Incitement and the First Amendment

I know you are preparing for the first exam, so I'll keep this brief.

The American Civil Liberties Union published a short article about the Brandenburg standard of incitement and the controversial YouTube video, "Innocence of the Muslims."

I strongly urge you to read the article because it serves as a good review of my recent lecture involving Schenck and Brandenburg.

Click here for the article.

Feel free to post your reaction to the article, and/or if it was helpful.

Jury behaving badly? And, Simpson back in the news

I’ve read two recent news articles that are relevant to our discussions in media law.

First, did you see the article about the behavior of the jury in the murder trial of former police sergeant Drew Peterson? On Thursday, the jury convicted him of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, who was found dead in her bathtub in 2004. Prosecutors convinced jurors that the circumstantial evidence pointed to her husband. (Also, Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy Peterson disappeared in 2007, which led authorities to file murder changes in the case of Savio, which was first ruled an accidental death, but later changed to homicide after Stacy Peterson’s disappearance).

But the behavior of the jury is what caught my eye. Apparently, during the trial, the jury coordinated their clothing. They all wore yellow one day, then all black, according to news reports. One day that was particular noticeable was when the jury wore sports jerseys of area professional teams.

Check out this article in which jurors explained that they coordinated their clothing largely because they were bored. Click here for the article.

Second, the O.J. Simpson murder trial popped up in the news, also. At a law school forum, the lead prosecutor, Christopher Darden, accused the late Johnnie Cochran of tampering with the glove before Simpson famously struggled to put it on during a courtroom demonstration.

Lots of good detail here about the criminal and civil trials of O.J. Simpson. Click here for that article.

Incidentally, Darden was on a panel along with Fred Goldman (father of Ron Goldman, who was found murdered with Nicole Brown Simpson) at “Trials and Errors,” series, co-sponsored by Pace Law School and the Forum on Law, Culture & Society at Fordham Law School (my alma mater).

After you read these articles, please return here and comment. What did you think of the jury’s behavior in the Peterson murder trial? In the article about Darden and the bloody glove, what did you find interesting? Feel free to comment on one or both of the articles.