In 1972 the Bolivian government passed a law to license journalists. This law created the "colegiado" system, providing for legally protected minimum wages, satisfactory working conditions, and restriction of journalistic employment to those with professional credentials. Although it is still too early to determine whether the law will…

John Sparrow, British attorney and educator, argues that the current rejection of limitations on public decency in the name of freedom of speech needs reappraisal. His comments can be used as a basis to consider whether in the field of public decency the right of public expression in any medium is being upheld at the loss of respect for the…

Incorrect access to Web site addresses and spam e-mails are continuing to make pornography rampant on the Internet at schools, homes and libraries. Collectively, parents, teachers and members of communities must become more aware of the risks and consequences of open access to the Internet, and the distinction between censorship and Internet…

The United States federal government, through a combination of statutes and regulations, has imposed restrictions on the activities of photojournalists that are not equally applicable to those of their print colleagues. For example, two statutes of the United States Code prohibit the photographing of defense installations and military equipment…

A 1973 Supreme Court decision ("Miller v. California") established the system of defining obscenity on the local level according to the following criteria: first, prurient appeal and patent offensiveness are to be determined by a community rather than by a national standard; second, sexually explicit materials are judged obscene only if…

The argument advanced in this paper maintains that cable television differs from broadcasting, due to the local character of certain cable services; that the current obscenity standards, as articulated by the Supreme Court, mandate community definitions of obscenity; and that such Supreme Court decisions apply to cable television. Separate…

This paper examines two recent attempts to enact state freedom of expression laws for public college and university students and discusses the prospects for such laws in the context of state scholastic freedom of expression laws covering high school journalists in six states. It examines the case of Kincaid v. Gibson, which decided that…

Three principles concerning children's intellectual rights are proposed and discussed. The principles are: (1) intellectual rights of children include access to ideas and freedom of expression; (2) denial of rights on the basis of lack of competence requires empirical justification; and (3) denial of rights on the basis of lack of competence…

Presents a literature review considering the role of media in value making, a brief report of how the discussion of pornography has been played out in the court system, and looks at rhetoric and the political voice. Examines findings from the downloaded transcripts of Supreme Court hearing of the ACLU versus Reno case. Considers implications to…

To assist journalism educators and legislators who wish to initiate passage of anti-Hazelwood laws, this paper reports on the first stage of a research project on nationwide efforts at getting state legislation passed to override the 1988 Supreme Court Hazelwood School District vs. Kuhlmeier decision. The laws of five states (Massachusetts,…

Past restrictions on his travel in the United States after the author was classified an "undesirable alien" under the provisions of the McCarran-Walter Act are described. (Author/MLW)

In spite of the negative aspects of her determination to be the sole motivator, controller, and martyr for the birth control movement, Margaret Sanger was a positive social force in testing and denouncing the Comstock law. The law, named for Anthony Comstock, a postal inspector who had lobbied Congress to forbid the distribution of obscene…

A survey of 22 state legislators nationwide investigated what attitudes or characteristics distinguish successful from unsuccessful legislators in their attempts to pass free press legislation for high school journalists. Seven legislators successful in passing such legislation were asked 20 questions by phone. Surveys were also mailed to 28…

An examination of the changes in press laws after India gained its independence in 1947 shows how a free press is shaped mostly by the structure and evolution of the democratic society that it is intended to serve. The most salient features that have characterized the Indian press, from the early nineteenth century to the present day, are…

Documentation of the spread of censorship is extensive, and although challenges to films and videocassettes have not figured prominently in the literature, in the future there may be more emphasis on these media than on print material. On the state level, increasing censorship of films and videocassettes has occurred in North Carolina, California,…