Free Speech
Lawless I: The Illiberal Takeover of Legal Education
My "lived experience" at Georgetown gave me a unique perspective on the higher-ed crisis.
N.H. Court Rejects Attempt to Impose Hate Crime Liability on Neo-Nazis for Hanging "Keep New England White" Sign on Overpass
The right result, I think, but I don't think the court's reasoning is quite right.
'The Constitution Is Not a Suicide Pact'
How a 1949 Supreme Court dissent gave birth to a meme that subverts free speech and civil liberties
TikTok Took a Beating at the Supreme Court
Justice Neil Gorsuch criticized "the government's attempt to lodge secret evidence in this case." Still, things look grim for the app.
Trump's Latest Defeat Is One of Many Decisions That Suggest SCOTUS Won't Rubber-Stamp His Agenda
Despite some notable wins, the president-elect's overall track record shows he cannot count on a conservative Supreme Court to side with him.
No Pseudonymity and Sealing in Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Man's Apparent Suicide, Despite …
wife's concern "about public embarrassment and potential harm to Decedent's surviving children."
Smartmatic's Defamation Suit Against Fox Corp. (and Not Just Fox News) Can Go Forward
"[P]laintiffs ... allege[] that ... [Fox Corp.] 'actively participated in, directed, and controlled the publication' of the above defamatory statements composed and broadcast by the other defendants."
Facebook's New Free Speech Policy Shows Business Getting Back to Business
It’s the latest company to step back from dangerous alliances with political factions.
Nate Silver on "The Rise and Fall of 'Fact-Checking'"
"'Fact-checkers' as the high priests of journalism had a political beginning at Facebook — and have met a political end."
What It Takes to Allege "Actual Malice" in #TheyLied Libel-by-Accusation-of-Sexual-Assault Claims
Generally, when defendants made factual accusations based on what they said was personal knowledge, it's enough that plaintiff swear the statements are false, so it can be inferred that they are knowingly false. If that happens, it's usually up to the jury to decide who's telling the truth.
Defamation Lawsuit Over Statements Related to 2020 Georgia Ballot Counting Controversy Dismissed
The lawsuit is brought by Jacki Pick against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, based on statement in Raffensperger's book, Integrity Counts.
Decrying First Amendment Threat, FIRE Will Defend Pollster Whom Trump Sued for 'Consumer Fraud'
The president-elect frivolously claims that J. Ann Selzer and The Des Moines Register owe him damages because of an erroneous preelection poll.
Mark Zuckerberg Was Right To Fire Facebook's Rogue Fact-Checkers
"The fact-checkers have just been too politically biased," says the Meta CEO.
Challenge to California Policy Limiting Teachers' Disclosure to Parents of Student's Changed Gender Identity …
can proceed (under the First Amendment and under parental constitutional rights law), the court says, though there's no actual decision on whether the plaintiffs (parents and teachers) will prevail.
Top-Down Political Cowardice Helped Make Charlie Hebdo a Lonely Target
From Jimmy Carter to Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama to John Kerry, politicians have led the abandonment of free speech.
Is Threatening to Kill Jews Generally—with No Person or Institution Specifically Named—Punishable?
Not under California law, a court says. (Federal law and the law in other states may be different.)
Kentucky Cops Arrest Man for Shouting at Them
"Speaking from a balcony isn't a crime," the man's lawyer says. "And just because a cop was offended because of some language doesn't give him the power to arrest you."
Court Rejects Title VI Lawsuit Over Alleged Anti-Semitism at Haverford College
"As a result of Plaintiffs' scattered pleading, any serious allegations of actionable discrimination are buried as needles within a haystack of distraction."
Stop Overprotecting the Children, Say Courts in Tennessee and California
Courts block laws regulating algorithms and online porn.
Federal Court Declines to Issue Harassment Restraining Order Related to Crypto Litigation
An interesting window into how courts sometimes think about such requests; this decision turned heavily on the fact that plaintiff had already gotten a state court harassment restraining order against the defendant.
Punishing Revenge Porn as (Federal) Criminal Libel
It doesn't always work, but it worked on the facts of this case.
Arkansas Can't Jail Librarians for Giving Kids 'Harmful' Books
Portions of a law, struck down last week, would have subjected individuals to misdemeanor charges for providing "harmful" materials to minors.
"He Admitted Receiving the Password" for the Laptop, but "It Took Him Over an Hour to Log In"
Defamation litigation ensues.
Shareholder Derivative Lawsuit Against Fox Officers and Directors Over Fox $787M Libel Settlement Can Go Forward
"[T]he complaint alleges facts sufficient to raise a reasonable doubt that at least three other directors lack independence from Murdoch."
No Sealing of Transgender Prisoner's Case
The prisoner had argued that other inmates were accessing the case documents, and as a result were urging other inmates to beat, rape, and kill the prisoner, apparently because of information in the court file related to the crime of which the prisoner had been convicted.
Women Allegedly Raped in Prison by Trans-Identifying Inmate Will Have To Refer to Attacker as 'She/Her'
The recent ruling means that on the stand those women may be subject to speech policing from their alleged rapist—who has opted for self-representation.
Plaintiff Suing Sean Combs / P. Diddy and Shawn Carter / Jay-Z Can Proceed Pseudonymously
This further adds to the split among Manhattan federal judges as to pseudonymity in the various Doe v. Combs cases.
