Backpage: A Blueprint for Squelching Speech
How the Backpage prosecution helped create a playbook for suppressing online speech, debanking disfavored groups, and using "conspiracy" charges to imprison the government's targets
Free Speech
Americans Favor Freedom of the Press, Sort Of
Half the country says suppressing “false information” is more important than press freedom.
No Pseudonymity in Title IX Wrongful-Discipline Lawsuits, Holds Seventh Circuit
The decision departs from what most courts have done in such Title IX cases—but tracks what most courts do in the many other cases where disclosing a plaintiff’s name might damage the plaintiff’s reputation and professional prospects.
Court Upholds #TheyLied Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress Award Against Student Who Accused Professor of Sexual Assault,
but throws out a similar award against another professor who backed the student's allegations. (A jury had concluded the student's allegations were false and defamatory.)
A Texas Reporter Busted for Asking Questions Asks SCOTUS To Reject the Criminalization of Journalism
Priscilla Villarreal is appealing a 5th Circuit decision that dismissed her First Amendment lawsuit against Laredo police and prosecutors.
Alabama Bill Would Criminalize Librarians Who Allow 'Material Harmful to Minors'
The bill also attempts to ban drag performances at public libraries.
The FBI Was Monitoring Student Protests Against Ben Shapiro
A newly-obtained intelligence memo shows that the feds took a keen interest in Trump-era campus speech controversies.
School's Out
Plus: Campus echoes of Occupy Wall Street, Trump's presidential immunity claims, plans to undo the Fed's independence, and more...
California's New Social Media Law Invites Expensive Lawsuits
Instead of trusting parents to manage their families, lawmakers from both parties prefer to empower the Nanny State.
Australia Tries To Censor the World
Local hostility to free speech may become a global problem.
Texas Public Colleges Crack Down on Peaceful Anti-Israel Protests
In March, Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order demanding that colleges crack down on antisemitic speech.
Judge Acquits Backpage Co-Founder Michael Lacey on Most Counts
The court found insufficient evidence to sustain 53 of 84 remaining counts against Lacey.
Nina Jankowicz, Disinformation Czar, Is Back in Action
The American Sunlight Project contends that researchers are being silenced by their critics.
Ford Fischer: Why You Should Surveil the State
The News2Share cofounder is revolutionizing news coverage.
Worst 4/20 Ever
Plus: A listener asks the editors to steel man the case for the Jones Act, an antiquated law that regulates maritime commerce in U.S. waters.
"Last Week, a … [UC Berkeley] Professor Confronted a Muslim Student During a Dinner for Graduating Law Students"
From NBC, what strikes me as a misleading characterization of Professor Catherine Fisk's confronting a student who pulled out a microphone to orate at a dinner organized at the professor's (and Dean Erwin Chemerinsky's) house.
Pennsylvania Court Lets Suit Over Removal of Columbus Statue Go Forward
Such a removal by the city from city property wouldn't violate the First Amendment, but that doesn't preclude claims that the removal violated other legal rules.
If They Ban TikTok, Is Apple Next?
Banning companies for doing business with China is a bad path to start down.
USC Cancels Valedictorian's Speech Over Bogus 'Safety Concerns'
The university has a history of suppressing speech from both sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
NPR's Uri Berliner Has Shown That DEI Is About Punishing Heresy
The long-time public radio editor's resignation proves he was right all along.
Adult Entertainment Group Asks Supreme Court To Block Texas Age-Verification Law
"Profound irreparable harm flows from the Act's chilling of adults' access to protected sexual expression," the filing reads.
Court Reaffirms Commentators' Standing to Intervene to Unseal Court Records
A couple of circuit court decisions noted that the intervenors had to have a concrete plan to write about the records; the court here makes clear that such a plan indeed suffices for standing.
SCOTUS Misses a Chance To Protect Peaceful Protesters
Under a legal theory endorsed by the 5th Circuit, Martin Luther King Jr. could have been liable for other people’s violence.
Brussels Mayor Attempts To Shut Down National Conservatism Conference by Force
It's a good thing opponents of the move can appeal to the liberal values of free speech, free association, and equal treatment under law.
No Sealing of Allegedly Defamatory Statements in Libel Lawsuit
"Dr. Morrison brought this lawsuit. He chose to challenge the accuracy of these statements in a public courtroom. If disclosing the allegedly-defamatory statements invades his privacy or causes him injury, it is solely the result of his own actions and decisions."
Defendant in Federal Case Alleging Long-Ago Sexual Assault of Minor Can't Get Materials Sealed …
based on state sealing law. The lawsuit is against a current Vermont legislator, and alleges the defendant had aided and abetted the sexual assault of the then-16-to-17-year-old plaintiff in 1968-70.
Read the FCC's Crank Mail About Saturday Night Live
One viewer said it should be illegal to take the Lord's name in vain on TV—and that was one of the more coherent complaints.
Biden Hints at Freedom for Julian Assange
U.S. need for Australia’s cooperation in the Pacific may win the journalist’s release.
