There Have Been 13 Mass School Shootings Since 1966, Not 27 This Year
Don't conflate mass shootings with school shootings.
Civil Liberties
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."
He Was Arrested for Criticizing the Cops. A Federal Court Says He Can Sue.
Jerry Rogers Jr. complained that police hadn't solved a murder yet—and found himself in a jail cell.
San Francisco Archbishop Bars Nancy Pelosi From Communion Over Abortion Stance
This has nothing to do with the separation of church and state.
Justice Kennedy: Draft Opinion Leak Was "Cowardly, Corrupt, Contemptuous Act."
The former Associate Justice joins those condemning the leak of a draft opinion.
Meet Newton Howard, the Brain Scientist Who Put Giant Transformers in Front of His D.C. Home
The Georgetown professor isn't a toy lover—he's trying to convey a philosophical idea about the nature of free will and the capacity of humans to remake the world around them.
Court Declines to Enter TRO Ordering Defendants to "Retract … Complaints … to Amazon"
The court so holds as a matter of the law of remedies, though I think such an order would generally be an unconstitutional prior restraint as well.
When Is it a Taking of Private Property to Bar a Property Owner from Excluding Unwanted Visitors?
Understanding the scope of Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid.
Mainstream Political Argument Forbidden "in the Modern Public Square" of Facebook
Sen. Marsha Blackburn's "Biological men have no place in women's sports" post was apparently blocked as "hate speech."
Federal Court Sanctions MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell for "Frivolous" Legal Claims
A federal district court judge dismissed Lindell's counterclaims against Dominion and Smartmatic, and Lindell may still be on the hook for defamation.
Court Upholds Denial of Restraining Order for "Online Rants That [We]re False" About Petitioner
The trial court reasoned: "You guys ... have a spat on Facebook.... Nobody cares about these s[p]ats. Just block them and move on."
The Inevitable #MeToo Allegation Against Elon Musk Is Weak
It seems like an ambiguous episode that was handled appropriately.
U.S. Senate Candidate Alan Grayson Loses Libel Lawsuit
Criticism of Grayson (who's now running in the 2022 Florida Senate primary) in his losing 2018 House campaign was based on "articles by independent, reputable sources," and there wasn't clear and convincing evidence that the defendants knew their statements were false or likely false (the so-called "actual malice" standard).
Republicans Defend Texas Social Media Law—and Compelled Speech
Plus: Twitter defends user anonymity, Oklahoma legislature approves abortion ban, and more...
Thomas Massie Has a Point When He Says Congress' Antisemitism Resolution Has a Free Speech Problem
Massie was the only House member to vote against a resolution demanding social media companies do more to track and suppress antisemitic content.
New York Times Columnist Gail Collins Proposes a 'Simple Battle' To 'Get Rid of the Guns'
It's not clear which guns she is talking about, and even Collins does not seem to know.
Court Rejects Lawsuit Against Teacher's Aide Who Criticized Student Who Had Committed Suicide
The student's mother alleged that he had been bullied and the school district had done nothing to protect him; the teacher's aide responded in an online public discussion, saying (among other things) that the student had been doing the bullying; the parents sued.
"May Be The Most Helpful Brief I've Ever Read,"
said Judge Vince Chhabria (N.D. Cal.) about this amicus brief from Paul Alan Levy (Public Citizen) and Phillip R. Malone of the Juelsgaard I/P and Innovation Clinic (at Stanford).
