NO JOKE, LENO MAY NEED LIFT OF JACKSON GAG ORDER.(Arts & Entertainment)

Byline: LYNN ELBER Associated Press

Have you heard the one about Jay Leno, the gag order in the Michael Jackson case and the First Amendment?

It's no joke, according to one legal expert: Leno, concerned he could be barred from making "Tonight Show" quips about Jackson's molestation trial, can claim constitutional protection.

Leno should prevail with a First Amendment freedom of speech argument, said Jamin Raskin, a law professor at American University in Washington.

"The court, in order to avoid a Constitutional showdown, would try to draft a very carefully worded gag order that would allow him to make fair comment on the public aspects of …