Making Sense Of The Chief Justice's Tango In The Ballroom Case
It was the Chief, and not KBJ, who was holding up the case. Was he trying to flip ACB's vote?
Month: August 2026
Learned Hand's Reflections On His Professors
A favorite.
Trump Wants the FCC To Punish His Enemies
Plus: the escalating war with Iran, Meta's $17 billion settlement, and Milo Yiannopoulos gets deported.
Strictly Ballroom: Justice Kavanaugh Defeats Chief Justice Roberts
The Court rejects the D.C. Circuit's erroneous "aesthetic injury" standing precedents and the Chief can only wax about Churchill.
Supreme Court Allows White House Ballroom Construction to Go Forward, at Least for Now
The majority didn't decide whether the construction violated federal law, only that plaintiffs' purely aesthetic interests didn't allow them to assert a federal claim.
The 8th Circuit Lets the Government Retroactively Repair Unconstitutional Gun Cases Against Pot Smokers
A SCOTUS petition argues that the practice, which allows a judicial finding of dangerousness based on a preponderance of the evidence, violates the Fifth Amendment.
A Liberal Think Tank and an Air Force Major Are Trump's Latest Targets for Speech Policing
Trump threatened the Center for American Progress with a defamation lawsuit, while Jason Watson faces a court martial for offending the president.
Cops in Polk County, Georgia, Fatally Shoot Petting Zoo Donkey
The donkey's owner says officers wandered onto her property without permission and shot the small donkey because they felt threatened.
What Craigslist and Backpage Can Tell Us About the Meta Settlement
It doesn't matter if you're right. If you don't cave, the government might stop at nothing to destroy you.
Trump's Trade War With Canada Is Costly, Absurd, and Unfunny
American consumers and businesses are being taken advantage of by Canadians who are…offering to sell us aluminum, oil, and wood? How?
Rebuke or Punishment
Plus: Gustavo Gordillo's lies, measles among the Amish, Milo Yiannopoulos deported, and more...
Anthropic Win Reaffirms Private Sector's Right To Put Conditions on Government Dealings
Trump administration officials didn’t try to hide that they were punishing the company for its views.
The Belated Backlash Against Flock Cameras
Americans are starting to recognize the dangers of pervasive surveillance by automated license plate readers.
Open Thread
What’s on your mind?
New York Times Recycles Same Old Story About Northern District of Texas
Yet the article inexplicably makes no mention of judge shopping in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
What J.D. Vance Gets Wrong About Hamilton (and Markets and Milton Friedman)
The Vice President's argument for more governmental intervention in the economy is based upon a morass of misunderstandings.
An Actual SCOTUS Nightmare
Recently, Justice Jackson warned about a "Kafkaesque nightmare" at the Supreme Court. Well, I had my own.
Inside Venezuela's El Helicoide Prison: How Dissident Jesús Armas Endured Torture and Outlasted Maduro
For helping prove that Maduro lost the 2024 election, Jesús Armas spent more than a year in Venezuela’s most-feared prison. He’s lucky it wasn’t more.
Open Thread
What’s on your mind?
Federal Court Rules Speech-Based Deportations Violate the First Amendment
The decision goes further than other similar recent rulings.
Lawmakers Want To Stop Kids From Nicknaming Their Pokémon
The Safer GAMING Act would silence minors in every online game by default—and violate the First Amendment.
9/11 Turbocharged America's Worst Foreign Policy Impulses—but Didn't Change Its Direction
The United States' shift toward aggressive interventionism was well underway before the 2001 attacks.
Open Thread
What’s on your mind?
Milo Yiannopoulos Wanted Millions Deported. He Didn't Mean Himself.
"I mean bad immigrants," Yiannopoulos said in a 2016 interview with Joe Rogan. "I don't mean handsome, charming, successful, blonde-haired British immigrants."
The Fourth Amendment and Laws Requiring Video Recording Inside Stores
A new Ninth Circuit ruling raises a number of hard issues.
The CIA Is Making AI-Generated Reports for Local Police
The CIA has been using artificial intelligence to write “open source intelligence” analyses, which are being distributed to local police via DHS “fusion centers,” according to documents obtained by Reason.
Judge Says Trump's Clampdown on Anthropic Violates the First Amendment
A judge ruled the Pentagon's supply chain risk designation of Anthropic was an unlawful, “arbitrary,” and “capricious” decision made to punish Anthropic.
Short Circuit: An inexhaustive weekly compendium of rulings from the federal courts of appeal
Fabricated identities, fictitious daycares, and made-up laws.
A Tale of Two Tech Revolts
What the simultaneous revolts against Flock and data centers can tell us about the power and risks of populism
Elon Musk's X Loses First Amendment Challenge to New York's 'Stop Hiding Hate Act'
Musk's X Corp., along with other social media companies operating in the state, must disclose whether and how it defines hate speech and disinformation.
AI Companies Are Destroying Books. That's Not Nearly as Scary as It Sounds.
Destructively scanning books is making information more accessible to the masses.
The Math on Trump's Haitian Deportation Flights Doesn't Add Up
The Trump administration created 330,000 new illegal immigrants by revoking TPS from Haitians. It plans to deport just 10,400 per year.
No, Marijuana Legalization Didn't Fill Emergency Rooms With Stoned Drivers
We dissected some of the deeply flawed studies favored by drug warriors.
Democrats Are Undoing California's Pension Reforms. Why Are Republicans Going Along With It?
Pension changes passed in 2011 have saved California taxpayers from a fiscal crisis, but public sector unions are now pushing to undo them.
Haidt's Moment
Plus: The scourge of scromiting, blaming air traffic control, and more...
Canada Should Ignore Trump's Protectionism and Unilaterally Enact Free Trade
U.S. tariffs hurt Americans. Retaliatory tariffs will hurt Canadians.
