In a recent blog post, Lindley Law discussed the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Ameican Association of Political Consultants, Inc. v. FCC, which addressed First Amendment questions regarding the regulation of “robocalls” related to debt collection for government-backed loans. The United States Congress recently announced proposed legislation to combat the practice of robocalling: the Pallone-Thune TRACED Act (the “TRACED Act”). The Proposed Legislation The TRACED Act will combine and reconcile the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act, which passed in the Senate in May, with the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act, which passed in the House of Representatives in July. The separate bills created new…
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AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF POLITICAL CONSULTANTS, INC. v. FCC: “Robocalls” and the First Amendment
In a recent decision, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals addressed the First Amendment implications of federal debt-collection automated calls. More specifically, the court analyzed the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (the “TCPA”), a law which protected such calls as an exemption to its general prohibition against calls to personal phones using an automated telephone dialing system. What is the TCPA? In 1991, Congress enacted the TCPA to protect consumers from unwanted, unsolicited, and intrusive automated calls, which were becoming ubiquitous. Initially, the law recognized two exemptions to the general prohibition on the practice commonly known as robocalling: calls to notify the public of an emergency and calls made…
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The Line Between Cyber-bullying and Freedom of Speech
The intersection of free speech and safety on social media has been a hotly debated topic for many years. Because cyber-bullying takes many different forms, it is difficult to define. While several states criminalize cyber-bullying, the language of these statutes vary greatly and are just recently being challenged under First Amendment grounds. In June, the North Carolina Court of Appeals upheld the state’s cyber-bullying statute over a First Amendment challenge.[1] This decision is noteworthy because it contrasts a 2014 New York Court of Appeals decision striking down an Albany County cyber-bullying statute.[2] While the statutory language of these cyber-bullying statutes differ to some degree, the respective state…
