The VLW Blog

Can a public school system suspend a student for posting ugly accusations about another student on a Myspace page? Absolutely, said the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an opinion decided Tuesday. Kara Kowalski, the “Queen of Charm” at West Virginia’s Musselman High School, showed little charm in her 2005 Internet discussion group about [...]

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The 4th U.S. Court of Appeals rejected today challenges to provisions that require cases filed under the federal False Claims Act to be sealed for at least 60 days and permit them to remain secret for much longer. The American Civil Liberties Union, OMB Watch and Government Accountability Project argued that the provisions violate the [...]

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A Newport News man who shouted a warning to potential targets of a police prostitution sting now faces charges of obstruction of justice. David Earl Armstrong spotted police running a classic “flat-foot floozy” operation on Jefferson Avenue, with an undercover officer posing as a prostitute. “Those are the police,” Armstrong yelled to men who approached [...]

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Westboro Baptist Church – the folks who stage anti-gay protests at funerals of service members – will be represented at a free public debate Sunday afternoon at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Margie Phelps, an attorney and church member, will face off against attorney Bill Hurd of Troutman Sanders’ Richmond office. University of Richmond law [...]

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A group of Richmond music lovers charged with violation of the city’s new noise ordinance are willing to risk conviction to get a ruling on their claim that the law is unconstitutional. “What happened in this case was inexcusable,” said Steven Benjamin, attorney for the defendants, who were charged after six police officers allegedly “raided” [...]

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Privacy advocate B.J. Ostergren, who posted state officials’ Social Security numbers as a dramatic demonstration of security lapses on official websites, won an appellate victory Monday. A 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel affirmed a district court ruling that a Virginia law barring Ostergren’s public postings violated the First Amendment. The 3-judge panel remanded [...]

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It’s Christmas-in-July in Loudoun County where the supervisors again are planning to grab the third-rail issue of courthouse holiday displays. Before the leaders vote on public displays at the courthouse, however, Chief Circuit Judge Thomas Horne wants to let local judges speak up on the issue. As reported by the Loudoun Times, Horne has written [...]

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A First Amendment battle between the Rockingham County commonwealth’s attorney and the James Madison University student newspaper reportedly has been resolved with the paper agreeing to turn over 20 images to law enforcement officials and the state paying the paper’s lawyers. Prosecutor Marsha Garst – with a contingent of police officers – served a search [...]

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Roanoke neo-Nazi Bill White has been convicted by a jury of four of seven federal charges of making threats, reports WDBJ . Although various alleged victims testified they were in fear of their lives from White’s menacing messages, White’s lawyers argued his comments were protected by the First Amendment.  White was acquitted of similar charges [...]

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William A. White should remain in jail pending trial, according to a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Roanoke publisher of a neo-Nazi Web site is accused of threatening people by e-mail and Web posts.  The Roanoke Times reports the appeals panel reversed U.S. District Judge James Turk, who approved bond [...]

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