First Amendment

Girl Talk: Readers Argue About Henry Rollins' GOP Takedown and Steven Leigh Morris' Deep Throat Skepticism

The Deep Throat Sex Scandal Celebrates a Famous First Amendment Victory But Ignores the Bigger Issue

Porn Industry, Steven Hirsch, Kayden Kross, File Suit Against Mandatory Condoms In L.A.

As we predicted, freedom of speech is shaping up to be a key issue in the porn industry's fight against mandatory condom use on-set in Los Angeles County. Smut business titans including Steven Hirsch, chief of Vivid Entertainment, announced that they have filed a lawsuit in federal district court i ... More >>

Occupy L.A. Protesters Sue Over LAPD's City Hall Raid

More than a year after an invasion of LAPD troops cleared the L.A. City Hall lawn of a months-long Occupy encampment, the city and county are being sued over the action. The federal, class-action suit filed on behalf of about 300 occupiers claims their "rights to assembly, association, freedom from ... More >>

UPDATE: Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks California's Landmark Gay Conversion Therapy Ban

Update: Another federal judge in a different lawsuit over California's gay conversion therapy ban does not grant an injunction to block the law from taking effect. More after the jump. When California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the first ban on gay conversion therapy in the United States, ... More >>

'Southern California Fan Code of Conduct' Unveiled by L.A. Sports Council: No Cussing, Offensive Clothing

Little-known fact: Los Angeles has its very own Sports Council, a self-described "outgrowth of the success of the 1984 Olympic Games." Although its eight-member executive cabinet and dozens of directors (such as UCLA's athletic director and Tim Leiweke, president of downtown developer AEG) spend mo ... More >>

Marijuana Dispensaries Will Stay Open Despite L.A. Ban, Some Say

When Los Angeles' marijuana dispensary ban takes effect Sept. 6, there will still be plenty of pot shops open, and not just in neighboring cities like West Hollywood and Long Beach. After we called several dispensaries this week we found that many in L.A. proper were planning to stick it out, despi ... More >>

L.A. Mural Ordinance Postponed Into Oblivion

Last October, when L.A. City Hall started drafting an ordinance that would lift the city's oppressive mural moratorium, we tried to be patient. Even though it had taken the City Council over a decade to get the ball rolling, we said, hey -- better late than never. We set aside our skepticism. We gav ... More >>

The Daily Show Writer Kevin Bleyer Rewrote the Constitution

A new, improved Constitution? The Daily Show writer Kevin Bleyer took on the task with his new book Me the People: One Man's Selfless Quest to Rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America. He talks with Lawrence O'Donnell at a Writers Bloc event this Friday. Here's our interview with Bl ... More >>

L.A. City Council Bans Camping in Public Parks; Occupy Declares It a War on Civil Rights

Local politicians keep insisting that their new ban on camping in city parks was not in reaction to Occupy L.A. That's insanely hard to believe, considering they're smack-dab in the middle of a makeover story starring the L.A. City Hall lawn -- which got thoroughly wrecked by the hundreds of protes ... More >>

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich Withholds Occupy L.A. Video On First Amendment

Carmen Trutanich is running for district attorney on a pledge to bring "honesty, transparency and integrity" to the D.A.'s office. His record on honesty is a bit checkered, and lately his commitment to transparency has come into question as well.In a recent debate, Chief Deputy D.A. Jackie Lacey cri ... More >>

Comment: Darling Dita

Carmen Trutanich is running for district attorney on a pledge to bring "honesty, transparency and integrity" to the D.A.'s office. His record on honesty is a bit checkered, and lately his commitment to transparency has come into question as well.In a recent debate, Chief Deputy D.A. Jackie Lacey cri ... More >>

Porn's Mandatory Condom Rule in City of L.A. a Law Nobody Wants to Touch With 10-Foot Pole

