Will and Grace Botches the Gay Wedding Cake Fight
Nobody has the right to force bakers to print speech they hate. The debate is over what counts as speech.
Free Speech
Sign Referencing Civil War Hero Is Sexual Harassment, Says Massachusetts Lawmaker
Rep. Michelle DuBois wants to remove a statehouse sign that reads "General Hooker Entrance" because it is an affront to "women's dignity."
The Death of Stalin Director Armando Iannucci on Free Minds Under Soviet Rule
Under Stalin, people could be killed for carrying joke books about him. They did it anyway.
New Orleans Threatens Man with Jail for Mural Replicating Trump's Crass 'Grab Them by the Pussy' Comments
ACLU steps in to fight zoning regulations that appear to let officials veto art based on content.
City Threatens to Sue Online Gadfly for Complaining About Bad Smells
A web developer's First Amendment lawsuit says Sibley, Iowa, officials conspired to silence him.
Teacher on Leave After Questioning Whether School Would Let Pro-Life Students Walk Out, Too
"Would that be allowed by the administration?"
Controversial Law Professor's Comments on Affirmative Action Get Her Banned From Teaching First-Year Classes
For months, Penn Law has resisted calls to punish Amy Wax for her public comments on race. Yesterday, they caved.
Facebook Bans Nationalist Anti-Muslim Group Britain First
"We do not do this lightly, but they have repeatedly posted content designed to incite animosity and hatred against minority groups."
Your Right to Free Speech, Like My Right to Self-Defense, Isn't Open to Debate
Rallying to call for restrictive laws is a whole lot easier than getting people to submit to them.
Whittington on Offensive Speech in the Classroom
Princeton University's Keith Whittington explains why it is sometimes wise -- even necessary -- to expose students to potentially offensive material
Today in History: SCOTUS Protects the Corporate Speech Rights of The New York Times
Marking the 54th anniversary of New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
Judge Tells Trump to Pretend to Listen to Twitter Haters
A lawsuit leads to a suggestion that the president engage in a kinder, gentler ignoring.
University of Miami Demands $7500 for Security for Free Speech Debate Involving Charles Murray [UPDATE: Dean's response added, post bumped up to reflect that]
That is what students at the University of Miami School of Law are reporting. [EARLIER UPDATE: The Dean tells me that things are more complicated than at first reported, and they're trying to see if things can be worked out; I hope to have more from the Dean in a few days.] [UPDATE 3/15: The University has agreed to pay the security fee.]
Some Progressives Targeting the First Amendment, Too
It's not just the Second Amendment in their crosshairs.
A Jailed Model Claims to Have Evidence of Russian Meddling in U.S. Elections. Her Story Is Even Weirder Than You Think.
Rybka has spent the past several years as a protegee of pickup artist and seduction coach Alex Lesley-and picked up a plausible claim to 2016 election dirt along the way.
"Dressmakers, Bakers, and the Equality of Rights"
A very interesting piece by Stanford Prof. Michael McConnell on the Masterpiece Cakeshop case.
The First Amendment Applies to the FDA Too
Can the government prevent drug firms from telling patients true facts about the medicine they prescribe?
$20 Fee for Porn Access Proposed in Rhode Island
Device makers would be required to block porn, prostitution hubs, and all content that fails "current standards of decency."
Guns, Code, and Freedom
Cody Wilson on his war against power, the irreversible course of the 3D-printed gun, and America's Weimar moment
Stone Age Statue Was Too Racy for Facebook
How can a company be expected to arbitrate "fake news" when it can't even tell ancient artifacts from porn?
Public-Sector Unions Deserve to Be Destroyed
Mandatory fees are an assault on free association.
French Prosecution of Marine Le Pen for Tweeting Islamic State Execution Images
The charges -- for "distribution of violent images" -- could lead to up to three years in prison and a $90,000 fine.
Meet Speech First, a New Combatant in the Campus Free Speech Wars
"We wanted to capitalize on the real groundswell of support behind free speech from all walks of life."
