For the better part of a year, I’ve used this space to cover what appears to be the fall of the First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution. It seems that with every passing day, the importance of free speech and a free press has fallen by the wayside.

But thankfully, there’s still some hope after all. Two important court rulings — both for completely different reasons — have resulted in two wins for First Amendment believers like myself. 

Last October, the U.S. Pentagon announced a new press room policy that restricted journalists’ access and threatened the very essence of the First Amendment. The rules included reduced building access and approval requirements, stating that news outlets could not publish news that wasn’t approved for public release.

All of the news outlets covering the Pentagon were given an ultimatum: adhere to our rules or turn in your press pass.

Thankfully, the majority of the news outlets decided to reject the Pentagon’s policies. This included the conservative outlets like Fox News and Newsmax, which are known to be propaganda machines at times. Instead, propagandists like Laura Loomer and Matt Gaetz were given press credentials.

The New York Times took it a step further, suing the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (a former Fox News talk show host). Last week, a judge ruled in favor of The Times, calling the Pentagon’s new press policies unconstitutional. 

It was a big win for the First Amendment and for journalists’ right to cover this administration without any hangups. By all accounts, it's the best thing that’s happened in that department for quite some time.

Instead of adhering to the court order, the Pentagon decided to remove the media offices entirely. The Times says they’ll challenge this in court, too. We’ll see if they can score another legal victory.

Which now brings us to… Afroman. Ah, yes, Afroman… the guy everyone knows for his songs “Colt 45” and “Because I Got High.” Personally, I’ve not been able to forgive the guy since he canceled on performing a show at the local bar where I worked in college.

But his latest stunt has done a lot of work in restoring my faith in the hilarious rapper. In 2022, his house was raided by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio as part of an investigation of drug trafficking and kidnapping. Despite the search, no charges were ever filed against Afroman.

Instead, Afroman was left with a broken door, broken gate, surveillance video of the raid and a slice or two of lemon pound cake. 

So the man did what he does best. Several music videos and one album later, Afroman had a new category of songs about the ordeal.

Several deputies who participated in the raid sued Afroman on the grounds that the videos and songs he released defamed them. Afroman’s team argued that the songs were protected via the First Amendment.

Knowing what I do about defamation cases, they are extremely difficult to win. That can be multiplied 10 times over if a public figure is involved. But in today’s world, nothing surprises me. I definitely wouldn’t have thought twice if the jury sided with the officers here.

Thankfully, the jury ruled unanimously in favor of Afroman. 

Comedy in general is already under a level of scrutiny (see Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Druski). It would’ve set a dangerous precedent had the jury ruled in favor of the officers.

I’m glad that free speech still has some level of protection in the U.S., even if it came in the form of Afroman. Now about rescheduling that concert in Milledgeville…

Evan Newton is the managing editor of The Covington News. He can be reached at enewton@covnews.com.