Partisan Hypocrisy on Display in Supreme Court Ruling on Anti-Prostitution Pledge and the First Amendment
Can the government compel speech? For Supreme Court justices, that seems to depend on the content of that speech.
Free Speech
"These Days … It Is Safest to Be Circumspect and Cautious"
"To survive as a ... professor requires constant self-censorship and compromise, especially in the humanities .... Resistance comes at a cost .... [H]er colleague ..., a law professor, was interrogated and suspended from teaching after publishing a series of essays critical of ...."
Twitter Wins Lawsuit Over "Devin Nunes' Cow" Twitter Feed
Rep. Devin Nunes can't hold Twitter liable for allegedly defamatory posts by Twitter user:
Devin Nunes Can Sue Cow Account but Not Twitter, Says Judge
Plus: Time to cancel U.S. propaganda outlets, Twitch sued over sexy women, new Assange indictment, social-justice symbolism, and more...
"Resolution of Judicial Misconduct Complaints About District Judge Lynn Adelman"
Judge Adelman's article sharply criticizing the Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit concluded, was largely permissible under the Canons of Judicial Conduct, except "the opening two sentences of the article and the criticisms of recent policy positions taken by one political party."
Florida Judges Split on Injunction Against Critic of State Senator
"Publicly expressing anger toward an elected official is not a basis for entry of an injunction. In public debate, elected officials must tolerate insulting remarks—even angry, outrageous speech—to provide breathing room for the First Amendment."
"Ambulance Chaser Is Too Good a Term for Him" Isn't Libelous (At Least in Yelp Review)
"Defendant's Yelp post about plaintiff is reasonably and best understood to be, simply, name-calling."
Prosecution for Incitement to Riot
"Be there by 10:30, lace your shoes, wear masks and gloves. Bring hammers bricks whatever you want."
Russia Lifts Ban on Telegram App
Two years of rule-flouting by elites and ordinary citizens show the unsustainability of top-down prohibition.
The University of Chicago Took a Stand for Free Speech. Faculty Say They Live in Fear Anyway.
Former professor John Cochrane: "I spent much of my last few years of teaching afraid that I would say something that could be misunderstood and thus be offensive to someone."
Michigan State University VP of Research Ousted Because of His Past Scientific Statements
He remains a tenured faculty member.
Ninth Circuit Strikes Down Statute Limiting IMDb's Display of Actor Ages
The interest in fighting age discrimination in employment doesn't trump free speech rights.
Judge Royce Lamberth Condemns John Bolton's Conduct, But Declines to Block Publication of Bolton's Memoir
"By the looks of it, the horse is not just out of the barn—it is out of the country."
Let's Stop Talking About Free Speech and Start Defending It
Don't lock down expression along with so much else of American society.
Ordinary Woman Fired Because of Washington Post Article About Costume She Wore at Halloween Party Two Years Ago
Not a high-level official, not a spokesperson, not an endorser -- just an ordinary person.
MLB Letter in Yankees Sign-Stealing Investigation Should Be Unsealed, Says Federal Judge
The decision has been promptly appealed.
Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal on Left-Wing Cancel Culture
The heterodox hosts of the popular Blocked and Reported podcast talk about surviving internet outrage, the roots of speech repression, and the power of direct financial support from fans.
Ohio S. Ct. Reverses Order Blocking Man from All "Posting About" His Sister and Mother
"Even if past [mentally distressing] speech that an offender made to a person ... could be considered ... integral to the criminal conduct of menacing by stalking [and thus unprotected], we do not believe that this principle may be applied categorically to future speech ... directed to others."
Protest Organizers Shouldn't Be Liable for Other People's Crimes
A lower court precedent left unchallenged would unjustly compromise First Amendment protest rights. The Supreme Court should reconsider.
Former eBay Employees "Charged with Leading a Cyberstalking Campaign Targeting the … Publisher of a Newsletter"
"that eBay executives viewed as critical of the company" (as best I can tell, the newsletter is EcommerceBytes).
Art History Professor Condemned by Stanford Undergraduate Senate
Her crime? Spelling out what the rap group N.W.A. stands for, and quoting one of their lyrics.
"No Official, High or Petty, Can Prescribe What Shall Be Orthodox"
"in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion."
Requirement of Licensing and Test for Tour Guides Violates the First Amendment
"An individual's right to speak is implicated when information he or she possesses is subjected to restraints on the way in which the information might be used or disseminated."
Federal Aircraft Accused of Tracking Protesters
Plus: Breonna’s Law bans no-knock raids in Kentucky, Amazon's third-party problem, new findings on metabolism, and more...
"Vocational Training Is Speech Protected by the First Amendment"
Ninth Circuit allows plaintiffs to challenge California statute that bars students from attending some for-pay trade schools unless the students have a high school diploma, have a GED, or can pass a government-prescribed test.
Prof. Randall Kennedy (Harvard Law) on Accurately Quoting Racial Epithets
"For me, demands for silence, for avoidance, or for bowdlerization will be offered no deference."
No Routine Sealing of Names of Officers Who Arrested Molotov-Cocktail-Thrower
"Absent some concrete threat to the officers, which has not been suggested here, there is no principled way to discern why this case would justify redactions while others would not."
Does City's Painting of Messages on City Streets Require It to Give Equal Access to Other Messages?
No, if the city endorses the messages as its own.
May the Law Ban Calls to Government Offices "Using Indecent Language" "With Intent to Harass or Embarrass"?
With a special cameo appearance by Eric Holder.
Court Allows Subpoena of Media for Unpublished but Nonconfidential Interview Outtakes
An interesting illustration of the qualified privilege that many courts recognize in such cases.
What Would It Mean for President Trump to Declare Antifa a "Domestic Terrorist Organization"?
Not much as a legal matter, as best I can tell. [See UPDATE.]
UCLA Poli Sci Department Condemns Lecturer for Reading MLK's Letter from Birmingham Jail, Showing Video About Lynching
UCLA says complaints -- about the fact that both the excerpt read from King's letter and the video included the word "nigger" -- have "been shared with UCLA’s Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for review."
47 U.S.C. § 230 Preempts State Right of Publicity Claims
and other state (but not federal) intellectual property claims brought over platforms' hosting of third-party content.
"Statement on Campus Censorship During Nationwide Protests"
From the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.
