband

The American Civil Liberties Board of Arizona is threatening action against the Peoria Unified School District after an eighth-grade student was prohibited from wearing a "Rainbows are Gay" wristband. The 14-year-old gay student was told to wear the wristband inside out or quit w ... More >>

Obama Cartoon Flap: Local Officials Questioning Oversight Process at College Student Newspapers

The plot thickens:Following our report on an e-mail distributed by the journalism director at Scottsdale Community College, two of the five governing board members of the Maricopa Community College District have written in comments (reprinted in this post), and we've had a chance to talk to Tom Gari ... More >>

Something Wicked This Way Comes: Guadalupe Ends Its Lawsuit Against Joe Arpaio

Has the Town of Guadalupe cut a deal with Sheriff Joe Arpaio? And is another anti-immigrant sweep of the city coming down the pike? Could be, on both counts. According to court records, as of January 5, 2009, the Town of Guadalupe ended its federal law suit against the MCSO, Joe Arpaio and Maricopa ... More >>

Federal Judge Dismisses Certain Claims in New Times' Lawsuit Against County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The Case Will Move Forward

Retreating Justice: On-air dork Jon Justice of Tucson's 104.1 FM hides his Isabel Garcia pinata.

Our Community Under Siege

Where do we turn when law enforcement threatens citizens like a grim force of nature?

Letters From the Issue of Thursday, December 20, 2007

New Times Sues County and Special Prosecutor

Word Play

It’s easy, m’kay

Sign Wars

One man fights Scottsdale for the right to twirl signs

Letters From the Issue of Thursday, January 18, 2007

Campus Strife

A free-speech battle at ASU centers on enormous posters of aborted fetuses

Letters

Letters from the week of March 31, 2005

Letters

Letters from the week of December 2, 2004

Letters

Letters from the week of September 11, 2003

Shut Up, Andy!

ASU journalism prof vows to boycott luncheon honoring Rooney

Mixed Frequency

From hate speech to anarchist punk, one radio station is playing both ends against the middle

Peacenik Nazis

Radical right capitalizes on September 11 fears

Civil Libertines

The battle over Phoenix's groundbreaking sex-club ban moves into federal court

Letters

Extra Censory

In Arizona, high school administrators can decide what may or may not be published in student newspapers. They are not bashful about protecting their own interests.

NONE DARE CALL IT REASONARIZONA IS A HOTBED OF CONSTITUTIONALIST DISSENT, AND HERE ARE FOUR WHO FUEL THE PATRIOT FLAME

LIBRARIANS ABSTAIN FROM SEXTHEY'VE BANNED A BEST SELLER, AND NOBODY CARES