Trump's Impeachment Lawyers Try To Deconstruct the Link Between What He Said and What His Followers Did
No amount of parsing can obscure his responsibility for the deadly attack on the Capitol.
Free Speech
The Vote-by-Tweet Memes Prosecution
The First Amendment and statutory questions in the Douglass Mackey / Ricky Vaughn case.
Trump's Dubious First Amendment Defense Against Impeachment
He is on firmer ground in arguing that the Senate does not have the authority to try a former president, although that issue is highly contested.
Civil Liberties Groups Plead With Biden To Stop Persecuting Julian Assange
Plus: Oklahoma cosmetologists fight insane licensing requirement, Australia doesn't understand how search engines work, and more...
Tennessee Pharmacy School Nearly Expelled Student for Twitter Sex Talk
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is suing on her behalf.
Interesting #TheyLied Appellate Libel Decision in Response to #MeToo Claims
I've been seeing many such libel lawsuits recently, though only a few have gone so far as to yield a verdict for the libel plaintiff.
Prof. Eric Goldman & Me on Whether Governments Can Limit Platforms' Content Blocking Decisions
A forthcoming panel Thu., Feb. 11, 2 to 3 pm Pacific, organized by the UCLA Institute for Technology, Law, and Policy.
"Censorship by Zoom and Other Private Platforms": The UC Academic Freedom Committee's Concerns
"The University’s responsibility to protect academic freedom and freedom of expression cannot be outsourced."
University Decisions About Funding Student Groups Can't Rely on "Unbridled Discretion"
An interesting ruling involving the University of Minnesota, by Judge Patrick Schiltz (himself a former professor).
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Wants $100,000 Fines for Social Media Companies That Deplatform Politicians
It’s a terrible idea that violates Section 230, but is it actually unconstitutional? Don’t be so sure.
Trump's Lawyers Say He Can't Be Impeached for Trying to Subvert the Election Because He Was Just Expressing an Opinion
They also argue that the Senate has no authority to try a former president.
House Impeachment Managers and Trump's Defense Lawyers File their Impeachment Trial Briefs
The House brief does a solid job of laying out the case against Trump. The defense brief is far less impressive.
'See Something, Say Something Online Act' Punishes Big Tech for Not Snitching
Plus: Oregon decriminalizes hard drugs, Kroger closes stores over hazard pay rule, and more...
"To Say That the Court Finds the Motion Puzzling Is to Do a Disservice to Puzzles Everywhere"
Plus a special appearance by The Princess Bride and Weekend at Bernie's.
Treating Lin Wood's Wild Conspiracy Theories As a Psychiatric Symptom Invites Him to Play Free Speech Martyr
The State Bar of Georgia is demanding that the pro-Trump lawyer undergo a mental health evaluation.
Maryland High Court Upholds 8½-Year Sentence for Perjurious Claim of Unwanted Sexual Touching
The defendant swore a Verizon store employee "cupped her breast and touched her inner thigh," but surveillance video showed otherwise.
Europe Considers Orwellian Proposal To Protect Its Dairy Industry From Vegan Competitors
Consumers aren't confused about where plant milks come from. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Americans Abandoning Free Speech Better Brace for the Consequences
Government will happily suppress misinformation in favor of misinformation of its own.
California Law Limiting Private Employers' Restriction on Employee Speech
applied by a federal court in a case involving Juul Labs.
Court Allows U.S. Prosecution for American's North Korea Speech About Cryptocurrency
A decision in the case of Ethereum researcher Virgil Griffith, denying his motion to dismiss.
The Supreme Court's Next Big Free Speech Showdown
May public schools punish students for off-campus social media posts?
Legislator Free to Block Users from Her Campaign-Focused Twitter Account
So the Eighth Circuit held yesterday, distinguishing the @RealDonaldTrump case on the grounds that the Trump account was used for much more official activity.
Can California Employee Be Fired for Attending the Jan. 6 Protest at the Capitol?
California statutes suggest the answer may be no, so long as the firing is based on the political activity, and not on criminal conduct.
May N.Y. Businesses Fire Employees for Using Parler and Gab?
Colleen Oefelein was fired by the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency, and the incident illustrates the vagueness of New York law on this point.
Sedition Cases Against Capitol Rioters 'Will Bear Fruit Very Soon,' Says FBI
Plus: Senators call impeachment trial unconstitutional, Biden cancels private prison contracts, Apple sued over Telegram, and more...
Public Has Right "to See What Is Going Into the Sausage Factory [of Litigation], Even if a Particular Sausage Is Never Made"
Federal court holds that documents accompanying motions are presumptively accessible even if the case settles before the court decides the motion.
Tennessee Cops Arrest Man For Posting Photoshopped Picture of Men Urinating on Dead Officer's Grave
"The only people who broke the law here were the police officers and TBI agents who participated in this flagrantly unconstitutional arrest."
Pretrial Release Condition: Can't Speak About "the [Capitol] Protest or the Matters Related to the United States Government"
And can't "participate in any protests, rallies or demonstrations."
Might Federal Preemption of Speech-Protective State Laws Violate the First Amendment?
And, if so, what does this mean for 47 U.S.C. § 230?
Judge Warns Business Litigants (Including Facebook) About Excessive Sealing Requests
"These allegations stand at the heart of plaintiffs' claims, and sealing them would make this litigation virtually incomprehensible to the public."
Glenn Greenwald: 'Journalists Are Authoritarians'
What went wrong at the outlet he co-founded, what's wrong with the ACLU, and what might go wrong in the Biden administration
Do Critics of Police Have the First Amendment Procedural Protections That Nazis Get?
The Ohio S. Ct. will take up the question, in the Cincinnati prior restraint case in which we filed an amicus brief.
"On That Premise This Land Was Created, and on That Premise It Has Grown to Greatness"
"The greater the importance of safeguarding the community from incitements to the overthrow of our institutions by force ..., the more imperative is the need to preserve inviolate the constitutional rights of free speech ... to maintain the opportunity for free political discussion, to the end that government may be responsive to the will of the people and that changes, if desired, may be obtained by peaceful means."
Presidential Free Speech and the Congressional Impeachment Power
The First Amendment should not be a viable defense in an impeachment trial
My USA Today Op Ed on Josh Hawley, Freedom of Speech, and Threats to Liberty From Left and Right
Both Hawley's "national conservatism" and similar ideas prevalent in many quarters on the left threaten free speech and liberty more generally.
