Free Speech
Tulane Canceled a Talk by the Author of an Acclaimed Anti-Racism Book After Students Said the Event Was 'Violent'
In Life of a Klansman, Edward Ball reckons with a white supremacist ancestor. Try explaining that to the students.
'Cancel Culture' at U.S. Colleges Not Getting Worse, Say Liberal Professors. Conservative Colleagues Disagree.
Plus: Georgia makes it a hate crime to damage police property, SCOTUS denies relief to prisoners, Trump escalates war on Chinese apps, study casts doubt on "diversity training," coronavirus in schools, and more…
Med School Professor Removed from Fellowship Director Post, Apparently for Publishing Anti-Affirmative-Action Journal Article
This happened at University of Pittsburgh, a public university.
Judge Throws Out Devin Nunes' Libel Lawsuit Against Ryan Lizza
The suit was based on an Esquire article about an Iowa farm run by members of Congressman Nunes' family.
Ex-Wife Prosecuted for Violating Order That She "Shall Not Post Anything" About Ex-Husband
But the judge threw out the prosecution, on the ground that the order violated the First Amendment.
Trump Urges Floridians To Vote by Mail While Suing Over Remote Voting in Nevada
Plus: Tuesday primary results, TikTok may move to London, polls show growing distrust in media, and more...
'Literally Hitler' Election Mailer Is Protected by the First Amendment
Plus: Trump talks COVID-19 numbers, more demands for TikTok, how the media might blow the 2020 election, and more..
What's the Best Way To Protect Free Speech? Ken White and Greg Lukianoff Debate Cancel Culture
Is freedom of speech best upheld by law or by culture?
Can't Seal Court Files Just to Keep Them from One's Current Employer
or from one's house of worship or from the nursing board.
Ted Cruz Isn't the Only Politician Talking Nonsense About Tech Companies and Election Integrity
Unpacking TikTok freakouts, mail-in voting controversies, and money printers going brrr, on the Reason Roundtable podcast.
Ninth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Stormy Daniels' Libel Lawsuit Against President Trump
Trump's Tweet ("A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!") was opinion, and thus not actionable.
Writer-Activist Hit With Licensing Complaint for Calling Himself an Engineer
Licensing laws can be weaponized to chill speech.
Do Plaintiffs from Conservative Cultural/Religious Groups (e.g., Muslims) Have More Right to Proceed Pseudonymously in Sex Assault Lawsuits?
That's what an Eleventh Circuit opinion seems to suggest, in a case where a Trinidadian Muslim plaintiff said she "come[s] from a strict Muslim household where under [their] cultural beliefs and traditions such a sexual assault would have the tendency to bring shame and humiliation upon [her] family."
2 Pro-Democracy University Employees in Hong Kong Fired as Beijing-Imposed National Security Law Takes Effect
"Academic staff...are no longer free to make controversial statements to the general public about politically or socially controversial matters," one of them writes.
California Man's Gun Seized, Apparently Because He Was a Racist Group Leader
Could such "gun violence restraining orders" likewise be used against people who talk about violence and a "pig problem" or "fascist problem" as opposed to "n■■■, k■■■, and h■■■ problem" (expurgation in news video)?
Congress Wants To Regulate Big Tech. They Still Don't Understand It.
Plus: Trump suggests election delay, and more...
Release Condition: "Defendant May Not Attend any Other Protests … or Public Gatherings in … Oregon"
Some people arrested in Portland for misdemeanor failure to obey a lawful order have had these conditions imposed as a condition of being released before trial. But the law related to such conditions is surprisingly complex.
The Second Amendment Is Not Restricted to White Conservatives
An encounter between militias in Louisville shows the enduring practical and symbolic importance of the right to armed self-defense.
E-Mails to Sen. McConnell Found Not to Be Criminally Threatening
"Weiss's comments were also steeped in 'rage and frustration,' and they were indisputably violent. Nonetheless, read in context, the statements predicted that other people would hurt Senator McConnell, not that Weiss would."
