Case Sheets: Censorship - Rhode Island Affiliate, ACLU (American Civil LIberties Union)

THE RHODE ISLAND ACLU AND FREEDOM FROM CENSORSHIP

Censorship comes in many forms, but it is an evil which the ACLU has vigorously fought to oppose since its founding. Below are some of the First Amendment censorship cases in which the Affiliate has been involved over the years:

1975: Driver v. Helms -- Class action suit against various officials of the CIA, FBI and Post Office for opening of first-class mail to foreign countries without a court-authorized warrant.

1978: Wisner v. Ricci -- Successful federal court suit permitting the display of an art exhibit that had been raided by Providence police.

1986: Irish Subcommittee of R.I. Heritage Commission v. R.I. Heritage Commission -- Successful federal lawsuit against the banning of an Irish group from Heritage Day Festival because of the group’s political nature.

1988: United States v. Providence Journal -- Amicus brief in U.S. Supreme Court in support of newspaper’s right to have published an article in violation of a “prior restraint” order issued by a court.

1988: Secretary of Labor v. General Dynamics -- Challenge to an administrative gag order barring employees in a safety violations case from discussing the court proceedings in public; the court lifted the gag order.

1989: Kass v. Newton -- Successful federal suit challenging a state law barring persons from publicizing complaints against public officials filed with the Rhode Island Ethics Commission.

1990: Atlantic Beach Casino v. Morenzoni -- Successful federal lawsuit on behalf of nightclub threatened with revocation of its entertainment license after booking the rap group “2 Live Crew.”

1995: Cirelli v. Town of Johnston -- Successful federal lawsuit challenging school officials’ refusal to allow a high school teacher to videotape safety violations at the school, or to release the videotapes to third parties without permission.

1998: Providence Firefighters Local #799 v. Partington -- Successful federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a fire department order barring employees from speaking to the media without approval of the fire chief.

2001: Multnomah County Public Library v. USA -- Federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a federal law requiring libraries receiving federal funds to install blocking software on all their Internet access terminals.

2001: RI Brotherhood of Correctional Officers v. RI Airport Corporation -- Favorably settled federal lawsuit challenging the airport’s censorship of an issue-oriented advertisement on the grounds that it was “political” and “negative.”

2003: Carlow v. Mruk -- Federal lawsuit challenging a “gag order” issued by a Coventry Fire District Chief against two firefighters after they publicly expressed fire department-related concerns about school safety.