Prosecutors Drop Charges Against Tennessee Man Over Facebook Meme
Larry Bushart was arrested on a $2 million bond for posting a meme on Facebook. He was released this week, after more than a month in jail.
Free Speech
Social Media Speech "Recklessly" Jeopardizing Classmates' Sense of "Safety" by "Condon[ing]" "Forcible Family Separation by Immigration Authorities" May Be Punishable
So argues a concurring opinion in today's Second Circuit decision in Leroy v. Livingston Manor Central School Dist., also speaking about speech that "callously cheer[s] on or condone[s]" "police brutality, ... religiously-motivated attacks on their houses of worship, sexual or gender-based violence, or any other type of targeted state or private violence."
School's "Interest in Teaching Racial Sensitivity Is Not Sufficient" to Justify Punishing Student's "Free Expression Off-Campus"
So holds the Second Circuit: "Tying a student speaker's constitutional right to free expression solely to the reaction that speech garners from upset or angry listeners cannot be squared with [First Amendment] principles."
When the Government Censored Dracula, Frankenstein, and King Kong
Remembering a monstrous era of American history
Jake Tapper Called Out Obama and Biden for Free Speech Abuses. He Says Trump Is on a New Level.
"I have not seen ever before a direct infringement on the right to free speech like that," CNN's Jake Tapper says of the Trump administration's actions in the Jimmy Kimmel saga.
Virginia Court Reverses $1M Libel Judgment for School Board Chair Called "Sexual Predator/Harasser" by Activist
The speaker's comments, the Virginia Court of Appeals held, "comments constitute non-actionable opinions based on fully disclosed facts."
Federal Immigration Agents Accused of Tear-Gassing Peaceful Protestors, Pointing Gun at Veterans in Chicago
The actions would violate a federal order imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Sara L. Ellis to limit the use of nonlethal weapons and other crowd control tactics.
The 6th Circuit Upholds a School's Sweatshirt Censorship Because 'Let's Go Brandon' Is 'Plainly Vulgar'
That understanding of a familiar anti-Biden slogan hinges on the political message it communicates.
Congress Investigates TeaOnHer App for Letting Men Post About Women Without Their Consent
It sounds like something niche feminist bloggers might have taken up 10 years ago. But this is being led by Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives.
ICE Spent Over $71 Million on Guns, Armor, and Chemical Munitions in 2025 So Far
The total is over 600 percent more than what the agency spent from January to October 2024.
"When You Soon Return to Allah": "Harmless Islamic Reference[] About Life and Death" or an "'Absolute' and 'Direct' Threat" to Ex-Wife?
"Allah does not forget, however. This is how people earn their final place in the [h]ereafter."
A D.C. Man Was Arrested for Mocking National Guard Troops with Star Wars' 'Imperial March.' Now He's Suing.
Sam O'Hara went viral for playing "The Imperial March" behind groups of National Guard soldiers in D.C. He also says it led to him being illegally detained.
ICE Is Mounting a Mass Surveillance Campaign on American Citizens
Without strict oversight, the agency’s new technology threatens Americans’ free speech and privacy.
Trump Campaigned on Free Speech. That Isn't How He's Governed.
Politicians across the aisle love free speech—until they're in power.
Alabama Police Arrest 61-Year-Old Woman in Penis Costume at No Kings Protest
Police officers took Jeana Gamble to the ground on the side of the road because they found her costume "obscene."
Oxford Union Ousts President Over Insults to Charlie Kirk
The murder of an American activist tore apart Britain’s hallowed free speech club.
What I Saw at the No Kings Rally in New York City
Fully peaceful protesters who hate President Donald Trump with intensity but not much specificity took to the streets on Saturday.
IRS Agents Who Revealed Details About Hunter Biden Investigation Lose Libel Suit Against Biden's Lawyer
The lawyer's claims that plaintiffs had violated federal law were opinions based on disclosed facts, the court concludes.
The Pentagon's New Press Policy Is Absurd
Mainstream and conservative news outlets were correct to reject it.
Texas City Council Approves $500,000 Payment to Former Member Who Said Her Advocacy Led to a Bogus Arrest
The settlement, which followed Sylvia Gonzalez's victory at the Supreme Court, also includes remedial First Amendment training for city officials.
Meta Removes ICE-Sightings Group After DOJ Outreach
Meta is the third tech company in two weeks to succumb to DOJ pressure to remove apps and groups used to share information on immigration officer sightings.
Can the ACLU Serve Progressives, Libertarians, and Conservatives?
ACLU legal director Ben Wizner warns that Donald Trump’s war on dissent endangers the First Amendment, urges Americans to protect speech they dislike, and reflects on Edward Snowden’s enduring legacy.
My New Paper on "How Speech-Based Immigration Restrictions Threaten Academic Freedom"
It is forthcoming in Academic Freedom in the Era of Trump, (Lee Bollinger and Geoffrey Stone, eds., Oxford University Press).
California Wants To Punish Social Platforms for Aiding and Abetting the First Amendment
Another entry into the "algorithms are magic" school of imposing liability on tech companies.
