News & Analysis as of July 23, 2025

First Amendment › Subpoenas

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The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech or the press, preventing citizens from peacefully assembling, or interfering with citizens' ability to petition the government for redress of their grievances. The First Amendment is one of the most sacred aspects of the American legal tradition and has spawned a vast body of jurisprudence and commentary. less -

Supreme Court To Decide Significant Case On When To Bring Constitutional Challenge Against State Attorney General In Federal Court

WilmerHale on 6/24/2025

On June 16, 2025, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in a case from the Third Circuit regarding the availability of a federal forum to raise constitutional challenges to a subpoena issued by a state attorney general....more

Court of Appeals Blocks Texas AG From Enforcing Pre-Litigation Subpoena

Troutman Pepper Locke on 6/23/2025

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia recently enjoined Texas Attorney General (AG) Ken Paxton from enforcing a pre-litigation subpoena issued to Media Matters for America (Media Matters). The subpoena is...more

The Supreme Court Update - June 16, 2025

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on 6/17/2025

The Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in two cases today: First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. v. Platkin, No. 24-781: This case concerns the appropriate forum for raising constitutional...more

AG Permits Journalist Subpoenas in Leak Investigations

Ballard Spahr LLP on 5/5/2025

The U.S. Attorney General has updated the policy governing when the news media can be subject to legal process for their sources. The updated regulations permit the Department of Justice (DOJ) to subpoena the media for leak...more

California AG Enforces Subpoena; Plastic Lobbying Groups Respond With Lawsuit

Troutman Pepper Locke on 6/12/2024

California Attorney General (AG) Rob Bonta has issued two petitions to enforce an investigative subpoena against the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC). PLASTICS lobbies on...more

The Supreme Court - October 3, 2022

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on 10/4/2022

Today, on the first day of the new term, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in nine cases: Gonzalez v. Google LLC, No. 21-1333: Section 203(c)(1) of the Communication Decency Act shields an...more

Unmasking Anonymous Copyright Infringers: Where the DMCA, First Amendment, and Fair Use Meet

Proskauer - New Media & Technology on 7/13/2022

Can internet service providers necessarily be compelled to unmask anonymous copyright infringers? In an opinion touching on Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) subpoenas, First Amendment concerns, and fair use, the...more

The State AG Report - Volume 7, Issue 31 | August 2021

Cozen O'Connor on 8/11/2021

Here are last week’s curated AG and federal regulatory news stories highlighting key areas in which state and federal regulators’ decisions are having an impact across the US: State Contractor Sentenced for Wage Theft, Pays...more

Federal Court Declines To Protect Smith & Wesson From New Jersey Subpoena

Cozen O'Connor on 8/6/2021

Acting New Jersey AG Andrew Bruck obtained a ruling from the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey dismissing a lawsuit brought by gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. and related entities (collectively,...more

The Supreme Court - December 16, 2019

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on 12/17/2019

On Friday afternoon, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in the following cases: Trump v. Vance, No. 19-635: Whether as part of a district attorney’s criminal investigation targeting the President of...more

Digital Crisis PR: Removal of Unlawful Content from Digital Platforms

K&L Gates LLP on 2/19/2019

Whether you are an individual, a start-up, or a multi-million dollar corporation, there is an art to removal-or “takedowns”- of unlawful content or negative reviews that have been posted about you or your business online. In...more

Religious Institutions Update: September 2018 - Lex Est Sanctio Sancta

Holland & Knight LLP on 9/26/2018

Key Cases - Establishment Challenge to Presidential Proclamation Subject to Rational Basis Review - In Trump v. Hawaii, 138 S.Ct. 2392 (2018), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the lowest level of constitutional...more

Court Says Glassdoor Must Disclose Anonymous Reviewers’ Information in Grand Jury Proceedings

Fenwick & West LLP on 11/22/2017

In a case with free speech implications, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on November 8, 2017, affirmed the denial of Glassdoor, Inc.’s motion to quash a grand jury subpoena for the identities of the Glassdoor...more

California Employment Law Notes - September 2017

Proskauer - California Employment Law on 9/13/2017

Jobseeker Website May Be Compelled To Disclose Identity Of Anonymous Posters Who Criticized Employer - ZL Technologies, Inc. v. Does 1-7, 13 Cal. App. 5th 603 (2017) - ZL Technologies brought suit, alleging libel per se and...more

U.S. Attorney General Announces Plans to Pursue Leak Investigations

Jackson Walker on 9/1/2017

Earlier this month, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions signaled a potential sea change in the Department of Justice’s treatment of the news media. Sessions proclaimed that the Justice Department will pursue leak...more

Department of Justice Announces Review of Media Subpoena Policies

Latham & Watkins LLP on 8/29/2017

DOJ may revise policies on using investigatory tools to procure information about the media, with significant legal and business implications. Key Points: ..The review marks DOJ’s second significant evaluation of media...more

Social Links: A seminal opinion on web scraping; Obama breaks Twitter record; court holds state’s subpoena law applies to digital...

Morrison & Foerster LLP - Social Media on 8/22/2017

In an opinion granting a preliminary injunction preventing LinkedIn from blocking a startup’s use of information in LinkedIn profiles accessible to the entire public, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of...more

California Employers May Sue For Online Defamation

Fisher Phillips on 8/17/2017

The situation is a familiar one. Disgruntled current or former employees leave negative and harmful comments about their employer on online workplace review websites such as glassdoor.com or vault.com, or on customer review...more

New York Appellate Court Curtails NY AG Investigatory Subpoena on Constitutional Grounds

Jones Day on 8/17/2017

On June 21, 2017, a New York appellate court curtailed on constitutional grounds an investigative subpoena issued by the New York Attorney General. In the Matter of Evergreen Assoc., Inc., 54 N.Y.S.2d. 135 (App. Div. 2017)....more

Are Changes in Store for the Stored Communications Act?

Latham & Watkins LLP on 4/25/2016

Last week saw action on two fronts regarding the Stored Communications Act (SCA) – the US federal statute regulating government searches of online accounts in criminal investigations. In Congress, a proposal to reform the SCA...more

State AGs Announce Climate Change Investigations - ExxonMobil Challenges Subpoena on Constitutional Grounds

King & Spalding on 4/19/2016

Several state attorneys general (“state AGs”) have recently announced investigations into energy companies’ securities disclosures about the risks climate change poses to their businesses. In November 2015, Peabody Energy...more

"Courts Parse First Amendment Protections for Anonymous Critics Online"

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on 2/9/2015

The Supreme Court has long recognized that the freedom of speech enshrined in the First Amendment extends to anonymous speech, noting that “persecuted groups and sects … throughout history have been able to criticize...more

U.S. Supreme Court Finds Sworn Testimony Outside Scope of Regular Job Duties Entitled to First Amendment Protection

McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC on 7/2/2014

While the labor and employment law world is abuzz after the decisions in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby and Harris v. Quinn (cases this Blog will cover in the coming days), the United States Supreme Court also issued a decision...more

Supreme Court Finds Public Employee's Testimony in Criminal Trial Protected Under First Amendment

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP on 6/30/2014

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that a public employee cannot be retaliated against by his employer based on testimony provided by him under subpoena in a criminal proceeding. In Lane v. Franks, the...more

First Amendment Protects Public Employees for Sworn Testimony Given Outside Scope of Regular Job Duties on Matters of Public...

Best Best & Krieger LLP on 6/27/2014

U.S. Supreme Court Makes Unanimous Ruling in Lane v. Franks - The First Amendment protects a public employee from adverse employment action taken in retaliation for providing truthful sworn testimony, compelled by...more

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First Amendment › Subpoenas

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