Fair Trial/Free Press Conference: Spring 2025

Albany Law School, the New York State Judicial Institute, and the New York Fair Trial/Free Press Conference are sponsoring 2023 Fair Trial/Free Press Conference, to be held on Thursday, May 29, 2025, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.:

What happens if decades of legal precedent protecting a free press is suddenly turned on its head? Hear from a distinguished panel of experts from the media, courts, and bar as they explore

the legal, political, and ethical issues that arise in a hypothetical scenario.

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The conference combines a discussion of a hypothetical scenario with an overview of media law and constitutional law. An interactive discussion between the panelists and audience will follow the panel discussion.

This free event is open to the public and includes a reception before the program. Registration is required.

Interested persons can attend in person at the following location:

NYS Judicial Institute
Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University
78 N Broadway
White Plains, NY 10603

For more information, including how to register, click here.

Fair Trial/Free Press Conference: Artificial Intelligence, Social Media, and the Rule of Law

From the Government Law Center, Albany Law School:

Hear a distinguished panel of experts from the media, courts, and the legal profession discuss the legal, political, and ethical issues that arise after an AI-generated video of an altercation between public officials goes viral on social media. An interactive discussion between the panelists and audience will follow the panel discussion.

Panelists include:

• Hon. Elizabeth A. Garry, Presiding Justice, NYS Supreme Court Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department
• Hon. Emmanuel C. Nneji, Ulster County District Attorney
• William T. Easton, Esq., Partner, Easton Thompson Kasperek Shiffrin
• Prof. J. Stephen Clark, Professor of Law, Albany Law School
• Ojasvinee Singh, Esq., Media Attorney, Penguin Random House

The event will be held November 20, 2024, 2 P.M. – 4 P.M. Dean Alexander Moot Court Room (Room 421) Albany Law School 80 New Scotland Avenue Albany, NY 12208

This free event is open to the public, will be livestreamed, and includes a reception. Registration is required.

For more information, and to register, click here.

Fair Trial/Free Press Conference: Local media, the law, and alleged police misconduct

Albany Law School, the New York University School of Law, and the New York Fair Trial/Free Press Conference are sponsoring 2023 Fair Trial/Free Press Conference, to be held on April 24, 2023, from 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Hear from a distinguished panel of judges, prosecutors, print and broadcast journalists, media counsel, and other practicing attorneys during the Fair Trial/Free Press Conference.

The conference combines a discussion of a hypothetical scenario with an overview of media law. Panelists will discuss the legal, political, and ethical issues that arise after a reporter is arrested while covering a police-involved shooting.

This free event is open to the public. Lunch will be provided and CLE credits are available to attorneys who register and attend.

Interested persons can attend in person at the following location:

Lester Pollack Colloquium Room, 9th Floor
Furman Hall
NYU School of Law
245 Sullivan Street
New York, NY 10012

The event will be live-streamed as well. For more information, including how to register, click here.

Second Amendment Legal Update: March, 2022

A monthly update, prepared for the Schuyler County Chapter of S.C.O.P.E. NY, a statewide 501(c)4 organization dedicated to preserving the 2nd Amendment rights for the residents of New York State.

For a complete PDF copy of this month's update, click here.

Schuyler County Commemorates May 1 as “Law Day”: Law Day 2019 Will Focus on Free Speech, Free Press.

Watkins Glen, New York—The Schuyler County Legislature has recognized as the Law Day 2019 theme “Free Speech, Free Press, Free Society.”

The legislature passed a resolution at its April 8, 2019 meeting, recognizing “Law Day” as an occasion of public acknowledgement of our Nation’s heritage of justice, liberty, and equality under the law. The resolution was submitted to the legislature by Schuyler County Attorney Steven Getman.

“The First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right to free speech and a free press, along with other rights that recognize the ability of persons to think and communicate how they wish without fear of punishment or oppression,” Getman wrote.

In passing the resolution, the legislature found that “promoting public understanding of the roots of our freedom are an important component in the civic education of the citizens of the United States, the State of New York and the County of Schuyler.”

