Freedom Of Speech

Until two years ago, the eloquent editor of Turkey's only Armenian language newspaper was barely known to many in Los Angeles' vast Armenian American community. But when Turkey charged that Hrant Dink's uncompromising stories had insulted that nation's identity, the iconoclastic resident of Istanbul quickly gained notice. So his assassination Friday stunned and saddened those who had known him for years and many who had only recently learned his name.

An outspoken journalist who repeatedly clashed with Turkish authorities here over recognition of the early 20th century slaughter of Armenians was shot to death Friday afternoon on a busy downtown street. Hrant Dink, who as editor of a Turkish Armenian newspaper was the leading voice for his ethnic community, was killed a week after he wrote about threats from unknown forces who he said regarded him as "an enemy of the Turks."

The Supreme Court set the stage Friday for striking down a part of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law that bars the broadcast of corporate and union-funded ads just prior to an election. Three years ago, the justices narrowly upheld the McCain-Feingold Act of 2002 and its rule against corporate-funded broadcast ads, which was adopted to prevent powerful interests from using their money to sway elections in the final weeks of a campaign.

The American Civil Liberties Union asked a federal court Friday to unseal secret documents filed by the Bush administration in support of its warrantless domestic surveillance program. The administration announced last week that it was suspending the electronic surveillance program and says the ACLU case challenging its constitutionality should therefore be dismissed. It has filed some of its arguments under seal, preventing the ACLU from seeing them.

The most important free speech case now before the California Supreme Court carries neither the heft of the Pentagon Papers nor the emotion of Nazis seeking to march in Skokie, Ill. In fact, the figure at the center of the case, a Christian evangelist in Newport Beach, makes a highly unlikely 1st Amendment hero.

The California Supreme Court appeared to be divided Monday over whether courts may bar individuals from repeating defamatory statements instead of simply requiring them to compensate the victim monetarily. Meeting for arguments in Sacramento, at least three justices on the seven-member court appeared to believe so-called prior restraint orders may at times be justified. Chief Justice Ronald M.

Whose fault is it that 13-year-old "Julie Doe" lied about her age, met a guy on MySpace.com and was allegedly sexually assaulted by him in a Texas parking lot? Not MySpace's, a federal judge said in a decision released Wednesday. The ruling appears to be the first time a federal court has extended to social-networking sites the same broad free-speech protections granted to Internet service providers.

If a "Snakes on a Plane" sequel is ever filmed at John Wayne Airport, actor Samuel L. Jackson had better watch his tongue -- unless a potty-mouthed dance student wins a free-speech lawsuit filed against Orange County this month. Last summer, Elizabeth Venable of Riverside was cited for disorderly conduct after she allegedly yelled numerous obscenities to a friend while exiting the airport's baggage claim area.

Disorderly-conduct charges have been dropped against a 26-year-old dance student who used profanity at John Wayne Airport, officials said. A related free-speech lawsuit challenging Orange County's law governing conduct in airports is still pending, but settlement negotiations are underway, the student's lawyer said Thursday.

Police clubbed protesters and dragged them into waiting buses Saturday in response to a demonstration against the Kremlin in the heart of President Vladimir V. Putin's hometown. Several thousand members of liberal and leftist groups chanted "Shame!" as they marched down St. Petersburg's main avenue to protest what they said was Russia's rollback from democracy. The demonstration, called the March of Those Who Disagree, was a rare gathering of the country's often fractious opposition.