Category: Freedom of Speech and Press

WHY THE LEE MONUMENT LAWSUIT AGAINST RPD?

Posted Tom Roberts, Esq.Posted in Assault & Battery, Civil Rights, Commentary, Excessive Force, Fourth Amendment, Freedom of Speech and Press, Religious Freedom

QUESTION:   I would like to know why you think dispersing an unruly crowd with non-lethal means is a civil rights offense?   ANSWER:   First let me thank you for asking the question that many may have been afraid to ask. Increasingly we are finding an intolerance to opinions and views from all political […]

THIS HAS TO STOP! – police brutality – Class Action filed against Richmond Police officers.

Posted Tom Roberts, Esq.Posted in Assault & Battery, Civil Rights, Commentary, Excessive Force, First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, Freedom of Speech and Press, General, Litigation

Richmond Civil Rights Firm Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Richmond Police Officers for 1st Amendment Violations on June 1, 2020 at the Lee monument. June 16, 2020 – Class Action suit filed against Richmond Police Department Officers for violations of citizens 1st Amendment Right to peacefully protest and petition the government and for 4th Amendment […]

Summary of Virginia Whistleblower laws

Posted Tom Roberts, Esq.Posted in Civil Rights, Employment Law, FOIA, Freedom of Speech and Press

Does Virginia have “Whistle-Blower” protection? Yes. An employee of Virginia state or local governments have protection against retaliation or discipline for making or being about to report on the wrongdoing or abuse of one of the employee’s supervisors or an agent of the employer or an appropriate authority under Virginia Code § 2.2-3009, et seq., […]

2-5-2020 – Law Enforcement Officer Cannot Lawfully Retaliate For First Amendment Speech By Attempting to Induce Another Officer To Issue a Traffic Citation

Posted Tom Roberts, Esq.Posted in Civil Rights, First Amendment, Freedom of Speech and Press, General

2-5-2020 – The law firm of Thomas H. Roberts & Associates, PC. achieved another victory for the First Amendment with a federal opinion establishing that a law enforcement officer cannot lawfully retaliate against a citizen for criticisms and Facebook posts by attempting to induce another officer to issue a traffic citation.   In a decision […]

January 23, 2018 – Another Free Speech Victory

Posted Tom Roberts, Esq.Posted in Civil Rights, First Amendment, Freedom of Speech and Press, Libel & Slander, Litigation

“…I shall obey the laws of the United States of America and of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and shall support and defend their constitutions against all enemies whomsoever, foreign and domestic….” – Virginia State Police Trooper’s Pledge. Nathan Cox’s nightmare is finally over. The Virginia Supreme Court rejected the appeal petition of Trooper Melanie H. […]

1st Amendment – ANOTHER BLISTERING CRITICISM OF PETERSBURG GOVERNMENT BY THE COURTS TODAY WITH AN OPINION BY THE 4TH CIRCUIT STRIKING DOWN PETERSBURG POLICE DEPARTMENT BAN ON SOCIAL MEDIA CRITICISM OF THE DEPARTMENT

Posted Tom Roberts, Esq.Posted in Civil Rights, Employment Law, First Amendment, Freedom of Speech and Press, Litigation

12-15-2016– THE US COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE 4th CIRCUIT REMOVES WHAT IT DESCRIBED AS A “VIRTUAL BLANKET PROHIBITION ON ALL SPEECH CRITICAL OF THE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYER” BY STRIKING DOWN PETERSBURG POLICE DEPARTMENT’S BAN ON SOCIAL MEDIA CRITICISM OF THE DEPARTMENT. In a sharply worded opinion issued on 12-15-2016, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals declared […]

Beth Sloan’s Letter re: Religious Liberty in Powhatan – 11/22/1999

Posted Tom Roberts, Esq.Posted in Civil Rights, First Amendment, Freedom of Speech and Press, Litigation, Religious Freedom

Beth’s Letter November 22, 1999   To Whom It May Concern,   I have recently been in the news because of the lawsuit I brought against my principal, Mr. Rick Cole. Many things have been said about Fellowship of Christian Athletes that are not true some of which the media reported. Let me tell what […]

Rights mean nothing unless those we do not like are afforded those rights.

Posted Tom Roberts, Esq.Posted in Assault & Battery, Civil Rights, Commentary, Due Process, Excessive Force, Fourth Amendment, Freedom of Speech and Press, Religious Freedom

Thomas H. Roberts & Associates, PC represents people that many in society don’t like and would prefer had no rights.  This is an excerpt of a response to an attorney who expressed “horror” that we considered whether or not excessive force was used in the shooting death of a fringe gun-tooting activist. I am reminded […]

Constitutional Free Speech in Public Schools

Posted Tom Roberts, Esq.Posted in Civil Rights, Commentary, Freedom of Speech and Press

Jonathan Arthur, a Civil Rights Attorney with Thomas H. Roberts & Associates, PC in Richmond Virginia, grew up in Montgomery County, Virginia.   For nearly 30 years the law firm has been defending the Constitutional rights of citizens.  Attorney Arthur is concerned with the violation of the free speech of students at Christiansburg High School – […]

First Amendment protects the free-exercise rights of owners of businesses.

Posted Tom Roberts, Esq.Posted in Civil Rights, Commentary, Freedom of Speech and Press, Religious Freedom

OWNERS OF CLOSELY HELD BUSINESSES DO NOT GIVE UP THEIR RIGHTS TO CONDUCT THEIR BUSINESSES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND CONSCIENCE BY ENGAGING IN COMMERCE! In a recent 2014 attack on liberties protected by the U.S. Constitutional the New York State Division of Human Rights fined Cynthia and Robert Gifford’s Liberty Ridge Farm, a business […]