The American Bar Association selects an annual theme for each Law Day. Law Day is an annual commemoration first held in 1957 when the American Bar Association envisioned a special national day to mark our nation’s commitment to the rule of law. The following year, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first Law Day Proclamation. Law Day was made official in 1961 when Congress issued a joint resolution designating May 1 as the official date for celebrating Law Day.

A copy of Schuyler County’s resolution “Recognizing and Commemorating May 1, 2019 as ‘Law Day’ in Schuyler County is available here.

Schuyler County Legislature: RECOGNIZING AND COMMEMORATING MAY 1, 2019 AS “LAW DAY” IN SCHUYLER COUNTY by Steven Getman on Scribd

New York “Fair Trial/Free Press” Conference

Sponsored by the New York Fair Trial/Free Press Conference, the Committee on Media Law, and the New York State Bar Association, this conference will be held Friday, March 10, 2017 from 12:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Featuring a distinguished panel of federal and state judges, prosecutors, print and broadcast journalists, and defense and media counsel, the program will explore the interplay of First Amendment rights to attend and report on criminal trials and the Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial.

Attendees can learn about the use of video recordings on smartphones, the use of social media as evidence and media and the law.

The event is free for NYSBA Members and Members of the Press.

For more information, click here.

June 15: the Magna Carta turns 800

Scott Rasmussen:

On Monday, June 15, the Magna Carta turns 800, and it is worthy of great celebration by freedom-loving people everywhere. This is the document that brought about a fundamental rethinking of the relationship between a king and his subjects. Up until that point, English Kings were the law. They could decide who lived and who died and take whatever they wanted.

The Magna Carta changed all that. It established the idea that there is a law that even kings and governments must obey. There could be no taxation without representation and no arbitrary taking of personal property by the government. In short, the Magna Carta was the starting point for all the "unalienable" rights that we now enjoy and led directly over time to our Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights. In many ways, it was the cornerstone for the idea that we now describe as freedom.

New York passes new laws to crack down on domestic violence, lewdness against children

New York state lawmakers enacted a series of bills Wednesday (July 23) that strengthen existing laws and add new measures to protect people from electronic harassment, stalking, and public lewdness.

Under the new laws, Second-degree Aggravated Harassment will make it a crime to use harassing communications that "threaten to cause physical harm to a victim or the victim's property where a defendant knows or should know that the communication will cause the victim to fear such harm."

The harassment legislation is in response to a recent court decision, striking down a previous version of the law on First Amendment grounds.

The anti-stalking measure prohibits the tracking of a person with an electronic device where "likely to cause reasonable fear of material harm to the physical health, safety or property" of another person or their families.

Finally, the state enacted a new statute, creating the crime of Public Lewdness in the First Degree, a class A misdemeanor. It applies to persons aged 19 or older who intentionally expose themselves to children under the age of 16. It is punishable by up to one year in county jail.

Previously, Public Lewdness was only a class B misdemeanor, and provided no additional penalties when the act was committed against a child.

It is hoped that these new laws, focusing on threats and endangerment of others, will strengthen protections for vulnerable members of the population, while ensuring important rights to free and open expression.

New York's Top Court strikes down cyberbullying law on free speech grounds

Legal Insurrection reports that "[t]he New York Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that a local law intended to protect children from cyberbullying violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment because it was too broad."

Legal links of interest: week ending July 28

A number of stories about the law and lawyers in the news this week:

The Daily Record: Addressing threats to an independent judiciary

Reason.com: How colleges suppress free speech

American Spectator: Federal court halts enforcement of the Obama administration’s abortion pill mandate on religious freedom grounds

Democrat & Chronicle: Fewer DWI offenders foot bill for interlock device

New York Post: Connecticut prosecutor accused of sneaking naughty pics of female lawyers

Associated Press: Drug company McKesson to pay New York $36 million in settlement


Post Standard: Syracuse law against bath salts still a 'work in progress'