Gene Policinski: New Year will see some old First Amendment issues

  Welcome, 2011, and all that you offer as a New Year: a chance for a fresh start and the promise of new opportunities.

  But it’s fair to say that in terms of the First Amendment, you’re going to look a lot like your just-departed calendar relative. Many of the major court battles, legislative debates and public controversies of 2010 will waft right into the next 12 months with nary a pause for a chorus of “Auld Lang Syne.”

  Several decisions on First Amendment cases argued this year are expected from the U.S. Supreme Court before its June recess. One involves whether relatives can sue over those hotly debated funeral protests. Another asks whether it's constitutional for a California law to prevent minors from renting or buying violent video games. Others concern access to government records.