Civil Liberties
The Senseless Destruction of Property in Kenosha, Minneapolis, and Elsewhere Is Not Advancing Justice
Demand justice for those hurt and killed by police. Stop creating more victims.
'Silence Is Violence': D.C. Black Lives Matter Protesters Adopt Strategy of Intimidating Random White People
Evergreen College, but everywhere
Dean Lyrissa Lidsky on the Nicholas Sandmann Litigation
Dean Lidsky is a libel law scholar, and one of the two Reporters of the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Defamation & Privacy.
Anti-Riot Act Partly Upheld, Partly Struck Down
The Fourth Circuit decides a case involving defendants who violently participated in two white supremacist rallies in California and in the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, but the logic applies equally to rioters of all stripes.
Mike Godwin, the Creator of Godwin's Law, Is Suing Trump Over His TikTok Executive Order
"I know what moral panics look like; they look kind of like this."
Tennessee's Lawmakers Respond to Police Reform Protests by Threatening Voting Rights and Gun Rights
The new law features harsher penalties, 12-hour detentions, and other invitations to abuse government power
#MeToo, #TheyLied, and Pseudonymous Litigation (II)
When can libel plaintiffs, suing over allegedly false claims of sexual misconduct, sue pseudonymously? When can defendants defend pseudonymously?
When You Say Yes to Hate: Dispatch From Portland
The situation in Portland on Day 87 is not getting better.
The Cops Took This Guy's $15,000 Jeep Because His Girlfriend Allegedly Used It for a $25 Marijuana Sale
Kevin McBride argues that Arizona's civil forfeiture law is unconstitutional.
10,000 Gather In Bangkok to Protest Thailand's Monarchy
Increasing tensions between the military-backed ruling class and the student-led democracy movement have prompted massive rallies in the capital.
Statements about American Jews as a Group Can't Be Libelous
So holds a federal court, quite correctly; of course, the same is true about any religious group, racial group, or other such large group.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Donates $10 Million to Ibram X. Kendi, Who Wants To Make Racism Unconstitutional
"This research will inform and fuel much needed and overdue policy change."
Tweeting That Someone Is Xenophobic Is Nonlibelous Opinion
An interesting decision in former AP journalist Charles Ganske's lawsuit against former Member of Parliament Louise Mensch, with allegations of Russian bots and Tweeting frenzies thrown in for good measure.
Are the Democrats Right That We Are Seeing an 'Epidemic of Gun Violence'?
The rhetoric may not be accurate, but it is definitely useful.
Democratic Party Platform Calls for 'Reining In' Qualified Immunity. Why Not Eliminate It?
Stop pandering to Joe Biden and listen to Americans who want to stop shielding abusive officers from liability.
Kamala Harris' Dishonest Campaign To Destroy Backpage.com
The vice presidential candidate opportunistically painted the site's co-founders as villains when they were actually helping law enforcement to catch sex traffickers.
Defendant Ordered "Not to Post Pictures or Comments About" the Administrator of Nursing Home Where Defendant's Mother Lives
Unconstitutional, says a Massachusetts appellate court (correctly).
Democratic Convention: Dems Want to Stop Gun Violence, but They Can't Say How
When they do specify "common sense" gun reforms, the proposals would do little to stop gun violence.
"The Information [U.S. Customs & Border Protection] Wants to Seal … [Is] Not Secret Anymore"
"CBP asks the Court to close the stable door to keep an invisible horse from bolting. But that stable door sat open for five months before CBP asked the Court to secure it. Neither the Court nor CBP know whether the horse is gone, but the possibility that it's still be there can't outweigh public's interest in open doors."
Government's Seeking to Force Landlord to Evict You Because of Your Threatened Lawsuit Against Police
would clearly violate the Constitution, and so would giving a ticket to your lover because of the romantic relationship.
Cop Who Allegedly Kneed a Subdued Suspect in the Eye '20 to 30 Times' Gets Qualified Immunity
"I believe there is sufficient evidence of a clearly established Fourth Amendment violation," writes the dissenting judge.
Lawsuit Against Pro-Palestinian / Anti-Semitic Protesters Outside Synagogue Thrown Out
The First Amendment protects "'anti-Israeli, anti-Zionist, [and] antisemitic" speech, the court correctly observes.
The Democrats Should Not Be Presenting Houston's Police Chief As an Avatar of Reform
Trying to distract attention from the deadly corruption in his own department, Art Acevedo demands "action at the national level."
Joe Biden Does Not Understand the Second Amendment
The Democratic presidential candidate favors the same magazine limit that a federal appeals court just declared unconstitutional.
Iowa State English Professor Forbids Papers "Against Gay Marriage, Abortion, Black Lives Matter,"
threatens to kick students out of class for "othering." Fortunately, the university has stepped in and rejected this position.
Cincinnati Enquirer Writes About the Police Officer's Pseudonymous Libel Lawsuit,
mentioning the name of an officer against whom publicly available complaints -- the contents of which matches the contents of the allegedly libelous post -- were filed.
Court Rejects Constitutional Challenge to Critical Teaching About Islamic Terrorism
The case was filed against the Maricopa County Community College District, over Prof. Nicholas Damask's World Politics class.
Kamala Harris' Limited Vision of Religious Liberty
The presumptive Democratic vice presidential nominee offers a highly circumscribed notion of the role of faith in public life.
Would Other Countries Trust a U.S. Government-Controlled Silicon Valley?
We don’t trust state-controlled companies in China. Would it be different if we did more of the controlling?
Saying a Lawyer "Need to Go Back to Law School" Not Libelous
Bonus: We learn that calling a doctor "a real tool" isn't libelous, either.
Susan Rice Tries To Turn Possible Snowden Pardon Into Attack on GOP
All the worst people are still mad he blew the whistle on government snooping.
Restrictions on Grand Jurors' Speech Upheld …
in a case stemming from the Darren Wilson prosecution.
A Quiet Night in Portland
The J.V. squad was out looking for trouble and the battle over who counts as press continues.
Puerto Rico Banned Political Officials from Mentioning Their Positions and Accomplishments on Social Media,
including on their own non-government-run reelection campaign pages. A federal court has just struck that down.
Protests Outside People's Homes (Residential Picketing) and the First Amendment
They can be banned, so long as the ban is content-neutral, and so long as people remain free to generally march through the neighborhood (as opposed to protesting right outside the target's home).
Federal Appeals Court Upholds Shutdown of California's Gun Magazine Ban
The overturned law would have required confiscating all magazines holding more than 10 rounds in California.
Fifth Circuit Upholds Constitutionality of Male-Only Draft Registration - But only Based on Precedent
The issue may be headed for the Supreme Court, which hopefully will reverse its 1981 ruling in Rostker v. Goldberg.
Trump Teases Possible Edward Snowden Pardon. He Should Do It!
At least something good could come out of this mess of an investigation.
Pandemic Restrictions Are Eroding Our Freedom To Travel
Officials have never liked it when people are free to move about—and beyond their reach.
