The following list provides a sampling of LSKS’s recent amicus briefs and legislative testimony.

Comments in Opposition to Rule Proposed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Criminal Rules Committee, in which a broad coalition of media entities and academics opposed a proposed ban on communication from mobile devices in courtrooms during criminal proceedings and emphasized the strong public interest served by the press providing contemporaneous reports on criminal cases through tweet, texts, emails, and live blogs.

Brief Amicus Curiae in United States of America v. Sterling (4th Cir. 2011), emphasizing the significant national security news reporting made possible by confidential sources and urging the court to reject the government’s unprecedented argument that the reporter’s privilege does not apply in criminal trials, unless the government brought the case in bad faith.

Submission of Five U.S. News Organizations to the British Ministry of Justice and the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Draft Defamation Bill, in which the news organizations supported the inclusion of jurisdictional limits on defamation actions in the draft defamation bill being considered in England, advocated for greater protections for secondary publishers in the online context, and strongly encouraged requiring a defamation plaintiff to prove falsity when a challenged statement involves a matter of public concern.

Brief Amicus Curiae in New York Civil Liberties Union v. New York City Transit Authority (2d Cir. 2010), arguing that the public and press have a qualified First Amendment right to access administrative proceedings

Brief Amicus Curiae in Keller v. Electronic Arts, Inc. (9th Cir. 2010), emphasizing the importance of First Amendment principles in right of publicity and Lanham Act cases 

Brief Amicus Curiae in United States of America v. Strandlof (D. Colo. 2010), arguing that the Stolen Valor Act is an unconstitutional content-based restriction on speech

Brief Amicus Curiae in Skilling v. United States of America (U.S. Sup. Ct. 2010), challenging the notion that extensive pretrial publicity could presumptively prejudice a criminal defendant at trial.  The Supreme Court agreed with LSKS’s argument and cited its amicus brief in the Court’s opinion. See Skilling v. U.S., 130 S. Ct. 2896 (2010). 

Brief Amicus Curiae in Bloomberg, L.P. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (2d Cir. 2009), contending that Federal Reserve Board records relating to loan programs administered in the wake of the financial collapse should be made public under the Freedom of Information Act

Brief Amicus Curiae in In re Sony BMG Music Entertainment (1st Cir. 2009), advocating for video footage of a federal court hearing to be streamed live over the Internet

Letter Brief Amicus Curiae in Whitaker v. A&E Television Networks (Cal. 2009), arguing that California’s anti-SLAPP statute applies when private figure plaintiffs file suits arising from publications and broadcasts that address matters of public concern, even if the plaintiffs allege their individual depictions were not newsworthy

Testimony of Lee Levine before the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, Hearing on The Free Flow of Information Act of 2007, June 14, 2007

Testimony of Seth D. Berlin before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Hearing on Cameras in the Courtroom, Nov. 9, 2005

Testimony of Lee Levine before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Hearing on Reporters’ Shield Legislation: Issues and Implications, July 20, 2005