When the L.A. City Council voted to require condom use at location porn sets in town, it was a huge victory for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. The group has been battling for years to get the smut business to clean up its act when it comes to safe sex. But as an account of the city's "working gro ... More >>

Los Angeles Gadflies on Fire

City Hall politicians want them gone

Marijuana as Religious Right? California Court Says It's Possible

Do some folks have the religious right to use marijuana as part of a sacrament? It's a question we joked off when L.A. marijuana dispensary owner NJ Weedman sued the city of L.A. after his Liberty Temple II was targeted for extinction: He claimed the religious right to cannabis because the shop was ... More >>

L.A. Fire Department Posts Gruesome Photos of Train vs. Benz Crash in Downtown L.A.

One week after the controversial media blackout on L.A. Fire Department response times and addresses -- ordered by Fire Chief Brian Cummings -- is the department overcompensating for its much-ridiculed secrecy? LAFD photographers Rick McClure and Mike Meadows snapped some insane photos of a train v ... More >>

Pot Wars

One week after the controversial media blackout on L.A. Fire Department response times and addresses -- ordered by Fire Chief Brian Cummings -- is the department overcompensating for its much-ridiculed secrecy? LAFD photographers Rick McClure and Mike Meadows snapped some insane photos of a train v ... More >>

Law Professor Laurie Levenson Will Teach Occupy L.A. First Amendment Class

​Law professor Laurie Levenson will give an hourlong lecture next week to about 30 arrestees from Occupy L.A., as part of their diversion program.The class is the result of a compromise worked out between the office of City Attorney Carmen Trutanich and the National Lawyers Guild, which has been r ... More >>

Party Review: 'Drop Dead CRA Day' at City Hall

Out with a bang.​Today is a very special day. Today is the day that all 400 redevelopment agencies (RDAs) across California -- including the massive L.A. Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) -- are shut down for good. And all the property taxes they've been raking in, for buildings within are ... More >>

We Open in Venice

Out with a bang.​Today is a very special day. Today is the day that all 400 redevelopment agencies (RDAs) across California -- including the massive L.A. Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) -- are shut down for good. And all the property taxes they've been raking in, for buildings within are ... More >>

Venice Boardwalk Trinket Sales Ban

LAPD will decide what can be peddled as art

L.A. City Council Silences Public Commenter for Saying 'Pussies' (VIDEO)

About an hour into another snoozeworthy L.A. City Council meeting yesterday morning, a female public commenter injected a little color into the conversation. Antonia Ramirez told her elected officials that some sheriff's deputies in East L.A. had been acting like "unethical corrupted pussies." (OK, ... More >>

'Modern Family' Taunts FCC by Airing F-Word During Supreme Court Hearing on Censorship

Little treat for First Amendment advocates on next week's episode of "Modern Family": Adopted two-year-old Lily will drop the F bomb all over set, much to the horror of her two dads. (Gay parents! Curse words! The controversies of the '90s are alive on prime time.) Titled "Little Bo Bleep," the epi ... More >>

Occupy Arrestee Says City Attorney Carmen Trutanich Is "Going For The Jugular"

Carmen Trutanich: Preoccupied​Bethania Palma was one of those arrested on Saturday for "re-occupying" the lawn at L.A. City Hall. She has since pleaded no contest, and been sentenced to 18 months' probation and seven days of Caltrans duty.Palma, a former reporter at the San Gabriel Valley Newspape ... More >>

Occupy L.A.: An Arrestee's Story

Ted Soqui​Editor's note: Matt Kresling was arrested last Wednesday along with 292 others at the Occupy L.A. encampment. He submitted this first-person account to the Weekly share his reasons for involvement - as well as explain what happened after the arrestees were separated from the watchful ... More >>

Occupy L.A. Protesters Released From Jail: Was The LAPD Punishing Them?

​Updated at the bottom: The City Attorney's office says that while about 245 have been released or were bailed out without charges, it ain't over yet. First posted at 4:42 p.m. Most of the 291 or so Occupy L.A. protesters who were jailed following Wednesday morning's raid of their City Hall e ... More >>

Occupy L.A. Eviction: Is LAPD Restricting Coverage With Last-Minute 'Pool Media'?

