Free Speech
How a Fake Rationing Scare Highlighted the Absurdity of California's Actual Water Policies
No, Californians aren't banned from showering and doing laundry on the same day. But the fact that so many people believed that lie says something about how insane the state's real water laws are.
Molly Jong-Fast on Trump's Impeachment, Democratic Candidates, and Why Twitter Is Great
"I don't think you should do Twitter if you think you're better than Twitter."
No 'Insurrection' or Violence at Virginia Gun Rights Rally
Plus: Clinton says "nobody likes" Bernie, Biden wants Section 230 revoked, Iran takes responsibility for Jan. 8 plane crash, and more...
"Fraudulent Lawsuits and Illegal Hacks to Silence Online Consumer Complaints"
A new story from Fox 11 (L.A.).
Joe Biden Wants To Destroy Free Speech on Social Media
Biden tells the New York Times he would revoke Section 230 protections and hold Facebook (and other sites) liable for their content.
'Evening With Cancelled Women' Gets Cancelled
The New York Public Library calls off an event featuring feminists who have clashed with the trans rights movement.
Judge Temporarily Blocks Potential Eviction of UConn Students in the "Racial Ridicule" Case
"On the record before the Court, the movants have demonstrated 'sufficiently serious questions going to the merits to make them a fair ground for litigation.'"
Musician Sues Houston For His Right To Play His Accordion In Public
The city limits busking to its tiny Theater District, and it makes you jump through hoops even to play there.
First Amendment Argument in the UConn "Racial Ridicule" Case
This is the case where two students were shouting "nigger" loudly when walking by UConn dorms; the students are trying to block university discipline based on their speech, including their eviction from student housing.
Students Sue UConn in "Racial Ridicule" Case
The students say their threatened punishment, for walking near student housing shouting "nigger" (at no-one in particular), violates both the First Amendment and a 1990 consent decree.
Court Rejects Motion to Seal Litigation Finance Agreements
"The public may well have an interest in how litigation is funded by third parties," the judge concludes. A law firm and two litigation finance companies are disputing (among other things) whether the litigation finance agreements are illegally usurious.
Dismissing Her Political Opponents As Mentally Ill, Yale Psychiatrist Diagnoses Alan Dershowitz
By complaining to Yale about Bandy Lee's violation of the Goldwater Rule, Dershowitz lets her portray herself as a brave dissident.
The First Amendment and Privacy: Free Speech Rules (Episode 9)
Episode 9 of Free Speech Rules, a video series by UCLA Law Professor Eugene Volokh
No Sealing of Photos and Plans of $20M, 29,000 Sq. Ft. House (with 55,000 Sq. Ft. of Improvements)
So a New Jersey tax court held last week, in a case brought by prominent bank founder Vernon W. Hill.
Babson College Adjunct Professor & Administrator Fired for Facebook Post
Asheen Phansey's was responding to President Trump's threat to bomb Iranian cultural sites.
Virginia Legislator Joe Morrissey Gets Called "Fool," Sues, Arguing He's Not a Fool
There's also more to the case, which was brought over statements made on a local TV broadcast while Morrissey was unsuccessfully running for Richmond Mayor. (He is now a state senator, elected in November.)
Connecticut Racial Ridicule Prosecution: One Student Agrees to Probation, the Other's Case Is Still Pending
This is the case in which two students were walking near UConn student housing, loudly shouting "nigger" (apparently after having decided that loudly shouting "penis" wasn't good enough).
New Mexico Medical Marijuana Supplier Wins First Amendment Challenge to the State Fair's Absurdly Broad Censorship
The overturned rules banned microscopes and shovels as drug paraphernalia and prohibited pictures of cannabis or the equipment used to grow it.
Libel Lawsuit Over Free Meek Documentary, Including Jay-Z, the Rolling Stone Company, and Amazon
The plaintiff is a former Philadelphia officer, who was charged with (and acquitted of) wrongly threatening people with a gun; she claims the documentary wrongly portrayed her as "dirty and dishonest."
