Might Federal Preemption of Speech-Protective State Laws Violate the First Amendment?
And, if so, what does this mean for 47 U.S.C. § 230?
Civil Liberties
Judge Warns Business Litigants (Including Facebook) About Excessive Sealing Requests
"These allegations stand at the heart of plaintiffs' claims, and sealing them would make this litigation virtually incomprehensible to the public."
Glenn Greenwald: 'Journalists Are Authoritarians'
What went wrong at the outlet he co-founded, what's wrong with the ACLU, and what might go wrong in the Biden administration
Do Critics of Police Have the First Amendment Procedural Protections That Nazis Get?
The Ohio S. Ct. will take up the question, in the Cincinnati prior restraint case in which we filed an amicus brief.
How the U.S. Covered Up the Murder of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Oscar-winning filmmaker Bryan Fogel fought Saudi censorship to make his new documentary, The Dissident.
More than 100 Civil Rights Groups Agree: We Don't Need New Domestic Terrorism Laws
Their letter to Congress warns about inevitable abuses against religious and racial minorities.
"On That Premise This Land Was Created, and on That Premise It Has Grown to Greatness"
"The greater the importance of safeguarding the community from incitements to the overthrow of our institutions by force ..., the more imperative is the need to preserve inviolate the constitutional rights of free speech ... to maintain the opportunity for free political discussion, to the end that government may be responsive to the will of the people and that changes, if desired, may be obtained by peaceful means."
Presidential Free Speech and the Congressional Impeachment Power
The First Amendment should not be a viable defense in an impeachment trial
Don't Let the Capitol Riot Reignite the War on Terror
Government grows in response to a crisis.
Our Post-9/11 Response Deprived Us of Liberty and Didn't Stop Terrorism. Let's Not Venerate or Expand It.
We don’t need new tools or agencies to track alleged domestic terrorists.
My USA Today Op Ed on Josh Hawley, Freedom of Speech, and Threats to Liberty From Left and Right
Both Hawley's "national conservatism" and similar ideas prevalent in many quarters on the left threaten free speech and liberty more generally.
"The First Amendment Is Interpreted by the Courts, not Tech Companies"
A nice line, though said in a narrow context (whether Facebook's decision not to remove comments from a government agency's page is relevant to whether the government agency could delete them).
Goodbye, Trump. Hello, War on Domestic Terror.
Plus: Biden pushes 8-year path to citizenship, Parler is back, Josh Hawley's book finds new publisher, and more...
Dominion Seeks to Beach the Kraken, Prompts Pillow Fight (UPDATED)
Threats of defamation suits have prompted corrective statements on Fox and Newsmax, but My Pillow CEO wants to fight.
An Abject Apology Highlights the Legal Exposure for Promoters of Trump's Election Fraud Fantasies
American Thinker says its claims about Dominion Voting Systems were "completely false."
The Armed March That Wasn't
In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the biggest story was all the reporters looking for a story.
Sex, Communism, Race, and Creative Freedom in Hollywood
Like the Hays Code and Waldorf Statement before it, new diversity requirements are Tinseltown's way of asserting cultural dominance through self-policing.
The Capitol Riot, Qualified Immunity, and Politics as Usual
Objections to police reform are often more rooted in partisan knee-jerk reactions than in sensible policymaking.
"The Law School Acknowledges That the Racial and Gender References on the Examination Were Deeply Offensive"
A controversy at the University of Illinois Chicago John Marshall Law School (not to be confused with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).
A New Report Casts Doubt on Both Fears and Hopes About the Consequences of Abolishing Qualified Immunity
A Connecticut law that made it easier to sue abusive cops is not expected to have a noticeable effect on municipal insurance costs.
Don't Let the Capitol Riot Become a 9/11-Style Excuse for Authoritarianism
Frightening events create openings for attacks on civil liberties.
42 People Now Face Federal Charges for the Capitol Riot
Plus: Happy birthday to Wikipedia, Airbnb's pandemic rebound, and more...
Court Can Let Pro-Vaccination Divorced Parent Vaccinate Child,
even when the parents had originally agreed not to vaccinate, and one parent later changed his mind.
Impeaching Trump for his Role in Inciting the Attack on the Capitol Doesn't Violate "Established Free Speech Rights"
A rejoinder to Josh Blackman and Seth Tillman.
No, AOC, It's Not the Government's Job to 'Rein in Our Media'
The First Amendment doesn't come with an exception for "disinformation."
Massive Illinois Police Reform Bill Ends Cash Bail, Limits Deadly Force, Mandates Body Cameras, and Makes It Easier To Dump Crooked Cops
Unfortunately, qualified immunity remains intact.
Is the Great Deplatforming of 2021 an Assault on Free Speech?
No, says Techdirt's Mike Masnick, but it is cause for expanding Section 230 and building a more decentralized internet.
District Attorney Candidates Win Big Against 'Tough on Crime'
During the last few election cycles, a wave of well-funded progressive candidates have run for prosecutor's offices in major cities. This time, quite a few reform-minded D.A.s won.
Trump's Belated Message of Peace and Unity Makes You Wonder Where This President Has Been the Last Four Years
Something like Wednesday evening's soothing remarks could have made a real difference on the day of the Capitol riot.
Supreme Court Ends Pandemic Permission To Prescribe Abortion Pills Remotely
Plus: Amazon responds to Parler lawsuit, Trump's execution spree continues, a bad ruling on safe injection houses, and more...
Prosecuting Trump for Incitement Would Set a Dangerous Precedent
Unlike the cancellation of Josh Hawley’s book, such criminal charges pose a real threat to freedom of speech.
How To Respond to the Great Deplatforming of 2021
We need an open digital commons, where individuals maintain ownership of their own identities and where speech is highly resistant to political pressure.
Did Trump Engage in 'Insurrection or Rebellion' Against the Constitution?
The impeachment article against the president cites a little-discussed section of the 14th Amendment.
A Libertarian Judge Champions Privacy Rights Against Warrantless Police Searches
Justice Clint Bolick dissents in Arizona v. Mixton.
DERBY-PIE Trademark Owner Can't Stop Newspaper from Discussing Other Derby Pies
An interesting illustration of the "non-trademark use" doctrine.
Millions of Users Are Flooding Encrypted Apps After Social Media Purges
Plus: Supreme Court declines more election challenges, Lisa Montgomery gets temporary stay of execution, and more...
Embattled Administration Pushes Midnight Controls on Financial Tech
Bureaucracy keeps on regulating through the chaos
"Trump Was Kicked Off Twitter. Who's Next?"
"We should be wary of corporate power over political speech."
Antifa Demands Powell's Stop Selling Andy Ngo's Book, Forces Store To Close Early
"This book will not be on our store shelves, and we will not promote it. That said, it will remain in our online catalogue."
Sidney Powell's Loony Election Claims, Which Gave Birth to the Deadly Capitol Invasion, May Finally Cost Her
Dominion Voting Systems, the focus of the former Trump campaign lawyer's conspiracy theory, is seeking $1.3 billion from her for defamation.