Harassing E-Mail to Sen. McConnell Can't Be Punished as "Speech Integral to Criminal Conduct"
"The First Amendment limits Congress; Congress does not limit the First Amendment."
Laws Protecting Private Employees' Speech and Political Activity Against Employer Retaliation: Limited to Signing Petitions or Contributing to Campaigns
Arizona, D.C., Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Washington; Louisiana, Massachusetts, Oregon; possibly Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wyoming, Guam.
'The President's Speech Police': Trump Pushes Forward With Regulating Bias Online
Plus: The EARN IT Act is "a wolf in sheep's clothing," Joe Biden's "Agenda for Women," and more...
What Cancel Culture Has In Common With Medieval Outlawry
Both outlawry and cancel culture grow out of the same human impulse toward ostracism, the desire to exclude offenders from “respectable” society.
May Judges "Participate in Marches, Demonstrations, Vigils, [and] Protests"?
The Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications opines.
Injunction in Libel Case Against the Spamhaus Project
An interesting decision stemming from a dispute about whether the Spamhaus Project properly placed DatabaseUSA.com on a blocklist.
Laws Protecting Private Employees' Speech and Political Activity Against Employer Retaliation: Focused on Political Opinions, Party Affiliation, or Electoral Activities
D.C., Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Washington, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Broward County (Florida), Urbana (Illinois), Harford, Howard, Prince George's Counties (Maryland), Lansing (Michigan).
Court Upholds Ban on Intentionally Photographing Under-18-Year-Olds in Park Without Parents' Consent
Sally Ness, a community activist, wants to record use of the park by a local Islamic school's students; she alleges the school overuses the park, in violation of the school's Conditional Use Permit.
Laws Protecting Private Employees' Speech and Political Activity Against Employer Retaliation: Covering a Wide Range of Speech
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, Ann Arbor, Seattle, Madison, and Guam
Oregon Doesn't Get Injunction Against Certain Federal Enforcement Procedures
The State asked the court to impose "(1) a requirement that officers identify themselves and their agency before arresting or detaining any person; (2) a requirement that officers explain to any person being seized that he or she is being arrested or detained; and (3) an enjoinder against arrests that lack probable cause."
"Judge Rules That Seattle Media Must Give Unaired Protest Videos to Police"
Generally, the government has broad authority to require any of us to turn over evidence relevant to an investigation.
Laws Protecting Private Employees' Speech and Political Activity Against Employer Retaliation: Broad Protection for Off-Duty Lawful Activity
Colorado, Montana, New York, North Dakota.
Court Strikes Down Up-to-28-Day Review Period for Demonstration Permit Applications
The Glens Falls (N.Y.) ordinance, the court held, lacked any exceptions for First-Amendment-protected spontaneous demonstrations.
Fordham University Disciplines Student (Austin Tong) for Political Instagram Posts
The student has now sued Fordham
Laws Protecting Private Employees' Speech and Political Activity Against Employer Retaliation: Introduction
These exist in many states and some counties and cities, but are rarely focused on.
Minnesota Supreme Court Strikes Down Blackmail Statute as Overbroad
It's possible that a narrower statute with a "lack of nexus" requirement (see below) might be constitutional, though the majority doesn't discuss that.
Jonathan Rauch on Cancel Culture and the 'Unending Battle' for Free Speech
"The idea that wrongheaded, dangerous, heretical, and blasphemous ideas should be not only allowed but protected is preposterous," says Rauch. And yet, it's "the single most successful social principle ever invented."
Trump Deploys Lawlessness Against Lawlessness
The president’s heavy-handed response to protests against police brutality belies his promise of "law and order."
#MeToo, #TheyLied, and Pseudonymous Litigation
When can libel plaintiffs, suing over allegedly false claims of sexual misconduct, sue pseudonymously? When can defendants defend pseudonymously?
