| April 7, 2021

Clinic receives national CLEA award for excellence

UGA Law School’s First Amendment Clinic, along with UGA’s Community HeLP Clinic and four other clinics from Harvard, Columbia, Texas A&M, and Boston University, were chosen as the 2021 recipients of the Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) award for “Excellence in a Public Interest Project.”

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A close up image of a gold pen about to write on an amicus brief paper.
| December 1, 2020

Amicus victory in Open Records Act appeal

A close up image of a gold pen about to write on an amicus brief paper.

The Clinic achieved an amicus victory in Love v. Atlanta Falcons Stadium Co., LLC where the defendant company voluntarily handed over 1,500 pages of documents sought by the plaintiffs under Georgia’s Open Records Act (ORA) rather than wait for the Georgia Court of Appeals to likely order the documents to be produced.

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Over the shoulder view of a person holding a smartphone with the Facebook app on the screen.
| September 18, 2020

Online censorship: public officials blocking citizens on social media

Over the shoulder view of a person holding a smartphone with the Facebook app on the screen.

A critical mass of courts — including the three Circuit Court of Appeals to have so far addressed the issue — find that it constitutes unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment for a public official who operates an interactive social media account in their capacity as a state actor to deny individuals access to that account based on dislike of or disagreement with their speech.

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The forearms of reporters holding recording devices in front of a blurred out crowd.
| June 25, 2020

Protection of news sources in Georgia & the 11th Circuit

The forearms of reporters holding recording devices in front of a blurred out crowd.

Georgia’s Shield Law, most recently codified at O.C.G.A. § 24-5-508, and the qualified reporters’ privilege recognized by the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (covering Georgia, Alabama and Florida) both protect journalists, in many instances, from being compelled as a third-party witness or from having to produce their work product as evidence in a legal proceeding as to which the journalist is not a party.

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A videocamera facing a large crowd.
| June 12, 2020

Citizens’ right to record the police

A videocamera facing a large crowd.

Under the First Amendment, citizens have the right to record the police performing their duties in public. This right is essential to informing the public about police activity and holding government accountable for the actions of law enforcement.

Keep Reading
| April 7, 2021

Clinic receives national CLEA award for excellence

UGA Law School’s First Amendment Clinic, along with UGA’s Community HeLP Clinic and four other clinics from Harvard, Columbia, Texas A&M, and Boston University, were chosen as the 2021 recipients of the Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) award for “Excellence in a Public Interest Project.”

Keep Reading
A close up image of a gold pen about to write on an amicus brief paper.
| December 1, 2020

Amicus victory in Open Records Act appeal

A close up image of a gold pen about to write on an amicus brief paper.

The Clinic achieved an amicus victory in Love v. Atlanta Falcons Stadium Co., LLC where the defendant company voluntarily handed over 1,500 pages of documents sought by the plaintiffs under Georgia’s Open Records Act (ORA) rather than wait for the Georgia Court of Appeals to likely order the documents to be produced.

Keep Reading
Over the shoulder view of a person holding a smartphone with the Facebook app on the screen.
| September 18, 2020

Online censorship: public officials blocking citizens on social media

Over the shoulder view of a person holding a smartphone with the Facebook app on the screen.

A critical mass of courts — including the three Circuit Court of Appeals to have so far addressed the issue — find that it constitutes unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment for a public official who operates an interactive social media account in their capacity as a state actor to deny individuals access to that account based on dislike of or disagreement with their speech.

Keep Reading
The forearms of reporters holding recording devices in front of a blurred out crowd.
| June 25, 2020

Protection of news sources in Georgia & the 11th Circuit

The forearms of reporters holding recording devices in front of a blurred out crowd.

Georgia’s Shield Law, most recently codified at O.C.G.A. § 24-5-508, and the qualified reporters’ privilege recognized by the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (covering Georgia, Alabama and Florida) both protect journalists, in many instances, from being compelled as a third-party witness or from having to produce their work product as evidence in a legal proceeding as to which the journalist is not a party.

Keep Reading
A videocamera facing a large crowd.
| June 12, 2020

Citizens’ right to record the police

A videocamera facing a large crowd.

Under the First Amendment, citizens have the right to record the police performing their duties in public. This right is essential to informing the public about police activity and holding government accountable for the actions of law enforcement.

Keep Reading