Civil Liberties
Supreme Court Reinstates Stay of Texas Social Media Law (Pending Appeal); Justices Alito Dissents
Justices Thomas and Gorsuch join Justice Alito's dissent, and Justice Kagan disagreed with the majority without opinion. This is not a decision on the merits of the law, but Justice Alito's dissent notes why the answer to the merits question is "quite unclear."
Cops, Gun Restrictions, and Mass Shootings
Plus: The editors contemplate the recent Libertarian National Convention.
SCOTUS Lets Tony Timpa's Family Pursue Claims Against Cops Who Killed Him While Supposedly Trying To Help Him
The lawsuit over Timpa's deadly prone restraint, initially blocked by qualified immunity, was revived by the 5th Circuit.
Destroying Islamic Fundamentalism With Books
Ideas Beyond Borders is bringing ideas about pluralism, civil liberties, and critical thinking to hotbeds of Islamic extremism.
If You Want Protection for Your Loved Ones, Do It Yourself
No hollow promise can replace our attachments to our children, spouses, friends, and our own lives.
Does Pulling Funding from CUNY Law School Because of School's Anti-Israel Resolution Violate First Amendment?
$50K in funding was withdrawn by a Brooklyn councilwoman, and transferred to a different organization.
Unfazed by the Second Amendment, Democrats Want To Ban Gun Purchases by Young Adults
Two federal appeals courts recently concluded that such age restrictions are unconstitutional.
City Can Choose What Gets Painted on City Roadways
Painting "Black Lives Matter" doesn't require New York to allow other groups to paint other slogans.
Private Gun Carriers' Self-Defense Against Public Shooters
The Charleston (West Virginia) incident from a few days ago, the FBI 2021 statistics, and more.
A response to the latest vilification campaign against the NRA
David Kopel at the National Firearms Law Seminar
Obscenity (Including as to Minors) and "the Work Taken as a Whole"
An isolated sexually themed passage, even a graphic one, doesn't make a work obscene.
While Dying Children Called 911 for Help, 19 Uvalde Police Waited in the Hallway. For 45 Minutes.
"There were 19 officers in there," said a police spokesperson. "In fact, there were plenty of officers to do whatever needed to be done."
Why Isn't Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard Foreclosed by Depp's Loss in an English Libel Case?
It's chiefly because Virginia doesn't recognize nonmutual collateral estoppel, of course!
Excluding Public from Area of Homeless Encampment Sweeps Violates the First Amendment
So a district court held Tuesday.
Netflix Airs Ricky Gervais' Controversial Standup, Chooses Actual Entertaining Over Woke Pandering
"The platform's choice to release this special now, during a wave of unprecedented anti-trans legislation, is unconscionable," according to Vox.
Psst, Kids, "Court of Mist and Fury" Is Too Sexy for You!
You absolutely, positively shouldn't be allowed to read it. Definitely forbidden.
Colorado Private Universities Have Contract & Tort Law Duties to Provide Fair Hearings to Accused Students
A "private educational institution owes a [tort law] duty, independent of any contractual promises, to adopt fair procedures and to implement those procedures with reasonable care when investigating and adjudicating claims of sexual misconduct by one student against another."
Cops Handcuffed, Arrested a Uvalde Mom for Trying To Rescue Her Kids
Why did it take an hour for the police to stop alleged killer Salvador Ramos?
Va. Judge Finds Probable Cause That "Court of Mist and Fury" and "Gender Queer" Are "Obscene for … Minors"
This finding is now being used as a basis for seeking a restraining order banning Barnes & Noble from distributing the books to minors. Is that constitutional?
Sherif Girgis on the Draft Dobbs Opinion and Its Critics
An assessment of claims that Justice Alito's draft opinion rests on historical error, provides no meaningful basis for distinguishing abortion from other unenumerated rights, and forecloses constitutional protection of the mother's life.
"Judge Dismisses Bogus Defamation Lawsuit Against Foxconn Critic"
The Institute for Justice, which represented the critic, so reports.