Above The Law Post Not Libelous or "Unlawful Discrimination," Notwithstanding Its Supposed "Homophobic" Insults
The statements about former law student Jonathan Mullane were either fair report of court proceedings or constitutionally protected opinions (e.g., calling Mullane "'rude,' 'dumb,' 'unethical,' a 'little entitled ponce,' and a 'dauphin'").
Motion to Stop Me from Publishing Material …
that I had gotten from a court docket while it has not been sealed, but that the movant is seeking to seal.
City Says Man's Giant, Semi-Ironic 'Trump 2020' Sign Is a Code Violation
A massive 15 foot tall Trump/Pence yard sign has unfortunately turned political.
Sex Offender Tries to Change Name to "Better Off Dead"
No, says the trial court, and the Minnesota Court of Appeals agrees.
Writer Meghan Daum Thinks You Need To Toughen Up
"If 2018 was the year that the concept of 'cancel culture' went mainstream, then 2019 may be the year that cancel culture cancels itself."
Attempt to Vanish Post Critical of Attempt to Vanish Posts Critical of the Sandy Hook Hoax Libel Judgment
Lenny Pozner has tried to get Amazon Web Services to remove a post of mine.
UMass Amherst Removed a Professor for Showing a Downfall Hitler Parody Video
"The point was to engage students in an otherwise dry and difficult subject material."
The Broader Meaning of the Trad-Cons' New War on Porn
They probably won't succeed in criminalizing Pornhub, but manifesto-wielding conservatives are trying to reshape the GOP into a movement against individualism.
Leftist YouTuber ContraPoints Explains Why Cancel Culture Mobs Should Drop the Pitchforks
"I have no faith left in call-out vigilante justice."
"Essentially, [the City] Defendants Request That the Court Resolve This Case Entirely in Secret"
No dice, says the District Court.
The 2010s: When the Media Lost Their Gatekeepers
Media theorist Marshall McLuhan's work best explains how the world changed in the 2010s—and what we can expect in the decade ahead.
Retired Law Professor Sues Lawyer-Commenters on Law Blog
A company had a trademark canceled in a Trademark Trial & Appeal Board proceeding, based on what the Board described as the company's "delaying tactics, including the willful disregard of Board orders." The TTABlog posted about it, and some commenters criticized the company's lawyer, Ohio State Prof. Charles L. (Lee) Thomason—so he is suing them for libel.
A Christmas Miracle: Washington Court Overturns Marijuana Sign Rules That Banned String Lights Spelling 'Pot'
A judge concluded that the restrictions violate the state constitution's free speech guarantee.
First Amendment Doesn't Protect a Right to Smoke
Just in case you had any doubts about that.
No "Possess[ing]" "Copyrighted Material" When on Supervised Release
Now that's being tough on crime.
Democrats Still Fundraising Off Citizens United, Still Wrong About What It Means
Plus: Christianity Today rejects Trump, retirement savings restrictions loosened, Nigerian sex work decriminalized, and more...
When Does the First Amendment Preempt Negligence Liability?
More on Doe v. Mckesson, the Baton Rouge Black Lives Matter case.
Negligence Claims Brought Against Protest Organizers: More on the Tort Law Side of Doe v. Mckesson,
the Baton Rouge Black Lives Matter case (in which Judge Don Willett has just switched to dissenting, and in which a cert. petition has been filed with the U.S. Supreme Court).
The Weird Litigation Posture of the Doe v. Mckesson / Baton Rouge Black Lives Matter Protest Case
The case, in which Judge Don Willett has just switched to dissenting, should be an easy win for DeRay Mckesson—but on a theory that hadn't been asserted in court.
Elizabeth Warren Wants To Tax Lobbying
Her lobbying tax proposal is pseudo-policy, a veneer of wonky seriousness over dubious populist dogma.
Forged Court Order Used to Try to Vanish Online Magazine Article About L.A. Businessman
"Steve Farzam, chief operating officer of the Shore Hotel [in Santa Monica], ... [has] been charged with counterfeiting a Los Angeles County Superior Court seal."
Can Jack Dorsey Reinvent the Internet by Making Twitter More Like Email?
The case for a technical free speech fix
Was This the Decade We Hit Peak Free Speech?
Speech was more varied and vibrant than ever before—and then the backlash began.
