Douglas E. Lee is a circuit judge for the 15th Judicial Circuit in northwest Illinois. Lee graduated from Northwestern School of Law. He was appointed to the bench in January 2019 as associate judge and as circuit judge by the Illinois Supreme Court in July 2019. He was elected as a circuit judge in 2020. Previously, Lee worked at Baker & Hostetler in Washington, D.C., where he focused on First Amendment litigation. Lee also wrote regular commentaries for the website of the First Amendment Center in Nashville.
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Ashton v. Kentucky (1966)
Ashton v. Kentucky (1966) held that most criminal libel laws violated the First Amendment. The laws had allowed charges against those who published false and malicious statements.
Butterworth v. Smith (1990)
Butterworth v. Smith (1990) said prohibiting grand jury witnesses from disclosing their testimony after the grand jury term has expired violated First Amendment rights.
Seditious Libel
Cases involving the First Amendment and seditious libel, statements intended to provoke dissatisfaction with the government, arose during several eras in American history.
Time, Inc. v. Hill(1967)
Time, Inc. v. Hill (1967) extended the actual malice standard to a false light invasion of privacy to ensure the First Amendment freedom of the press was not burdened.