"Due Process in a Fee Driven State"
A very interesting law review article from Profs. Glenn Harlan Reynolds (Instapundit) & Penny White.
Civil Liberties
Federal Court Holds Pennsylvania's Shutdown Order Unconstitutional: Limits on Public Gatherings
It also strikes down the stay-at-home order and business closings, but I'll discuss that in separate posts.
Contrary to What Ted Cruz Thinks, Prepubescent Twerking Does Not Make Cuties Illegal
The federal definition of child pornography does not encompass risqué dancing by clothed 11-year-olds.
The Julian Assange Case Threatens All Journalists Who Scrutinize Government Conduct
U.S. officials claim their espionage laws apply to the world, but constitutional protections do not.
The Messy TikTok Sale Is What Happens When Governments Get Involved in Social Media
Plus: More red states may get legal weed, antitrust action against Google expected this week, the Cuties controversy, and more...
Why Hong Kong's Protests Turned Violent
The escalation is part of a strategy to unmask China's abuses before the world.
Libel Lawsuits Against Federal Government Officials (E.g., Senator Warren or President Trump)
Under the Westfall Act, the Justice Department can generally take over the defense of many such cases—and then get them dismissed.
The NFL Is Back. So Is the National Anthem Controversy. And Now There Are Two Anthems.
American society is grappling with complex, nuanced issues connected to race and political power. If we have to filter that debate through the binary of choosing to stand or sit for a national anthem, we'll never get much resolved.
COVID-19 Outbreak and Death Result of ICE Agents Using Immigrants To Mobilize in George Floyd Protests
A preventable coronavirus outbreak and death occurred after ICE used immigrant transfers as an excuse to fly to D.C.
Why Violent Protests Backfire
Martin Luther King explained why they are "socially destructive and self-defeating."
Rule 11 Sanctions in "Quackwatch" Libel Case
Plaintiffs claimed that defendants had libeled them to foreign officials—but didn't have enough evidence that the defendants had actually said anything to those officials.
The COVID-19 Pandemic Keeps Proving Deadly to Liberty
As the pandemic rages on, nominally free countries are sliding down a path blazed by authoritarian regimes.
There Is No Defense for Looting
It is one thing to peacefully march against injustice, and quite another to burn down what others built up.
Massachusetts Abandons Its Puzzling Public Health Distinction Between Casinos and Video Arcades
A week after being sued over his arbitrary COVID-19 policy, Gov. Charlie Baker says he will allow arcades to reopen.
SCOTUS Contender James Ho Combines Respect for Free Speech and Gun Rights With a Troubling Deference to Cops
The 5th Circuit judge is a mixed bag from a libertarian perspective.
China's Dark Turn
A country that was once making strides toward freedom slides further into oppression and authoritarianism.
Are Video Arcades More Dangerous Than Casinos During a Pandemic?
A federal lawsuit argues that the distinction drawn by Massachusetts is unconstitutional.
Disney Thanks Chinese Labor Camp Authorities in Mulan Credits
Plus: California is burning because of a "gender reveal" party, Irish brothel law backfires, and more...
Letter from USC Marshall School of Business Alumni About the "Neige" / Prof. Greg Patton Controversy
"This current incident, and Marshall's response so far, seem disturbingly similar to prevalent behavior in China [during the Cultural Revolution]—spurious accusations against innocent people, which escalated into institutional insanity."
If Employers Believe That Hearing the Mandarin "Neige" (Meaning "That") "Affect[s]" Black Students' "Mental Health,"
would they be likely to hire blacks for jobs in China, or anywhere where they might have to hear Mandarin?
USC "Casting Insult Toward the Chinese Language"
More on the Mandarin "neige" controversy.
Abolish Qualified Immunity
This court-invented doctrine shields bad cops from civil liability.
Facebook Need Not Remove "Russia State-Controlled Media" Label from Maffick's "In the Now," "Waste-Ed," and "Soapbox" Pages
"In effect, Maffick contends that it is likely to succeed on the merits because its CEO says so. That is far from enough to establish a likelihood of success on the merits, particularly in light of the largely undisputed counter-evidence Facebook tendered."
'You're Not Allowed To Film': The Fight To Control Who Reports From Portland
Both sides are getting their information through purposely bottlenecked media reports, and the results are predictably distorted and dangerous.
D.C. Prosecutions Highlight the Connection Between Gun Control and Racial Disparities
Why do progressives who worry about unequal justice support policies that are bound to make that problem worse?
8th-Grader Suspended for "Search[ing] for Inappropriate Topics," Such as "Worst WWI Gun"
Fortunately, the N.Y. State Education Department has now reversed the decision, which had been made by the Valley Central School District (about 70 miles north of New York City).
Police Kill Antifa Protester Who Confessed to Portland Shooting
Plus: D.C. admits to racist gun-law enforcement, Trump mulls more tech bans, Homeland Security wants more biometric data, and more...
NSA Ruling Reminds Us That Sacrificing Civil Liberties in the Name of National Security Is a Bipartisan Impulse
A federal appeals court concludes that the agency's mass collection of phone records was illegal and probably unconstitutional.
Daniel Prude's Brother Called 911 Because He Was Behaving Erratically. Prude Ended Up Dead.
Another example of how police can respond poorly to drug and mental health calls
Tenured Professor Fired for Accurately Quoting Leading Campus Speech Code Case
The professor, chair of the Central Michigan University journalism department, was teaching a media law class, and quoted a case that discussed the use of the word "nigger" at public universities.
FOSTA Is Unconstitutional, Argue Sexual Freedom Advocates and First Amendment Lawyers in New Motion
Plus: People have doubts about democracy, Washington state sues Juul, and more...
If You Want to Fix Policing, Listen to the Pragmatists
Reason asked writers who have been on the criminal justice beat for years to lay out serious proposals for reforms with a fighting chance of being implemented.
3rd Circuit Federal Appeals Court Says Large-Capacity Magazine Bans Are OK
Last month, the 9th Circuit said the opposite. It's a question the Supreme Court might have to resolve.
"Some [Academics] Fear for Their Career Because They Don't Believe Progressive Orthodoxies"
From Prof. John McWhorter (Columbia) in The Atlantic.
Right of Publicity Lawsuit by Alleged "Pantless Couponer" Dismissed
“Just because the story and the photograph may be embarrassing or distressful to the plaintiff does not mean the newspaper cannot publish what is otherwise newsworthy.”
'Who Funds the Rioters?' Is Not a Question the Federal Government Needs To Ask
The notion that the violent protests cropping up in U.S. cities are funded by a secret, shadowy cabal is a myth.
Trying to Unseal Affidavit and Block Pseudonymity in Cincinnati Police Officer Libel Case
The Cincinnati Enquirer and I have just filed a petition seeking this, in the Ohio Court of Appeals.
In New Tests, Facial Recognition Products Are Consistently Thwarted by Masks
Defeating surveillance is a powerful argument for covering your face.
How Portland's Protests Drifted into 'Dangerous Territory'
"When terror is seen as justified, I think it's inevitable that something terrible is going to happen," journalist Nancy Rommelmann told Nick Gillespie last week.
New Jersey Mayor Bills Teen Protest Organizer for Police Overtime Pay
Plus: Congress to vote on marijuana decriminalization, tech visas are getting turned down at high rates, and more...
