After years of denying Laura Belin press credentials to cover the Iowa House of Representatives, it took the chief clerk of the House less than a week to reverse course after Belin filed a federal lawsuit. On Wednesday, Belin and the nonprofit Institute for Free Speech, which was representing her in the lawsuit, announced Belin […]
first amendment
Posted inCommunity/News
After being repeatedly denied press credentials by the Iowa House of Representatives, journalist Laura Belin files a federal lawsuit
Laura Belin, one of Iowa’s leading political journalists, filed a federal lawsuit on Friday after being denied press credentials by the Iowa House of Representatives for the sixth year in a row. “Refusing to credential journalists for arbitrary reasons — or because lawmakers may not like tough coverage or her point of view — is […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘A real act of cowardice’: Mississippi politician raises thousands of dollars online after vandalizing Satanic Temple display at Iowa State Capitol
Michael Cassidy, a 35-year-old resident of Mississippi, went to the Iowa State Capitol on Thursday to attack the holiday display from the Satanic Temple (TST) that had been on the first floor of the building since last week. Cassidy knocked down and beheaded the display’s Baphomet figure. After he finished his vandalism, Cassidy surrendered to […]
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The New York Times responds to AG Bird’s accusation that the paper supports terrorism
The New York Times has responded to Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird’s Dec. 4 letter to Times Publisher A.G. Sulzberger and the top executives at the Associated Press, CNN and Reuters, accusing the news outlets of possibly violating federal and state law and providing “material support to terrorists.” In her letter, which was signed by […]
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AG Bird threatens news organizations, claims they might be providing ‘material support for terrorism’
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has threatened five news outlets with the possibility of prosecution over their coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas. Bird is the leader of a group of 14 Republican state attorneys general who allege some of the reporting on the conflict by the New York Times, Associated Press, CNN […]
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Teachers union joins lawsuit with bestselling authors, largest U.S. publisher to challenge Iowa book restrictions
The Iowa State Education Association and Penguin Random House filed a lawsuit in federal court Thursday challenging parts of a state law prohibiting books that depict sex acts from being available in Iowa K-12 school libraries. It’s the second lawsuit filed against Senate File 496 this week. On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of […]
Posted inStatewide
Contact Buzz: The right to read we will maintain
“Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you’re going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go in your library and read every book …” ―Dwight D. Eisenhower In its current, divisive state, Americans are doing a lot of talking at one another and very little listening on […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Jury finds man who drove pick-up through a crowd of protesters in Cedar Rapids not guilty
On Thursday, a Linn County jury found David Alan Huston not guilty on two charges stemming from a June 24, 2022 incident in which he drove his pick-up truck through a crowd of pro-abortion protesters in Cedar Rapids. Huston had been charged with assault by use of a dangerous weapon — vehicle, an aggravated misdemeanor, […]
Posted inStatewide
Judge says Iowa’s third ag-gag law is unconstitutional, like previous versions
For the third time in five years, a judge has struck down the Iowa Legislature’s efforts to criminalize the use of cameras in agriculture facilities and other businesses. “The United States Constitution does not allow such a singling out of the exercise of a constitutional right,” U.S. District Judge Stephanie Rose ruled on Monday. She […]
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Free speech v. industrial farms: Iowa’s ag gag laws go to federal court
The state government’s various attempts over the last nine years to shield industrial animal farms with an ag gag law were spotlighted in court Tuesday. The injunction preventing the first ag gag law, signed into law by Gov. Terry Branstad in 2012, from going into effect was partially upheld by a federal appeal court, while […]
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Report: Arrests of journalists in the U.S. reached an all-time high in 2020
The number of journalists arrested or detained in the United States jumped 1,200 percent in 2020 compared to last year, according to a new report released by the Freedom of the Press Foundation on Monday. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was founded in 2017 as a repository of press freedom violations in the U.S. Using […]
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Federal appeals court rules saying ‘fuck you’ to the police is free speech
Yelling “fuck you” at a police officer is an act of free speech protected by the U.S. Constitution, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday. “As protected speech, it should be free from retaliatory government actions,” the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals declared in a case from Arkansas.