[Update, morning after: Awesomely, the "pool" reports turned into a sort of crowd-sourced feed; LA Weekly reporter Gene Maddaus says he received constant email updates throughout the night from news outlets with soldiers in the pool. So it seems the chosen ones didn't adhere to the LAPD's silly, une ... More >>

L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa Puts Occupy L.A. Price Tag at Over $1 Million; City Spent More Than That on Michael Jackson Memorial

One of the most common criticisms of Occupy L.A. and its two-month stint at City Hall is the massive amount of city resources it's been sucking up to sustain itself. Policing. Litigation. Cleanup. More policing. Refurbishing the pathetic remains of what used to be a lovely front lawn. L.A. Mayor An ... More >>

Occupy L.A: Zuma Dogg Wades Into Hostile 99 Percenter Crowd at City Hall, Claims he Was Attacked by 'Mob'

Zuma vs. Occupy.​Why, you ask, do we here at LA Weekly care about Zuma Dogg, the sometimes-utterly-insane City Hall gadfly? We don't always agree with his politics, and his tweets about taking his last breaths for want of food and cash can be annoying. But you have to admit -- he's entertaini ... More >>

Carmen Trutanich's War on Art Murals

Can a bumbling L.A. City Council revive the local street art form?

City Council Unanimously Passes Occupy L.A. Resolution -- Protesters Struggle to Distance Themselves From Democrats, Unions

Los Angeles TimesCity Council President Eric Garcetti shows his support.​Just now, the L.A. City Council unanimously approved a joint resolution to officially "support" the Occupy L.A. demonstration and "demand accountability and results from the banks we invest taxpayer dollars in." (Full tex ... More >>

Porn Defends the Money Shot

Critics gain ground, demanding condom use to control AIDS

Starting Today, You Can Get Sued in L.A. For Calling a Bad Bicyclist an Idiot (Really)

Elvert Barnes​Just the other day we were thinking, What we really need in Los Angeles is another reason to sue people. Of course, the L.A. City Council, not so good at balancing the budget or focusing on serious problems faced by our town, was quick to pass a bicyclist-harassment law that wil ... More >>

TSA Body Scanner Program Is Super Pervy, Must Be Terminated, Says Appeals Court

Top Left DesignFrom the "Miss Airport" Calendar, which exists.​Hallelujah: Security checkpoints across the nation will no longer serve as First Amendment-scoffing peep shows for the feds! (At least for the time being.) A three-judge panel from the Washington, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rul ... More >>

'Dog Wars' Android App Lets You 'Juice' Your Dog, Shoot Police; Real-Life Police Not Amused

androidsoftware.us​Much in the same way the iPhone "Smuggle Truck" app set immigrant-rights groups into a tither, L.A. police (along with the nation's top animal-rights activists) are now fuming over a dogfighting app for Android called "Dog Wars." It's just a game, sure...

Porn on L.A. Library Public Terminals Gets Serious Debate in City Hall

merrick_monroeNot an L.A. library branch (but could be).​Ah, L.A. City Hall, always tackling the Big Issue. Like cat declawing and an Arizona business boycott that has no teeth. And now the accidental, over-the-shoulder viewing of internet porn at public libraries is a matter of serious inqu ... More >>

Arcadia Highlands' Oak Protesters Face Trial

As DA Cooley prosecutes four activists, a war to save SoCal old growth gets nasty

John Quigley and Julia Posin Trial: Los Angeles DA Steve Cooley Pushing Jail Time for Enviros Who Tried to Save 249 Oak Trees

Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley apparently is committed to jailing enviros John Quigley and Julia Posin, who sat in trees in the Arcadia woodlands north of Los Angeles to stop the county Department of Public Works from bulldozing 249 oaks and sycamores so the county can fill the g ... More >>