There Have Been 13 Mass School Shootings Since 1966, Not 27 This Year
Don't conflate mass shootings with school shootings.
Tennessee Court Expresses Doubt About Whether Anti-Libel Injunctions Are Allowed Under Tennessee Law
The underlying lawsuit was brought by Mickell Lowery, a Commissioner for Shelby County (which contains Memphis)—and son of longtime Memphis City Councilman Myron Lowery, who had also briefly served as Mayor—over allegedly libelous statements during his election campaign.
Court Preliminarily Enjoins New York's Limits on Unauthorized Practice of Law,
as applied to "program that would train non-lawyers to give [free] legal advice to low-income New Yorkers who face debt collection actions" about how to "fill out checkboxes on a one-page answer form provided by the State."
The DOJ Says a Man Whose Record Was Expunged Still Must Register As a Sex Offender, Which Is Impossible
A federal lawsuit argues that the department's regulations violate due process, the separation of powers, and the First Amendment.
School Cops and TSA-Style Security Probably Won't Prevent Tragedies Like the Uvalde Shooting
Making schools more like prisons would not appreciably decrease violence.
Faisal Saeed Al Mutar, Melissa Chen: Bringing Enlightenment Values to the Middle East
The co-founders of Ideas Beyond Borders talk about bringing Steven Pinker and John Stuart Mill to an audience dying for them.
In Response to the Uvalde Massacre, Politicians Reiterate Their Demands for Irrelevant Gun Control Laws
Neither expanded background checks nor a federal "assault weapon" ban can reasonably be expected to have a meaningful impact on such crimes.
After the Uvalde School Shooting, Politicians and Pundits Search for Panaceas
Plus: Florida social media law violates First Amendment, against populist antitrust action, and more...
Coach Can't Be Fired Just for Publicly Criticizing School's "Diversity, Equity, Inclusion" Turn, But Can Be …
fired for doing so in a way that includes a "personal ... attack on [the superintendent's] integrity.
Is It Too Much To Ask That Politicians Know What They're Talking About?
The answer to “Why should these people go to prison?” should not be ill-informed gibberish.
Commonly Touted Policies Are Ill-Suited to Stopping Mass Shooters
These three gun controls failed in New York, and there is little reason to think they would work elsewhere.
Biden Lays Blame for Uvalde School Shooting on Gun Lobby
There's much we don't know about the shooting in Texas that left at least 21 people dead, including 19 children. Nevertheless, Joe Biden knows exactly who to blame and how to stop future shootings.
No Pseudonymity or Sealing in "Campaign" by "Serial Litigator" "to Conceal His Litigation History"
"Plaintiff's behavior may make it more difficult for other courts (and the public) to find his litigation history, which could act to conceal future vexatious litigation or behavior."
Mothers' Lawsuits Claiming Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical Center Interfered with Parental Rights Can Go Forward
The claims arise out of “UPMC’s purported disclosure of their confidential medical information to [child protection authorities] for the purpose of targeting them with highly intrusive, humiliating and coercive child abuse investigations starting before taking their newborn babies home from UPMC’s hospitals shortly after childbirth.”
He Heckled a District Attorney on TV. Now He Faces 10 Years Behind Bars.
On Wednesday, a Massachusetts judge will decide whether Joao DePina will face the possibility of a decade behind bars for publicly criticizing a district attorney.
Federal Judges Block Parts of Florida Law That Force Social Media To Carry Political Messages
A new ruling says Twitter and Facebook are not “common carriers" and thus cannot be forced to carry politicians' messages.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Demonstrate How Not To Handle a #MeToo Case
The torturous trial calls to mind Title IX investigations on college campuses.
Drivers Successfully Challenge Debt-Based License Suspensions
Civil liberties groups argue that debt-based license suspensions are unfair and illogical since they deprive people of transportation, preventing them from earning money to pay off debts.
Slurs Posted from High School Campus Can Be Punished Even If They Aren't "Disruptive" or "Fighting Words"
The result might have been different "if plaintiff's speech had occurred off-campus."
