Eugene Volokh is the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, and the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA School of Law. Naturally, his posts here (like the opinions of the other bloggers) are his own, and not endorsed by any institution. He is also the co-host of the Free Speech Unmuted podcast.
Eugene Volokh
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Foreign Law in American Courts
"There Is Evidence That This Particular Proceeding Before the Beijing Court Was Dominated by the" Chinese Communist Party,
holds a federal court in declining to enforce the Beijing judgment, and in therefore concluding that Stanford holds title to documents donated to the Hoover Institution by a Chinese Mao-era dissident.
No First Amendment Exception for Professional-Client Speech: States Can't Ban "Conversion Therapy" Speech for Minors
So the Supreme Court held today.
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"Reckless, to Be Sure. Stupid." "But Mere Reckless Stupidity Does Not a Malicious Federal Arsonist Make"
A court sets aside a federal arson conviction (which would have carried a "mandatory minimum sentence" of "seven years") for a fan's throwing flares at a soccer stadium and causing minor damage and a minor injury.
No Preliminary Injunction Over Residents' Claim That S.F. Failed to Adequately Police Tenderloin Sidewalks
"[P]laintiffs have failed to respond to the City's evidence that changes in its policies have actually improved conditions in the Tenderloin such that Plaintiffs are no longer at risk of the harms they cited in their motion."
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Former Fox Anchor Andrea Tantaros's Court Filings Contained Inaccurate Citations; Court Suspects AI Hallucinations
Tantaros is representing herself in a lawsuit against Fox and, among others, ex-Senator Scott Brown, alleging sexual harassment and other claims.
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Khan v. Yale University #TheyLied Case Dismissed Because of Plaintiff's "Egregious" Litigation Misconduct
Not the misconduct itself, but noted in the court's opinion as one of the items plaintiff had sought to withhold from discovery: "During a separate text conversation on May 11, 2018, Plaintiff texted Mr. Roe: 'If I had 5 dollars for every gender, I would have 5 dollars coz women are objects.'"
Theranos Fraudster Elizabeth Holmes' Sentence Reduced by 1 Year
This was called for, the court held, by a new retroactive sentencing guideline that allows such a reduction when a defendant "did not personally cause substantial hardship."
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Kennedy Center Director & Ambassador Richard Grenell Loses Libel Lawsuit
He sued over a claim that he "associated with Nazis" and "tried to have Vice President Pence attend a white supremacist event while he was on an overseas trip."
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Sam Altman et al. "May Not Inquire into Musk's Ketamine Use" at Trial of Musk Suit Over OpenAI
But "evidence related to his political activities, attendance at Burning Man in 2017, and relationship with Shivon Zilis" will be allowed.
Ex-Law-Student's Defamation Claim Against Howard University Can Proceed in Part
His breach of contract and race discrimination claims, however, are dismissed.
Possible $5K Sanctions for Repeated Mis-Citation in Coomer v. Lindell / My Pillow Election-Related Libel Suit
"It appears that the Court’s prior admonitions and sanctions have had little, if any, remedial impact."
Grant of Mental Health Pretrial Diversion for Man Accused of Attempted Murder Reversed
The man "was just released from a psychiatric facility when he thereafter failed to take his medications and committed the crimes that are the subject of this appeal."
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Court Dismisses Suit Against N.Y. Times & Serial Productions over The Idiot Podcast
The podcast is M. Gessen’s story about cousin Allen Gessen (who is the plaintiff in this case) and his murder-for-hire conviction. Extra juicy tidbit in this case: Venue!
$14K Sanction for Local Counsel's Not Meaningfully Supervising Out-of-Jurisdiction Counsel
with cameo appearance by out-of-jurisdiction counsel's citation of non-existent cases.
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Court Rejects Women Inmates' Objections to California Law Related to Housing of "Transgender, Nonbinary, or Intersex" Inmates
The court's reasoning mostly turns on a conclusion that much of the prison behavior that plaintiffs complained about wasn't dictated by that particular law.
Justice Sotomayor on the Freedom of the Press and the Right to Ask Questions
The Justice largely agrees with Fifth Circuit Judge James Ho's dissenting opinion below, but writes alone in dissenting from the Supreme Court's decision not to consider the case.