'Parent Trigger' Saved in Court by First Amendment; Charter-School Petitioners Brace for More Compton District Stall Tactics

PHOTO BY TED SOQUIOne small step for McKinley​The last few months have been a painstaking uphill battle for Parent Revolution, the group of organizers and McKinley Elementary School parents trying to turn one vastly underperforming Compton campus into a charter school. Though the group does ha ... More >>

CSUN: 'Day of Action' Protest at Cal State Northridge Today; LAPD Sends Out the Troops (Just in Case)

Activist Student CoalitionSigns of the times for students.​The kids will be all over the street today, and school's not even out for summer. No, it's the annual Day of Action protest to decry those massive hikes in state college tuition and fees that make gas prices look friendly. And althoug ... More >>

Ravers Take To Facebook To Protest Proposed Law That Would Ban Raves On Public Land In California

Ravers at Electric Daisy Carnival, held at the publicly owned Coliseum.​Updated after the jump with responses from the lawmaker herself. First posted at 8:38 a.m. Ravers got on their feet this week to "protect your right to dance" after a state lawmaker proposed a ban on raves at public venue ... More >>

L.A. Porn Magnate Larry Flynt Gets Behind WikiLeaks And Julian Assange With $50,000 Donation

Everyday Larry's Hustlin.'​Ah Larry Flynt, that maligned champion of First Amendment rights. In case you didn't see the biopic, he's the guy who made America safe for free speech by fighting for his right to to get deeply gynecological in-print. If it weren't for his Hustler magazine and his ... More >>

Where Are #Wikileaks Media Friends? (Updated)

By Michael Lacey Executive Editor, Village Voice Media Updated: "WikiLeaks Betrayed by Amazon, Visa, Mastercard---and Worst of All, the Media" Where are the First Amendment's estabishment warriors as government-spooked businesses try to shut down Wikileaks? Hackers with computers, not hacks with ... More >>

The Hollywood Superheroes Are Back, But Critics Worry About Violence On The Boulevard

Steve LaSuperheroes at City Hall.​They're back, baby. Yeah. A federal judge ruled this week in favor of the Hollywood superheroes, stating the city can't just sweep them off Hollywood Boulevard, as the LAPD did in June. The characters have a First Amendment right to dress silly, and the judge ... More >>

Superheroes Allowed Back On Hollywood Boulevard Thanks To Federal Judge's Ruling

To the boulevard!​We lamented the loss of the Hollywood Boulevard superheroes. After they were kicked off the street by the LAPD they inspired protests and even a web-based show. Now the masked men and women are back. A federal judge on Wednesday issued an injunction that essentially tells t ... More >>

Subversion Meets Shawshank

To the boulevard!​We lamented the loss of the Hollywood Boulevard superheroes. After they were kicked off the street by the LAPD they inspired protests and even a web-based show. Now the masked men and women are back. A federal judge on Wednesday issued an injunction that essentially tells t ... More >>

Congratulations: Your "Michael Jackson Fondling Macaulay Caulkin" Tattoo is Now Protected by the First Amendment!

This is now constitutionally kosher!​Is it illegal to walk into a crowded theater with a tramp stamp that says "FIRE"? That might still be unclear, but today the LA Times reports that a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that "tattoos and the art of tattooing are ... More >>

Laura Schlessinger Ending L.A.-Based Radio Show Following N-Word Outbursts

"Dr. Laura."​It wasn't surprising to see Los Angeles-area-based radio host (KFWB, AM 980) Laura Schlessinger announce that she was letting her contract expire at the end of the year after last week's Kramer-like outbreak of n-word rounds fired from the conservative's mouth as she spoke on-air ... More >>

The Mad Men of Los Angeles

Living the good life, thanks to the big profits from illegal outdoor advertising

THE BANNED AND THE BEAUTIFUL

Living the good life, thanks to the big profits from illegal outdoor advertising