House Passes 'Anti Sex-Trafficking' Bill Opposed by Both DOJ and Trafficking Survivors
The bill makes "promoting prostitution" a federal crime, holds websites legally liable for user-posted content, and lets states retroactively prosecute offenders.
R.I. Proposal to Tax Violent Video Games
But such a content-based tax would violate the First Amendment.
Justice Kennedy Takes Aim at Public Sector Unions in Janus Oral Arguments
"It seems to me your argument doesn't have much weight."
Stossel: The Stosscars!
John Stossel picks the best and worst political performances of the year.
My Podcast Debate on Mandatory Union Fees and the First Amendment
The National Constitution Center invited Alicia Hickok and me to debate Janus; Ms. Hickok wrote an amicus brief supporting Janus, and I signed an amicus brief supporting the AFSCME.
School Chief Threatens to Punish Student Protesters Who Skip Classes by…Banning Them from Attending Classes
He'd also like everyone to trim their hair so it doesn't touch their ears.
'Crisis Actors,' Conspiracy Theories, and the Fear of Social Media
Yes, kooky rumors can spread quickly online. In this case, the angry reactions to those rumors may be spreading even faster.
Don't Feed the Russian Troll Hysteria
The "information warfare" described in Friday's indictment is not an existential threat to American democracy.
The Two Sides of Collective Bargaining: A Way of Looking at the First Amendment Question in Janus
The government always compels taxpayers to fund the management side of management-labor bargaining in public workplaces. Given this, why should there be a First Amendment problem with compelled funding (through agency fees as well as taxes) of both sides?
Is It OK To Punch a Nazi? We Asked Berkeley Students
A year after fiery political protests erupted on campus, we visited to find out when students think it's OK to respond to words with violence.
Feds Announce Indictments of Russian Nationals for Attempting to Influence American Elections
Thirteen individuals and three companies accused of conspiracy against the U.S., wire fraud, and identity theft.
3 Supreme Court Cases to Watch This Month
Here are the SCOTUS cases to watch in February.
Child Custody, Religion, and Children's Reactions to a Parent's Religious Demands
"The change in the child's relationship with the father based on the child's fear of his displeasure if she were not a 'true Muslim,' and her belief that he threatened to abscond with her to Morocco, also contributed to the change in circumstances warranting modification" of the custody arrangement.
First Amendment Case Brought by Immigration Checkpoint Protesters/Monitors Can Go Forward
So holds the Ninth Circuit, in a case in which the Scott & Cyan Banister First Amendment Clinic, which I run, filed an amicus brief.
Taylor Swift Decision: Copiers Gonna Copy, Copy, Copy
And that's not copyright infringement, if they only copy short phrases, especially ones that were themselves largely copied from others.
Libertarian History/Philosophy
Wired Thinks Free Speech Has Been Tried and Failed
The ancient authoritarian imperative to restrict speech shows up in a new guise.
Whatever Happened to Michael Mann's Defamation Suit (2018 edition)
It's been over a year since a petition for rehearing en banc was filed and the D.C. Court of Appeals has yet to act.
New Jersey Cop Fired for Having Once Appeared in Fetish Films
Meanwhile, drunk driving and vehicular assault by officers are not firing offenses in Hudson County.
Someone Trying to Vanish My Post About Someone Trying to Vanish Another Post
In March, I wrote about a forged court order that someone was using to try to get Google to de-index online criticism of a New Britain, Conn. community activist (and volunteer city commissioner); now, someone has asked Google to de-index my post, plus a TechDirt post on the same subject.
John Perry Barlow, The Thomas Jefferson of Cyberspace, R.I.P.
Co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Grateful Dead lyricist, helped create the notion of "cyberspace" as realm of unprecedented liberty.
California Court Upholds First Amendment Right Not to Bake Cake for Same-Sex Wedding
This is a trial court decision, and an appeal seems likely.
