Introduction: April 2018 — The FBI Seizes Backpage.com, and the McCains Rejoice Hours after news broke on April 6, 2018, that the FBI had seized the online listings giant Backpage.com and arrested seven current and former executives of the company,…
In an in-depth profile by Elizabeth Nolan Brown published this week on the website Reason.com, veteran newspaper publishers and former Backpage.com co-owners Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin spoke out candidly about their arrests on federal charges of money laundering, conspiracy,…
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a federal lawsuit on June 27 seeking to overturn FOSTA, a recently enacted federal law that makes it illegal to “facilitate” or “promote” prostitution online and expands civil and criminal liability for websites regarding sex…
The seedy streets of Hollywood, California, played host to a lively procession of more than 300 skimpily dressed sex workers and their allies on Saturday, June 2, as the “Let Us Survive March” raised a ruckus to commemorate International Whores’ Day. Also…
Before Game 5 of the NBA Western Conference playoffs on May 24, a reporter approached Steve Kerr. She asked the Golden State Warriors coach to share his thoughts about the National Football League’s announcement earlier that day that it will require…
Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously wrote in a 1929 dissent that if any Constitutional principle is paramount, “it is the principle of free thought — not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the…
In a showdown worthy of Cochise County, Arizona — the site of ruthless Indian wars and legendary Old West shootouts — citizen journalist David Morgan has scored a landmark First Amendment victory. On March 2, a superior court judge rejected…
Nowadays when you hear about intolerance for free speech on college campuses, the speaker coming in for the silencing treatment is somewhere to the right of center on the political spectrum and the muzzlers hail from the left. Not so…
Critics of H.R. 1865, the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA), which passed the U.S. Senate 97 to 2 on March 21, warned that the bill’s broad language targeting online adult ads would have a devastating effect on freedom of…
The smile on Michael Lacey’s face as he exited the Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse in Phoenix, Arizona, at a little after noon on Friday was worth a million dollars. Literally. That morning, Lacey posted a $1 million bond, secured…
