Month: September 2026
Montana's Anti-Deepfakes Law Just Hit a First Amendment Roadblock
A federal judge found that the state's restrictions on AI-generated political speech likely violate the First Amendment.
Is Effective Altruism Really a Doom Cult?
On the Freed Up podcast, Robby Soave and Christian Britschgi discuss effective altruism, Sydney Sweeney, and the UT Austin student body
The Shaky Evidence That Flock Cameras Reduce Crime Rates
Flock has been promoting a recent study of its cameras' impacts on car theft. But the paper didn't demonstrate a causal effect.
Lindsay Clancy's Holdout Juror Did What Jurors Are Supposed To Do
Just as a holdout may be a bulwark against wrongful conviction, a unanimous verdict is difficult to obtain by design.
Short Circuit: An inexhaustive weekly compendium of rulings from the federal courts of appeal
Cellphones searches, home searches, and strip searches.
Court Upholds Suspicionless Cellphone Searches at the Border
A federal appeals court says it's legal for federal agents to scroll through your phone and take pictures of its contents without a warrant or suspicion of criminal activity.
In the Name of Tax Fairness, Politicians Propose Special Tax Penalties on Data Centers
State and federal policymakers are attempting to exclude data centers from run-of-the-mill tax exemptions.
Congress Doesn't Agree on Much. Except That Your Car Needs AM Radio.
The push to mandate AM radios has brought Ted Cruz together with Bernie Sanders.
Trump's 4-Week War With Iran Approaches Month 7
The latest expansion of the war into Yemen is compounding the damage to oil supplies.
Trump Re-Ups His Threat To Raze the Kennedy Center Unless He Can Slap His Name on It
After a federal judge rejected his attempts at self-glorification, Trump said the building will "end up being ripped down" if he does not get the "recognition" he wants.
The Trump Administration Paid Federal Workers $9.5 Billion To Skip Work
How's that for efficiency?
Resident Evil Is a Deeply Unhinged Send-Up of Video Games
Zach Cregger's horror–video game adaptation is a pulpy comic delight.
Montana Is Trying To Break the FDA's Monopoly on Experimental Treatments
Montana’s expanded right-to-try program has cleared its first therapy: a sound-and-antihistamine regimen to reverse hearing loss.
New Article: Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections: Bringing Clarity To The Necessary and Proper Clause
"This decision, which may be the “sleeper” case of the term, should come to be viewed as a landmark separation of powers decision on par with Lopez, Morrison, Printz, and NFIB."
UC Ban on "Intentional or Repeated Use of a Name or Pronoun Inconsistent with the Individual's Gender Identity" …
likely violates First Amendment, federal judge holds (and issues a preliminary injunction).
Hate Speech and the Marketplace of Ideas in Postwar America
After the Second World War, the nation grappled with tensions between protecting free speech and eliminating hate speech.
Despite Nativist Outcry, Texas Shows the Melting Pot Works Incredibly Well
The Lone Star State is a success because all sorts of people are moving there for a shot at the American dream.
MAGA Loyalty in Iowa
Plus: Warsh's relationship with Trump; Democrats' midterm prospects; pregnancy is apparently a spectrum; and more...
SCOTUS May Soon Determine If California Can Force Doctors To Learn About 'Implicit Bias'
A Supreme Court petition challenges California’s attempt to force private medical instructors to teach “implicit bias.”
No, Cutting Off Trade With Europe Would Not Make America Wealthier
Trump's zero-sum trade talk is wrongheaded and authoritarian.
Report: California's Proposed 'Billionaire Tax' Is Based on Bad Research
The planned wealth tax leads slightly in the polls and is already driving capital flight.
Review: Ben Franklin, Frankenstein, and the Wonders of Electricity
Minnesota's Bakken Museum celebrates the spark of imagination that brings new ideas to life.
Review: An Idealistic Young Attorney in Stalin's Soviet Union
In Sergei Loznitsa's film Two Prosecutors, even a Bolshevik can believe a version of "Good czar, bad boyars."
Second Circuit Rejects Limits on Border Searches of Cell Phones
And why I think they are wrong, and the Supreme Court should step in.
Open Thread
What’s on your mind?
Second Amendment Roundup: 5th Circuit En Banc to Rehear Felon Gun Ban Cases
Two cases raise Commerce Clause and Second Amendment issues.
'They Kept Us Like Animals': Afghan Woman Deported to Africa By Trump Speaks Out
Farzana’s fiancé was a U.S. partner in Afghanistan. She was loaded on a plane full of men and sent to another country with no papers or job prospects.
The 1940s: "A Systematic Avalanche of Falsehoods"
During World War II, hate speech laws were proposed and passed across the country.
Influencer Haley Kalil's Remarks About Ex-Husband Matt Kalil's Penis Size Were "Newsworthy," and Thus Not Tortious
Because her comments came in describing her marriage and her divorce, she "was discussing her life, not Matt's, and the law generally protects a person's speech about herself, even though such speech inevitably reveals details about others."
Trump's $1.4 Billion Crypto Haul Sinks the Senate's Crypto Bill
The Clarity Act's ethics provisions leave plenty of room for the president to keep profiting, and its regulatory framework hands bureaucrats too much discretion.
Canada Is Moving Closer to Europe. Trump's Tariffs Help Explain Why.
As Ottawa’s trade war with the U.S. worsens, Brussels proposes closer trade, security, and technology ties, including an unprecedented "associate member” status.
Border Officer Convicted of Raping and Robbing Chinese Sex Workers
Jurors didn't buy Luis Uribe's defense: that he was targeted by "hustlers" for being an immigration officer.
The Fed Can't Fight Inflation Alone. Will Congress Do Its Part?
Lawmakers have to show they'll back the national debt with future fiscal surpluses, which means reining in government spending.
Memphis Task Force Caught on Video Arresting Activist Already Suing It for First Amendment Retaliation
The ACLU says Hunter Demster's arrest shows a continuing campaign of intimidation and retaliation by the Memphis Safe Task Force.
ICE's Missing Miscarriage Data Leave Questions About Pregnancy Care in Detention
The Trump administration has reached record-breaking levels of immigration arrests amid accusations of medical neglect, including among pregnant women.
Why the Right Should Celebrate the UT-Austin Football Photo
For decades, conservative and libertarian legal activists worked to ban race preferences in admissions. They won.
New York Wants To Scrap Testing Requirements While School Spending Soars
This week, the state's educational leaders moved to eliminate Regents exam requirements for high school students.
Not Using A Smartphone Burdens Others
It is increasingly difficult to function in society without a phone. So I'll turn mine off.
Seven Federal Judges From Minnesota Talk To The N.Y. Times About Trump Administration
“It’s the rule of law. If you don’t have it, you have either anarchy or you have authoritarianism. You have Russia or you have China or you have North Korea.”
