Good, bad, ugly

The Salt Lake Tribune today reports that a Utah legislator wants to repeal Utah's already-declared-unconstitutional 19th century criminal libel law. Good.

The same legislator, however, wants to codify the actual malice standard within the 1973 criminal defamation law. Bad. Rather than solidifying the law by eliminating any argument based on New York Times v. Sullivan, why not just get rid of it altogether? That would be better.

And there's an update on the former Utah high school student who successfully challenged the criminal libel law as unconstitutional. He's in Iraq with the military now. Ugly.

Solomon Amendment arguments

Interesting story in today's New York Times about oral arguments yesterday in the law schools' challenge to the federal law that requires them to grant access to military grant in exchange for millions of dollars in federal funding. I liked this exchange between Joshua Rosenkranz, lawyer for the law schools, and new Chief Justice John Roberts:

"I'm sorry, but on 'compelled speech,' nobody thinks that this law school is speaking through those employers who come onto its campus for recruitment," the chief justice said. "Nobody thinks the law school believes everything that the employers are doing or saying."

The lawyer adjusted his focus. The law schools have their own message, "that they believe it is immoral to abet discrimination," he said.

This time, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor took issue. "But they can say that to every student who enters the room," she said.

"And when they do it, your honor, the answer of the students is, we don't believe you," Mr. Rosenkranz said.

"The reason they don't believe you is because you're willing to take the money," Chief Justice Roberts interjected. "What you're saying is this is a message we believe in strongly, but we don't believe in it to the detriment of $100 million."

Photogs and the First Amendment

It seems that there is some doubt in Salt Lake County about whether people have the right to stand on a public sidewalk holding a camera. By settling the lawsuit brought by a photographer, however, South Salt Lake seems to be acknowledging that the First Amendment does exist there.