Pushy Politicians Make Stay-at-Home Protests Necessary
Government officials’ disdain for personal liberty and economic pain drive Americans to the streets.
Civil Liberties
Don't Get Fooled by Fake Photos of Coronavirus Lockdown Protests
Plus: Drudge challenges Trump on traffic claims, France taxes links, COVID-19 in Ohio prisons, and more...
Celebrities and the Media Shouldn't Sneer at Coronavirus Lockdown Protesters
The gatherings are ill-advised but understandable given the harms of government-enforced shutdowns.
Our Amicus Brief Urging the Supreme Court to Consider Takings Case in Which Authorities Refused to Compensate Innocent Owners of House Destroyed by Police
The brief was filed by the Cato Institute on behalf of both Cato and myself.
Students Don't "Shed Their … Freedom of Speech … at the Schoolhouse Gate" …
... they apparently shed it well before the schoolhouse gate.
Will COVID-19 Help Americans Break the Habit of Deferring to Centralized Authority?
We may find that we like making our own decisions.
D.C. High Court Strikes Down Order Temporarily Blocking Facebook from Disclosing Existence of Subpoena
The subpoena had been issued on behalf of a criminal defendant, who wants to buttress his self-defense argument by getting a copy of an expired Instagram Story that had been sent to him by the alleged victim.
Five Years in Prison for Posting Facebook Videos Accusing Pastor of Sexual Misconduct
The Mississippi Court of Appeals just overturned the conviction, and struck down the underlying statute, which banned posting messages "whether truthful or untruthful" "for the purpose of causing injury to any person."
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Provides a Lesson in What States Shouldn't Do To Stop a Pandemic
Some protestors were nasty and went overboard, but her harsh tactics will sap her legitimacy at a critical juncture.
It Figures That Michigan Is Among the First States To See Protests Against Social Distancing
Plus: Puerto Rico criminalizes fake news about COVID-19, wide geographic disparity in U.S. income growth, and more...
Woman Mocked for Being Sexually Attracted to a Chandelier Loses Claim
before UK independent press standards tribunal.
California Appellate Court Rejects Sealing of Alleged Libel
The common law, the First Amendment, and California court rules provide a broad right of access to court documents.
Raleigh Police Department: 'Protesting Is a Non-Essential Activity'
The government has broad emergency powers, but that doesn't mean the Constitution is suspended.
Michigan's Emergency Stay-at-Home Order Is a Hot Mess. Now 4 Sheriffs Say They Won't Be Enforcing Parts of It.
"We question some restrictions that she has imposed as overstepping her executive authority."
12-Year-Old "Politically Vocal Boy" Loses Libel Claim Against Newsweek
The Newsweek article, among other things, quoted a professor who said two young public supporters of Trump "'camouflage' positions of the hard right 'as feel-good sweetness and light, when, in fact, they are defending raw racism and sexual abuse.'"
The Case for "Regular" Judicial Review of Coronavirus Emergency Policies
Legal scholars Lindsay Wiley and Steve Vladeck explain why courts should not give special deference to the government in cases challenging the constitutionality of anti-coronavirus policies.
From the Cholera Riots to the Coronavirus Revolts
The more punitive the approach to public health, the fiercer the backlash.
Even in a Pandemic, 'Constitutional Rights Still Exist'
A federal judge defended religious freedom by blocking a misguided ban on drive-in Easter services.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rejects Takings Challenge to Coronavirus Shutdown Order
The Court's decision follows almost exactly the same line of reasoning as I had expected.
Penn. S. Ct. Rejects Takings Challenge to Governor's Shutdown Order
Alternative title: It's Always Locked Down in Philadelphia.
UCLA Law Dean Apologizes for My Having Accurately Quoted the Word "Nigger" in Discussing a Case
I, however, do not apologize.
2 Decades of Dubious Surveillance Will Make It Much Harder To Track COVID-19 Now
Government officials have only themselves to blame if citizens decline to share their information.
We Can Track COVID-19's Spread Without Violating Privacy
The coronavirus is no excuse to intrude on people's lives unnecessarily. Tech provides decentralized systems for contact tracing.
Hospital Technicians Ignore Copyright Law to Fight COVID-19
They trade tips and manuals through a decentralized information-sharing network. Biomedical technicians say it's the fastest and easiest way to get life-saving information.
Abortion Providers Plead With Supreme Court To Allow Abortion Pills in Texas
"Delaying abortions by weeks does nothing to further the State's interest in combatting COVID-19," they say.
Trump Campaign Sues TV Station for Running 'Defamatory' Coronavirus Attack Ad
The lawsuit is the latest in a string of frivolous suits the president's reelection campaign has filed against media outlets.
Litigant Can't Seal Case to "Improve Her Chances of Employment"
A federal magistrate holds that the right of access to court records precludes such sealing.
N.Y. Court Invalidates Conviction Under Anti-Crime-Hoax Law
The case was a hate crime hoax perpetrated by a SUNY Albany student.
Fifth Circuit Reinstates Texas's Epidemic-Related Abortion Restrictions, EXCEPT …
"any patient who, based on the treating physician's medical judgment, would be past the legal limit for an abortion in Texas ... on April 22, 2020" (the date until which the Texas restrictions suspend abortions) remains able to get an abortion, despite the restrictions.
Mississippi City Bans Drive-in Church Services
That violates the Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and probably the freedom of assembly and association.
Jerry Falwell Jr. Has a Free Speech Problem
The Liberty University president thinks two reporters' coverage was unfair—so he wants them arrested.
The Surveillance State Thrives During the Pandemic
Can we take government officials at their word that they'll eventually abandon their new powers?
Texas Teen Booked on Terror Charge for COVID-19 Snapchat Video
She posted on social media about deliberately spreading the disease, but she's not actually sick.
Will Coronavirus Fears Lead to an Assault on Gun Rights?
Power-seeking public officials thrive on our fear.
Will Civil Rights in Latin America Be a Permanent Casualty of Coronavirus?
Latin American leaders are muzzling journalists, indefinitely postponing elections, and enforcing quarantines with military patrols.
Fifth Circuit Reinstates Texas Ban That Banned "Non-Essential" Medical Procedures, Including Most Abortions
But the ban might still be blocked as to women who are far enough along in their pregnancies that delaying an abortion would make it illegal.
COVID-19 Patients and Their Families Are Being Put on Police-Enforced Lockdown
From doxxing people with the new coronavirus to making diagnosed and suspected patients wear ankle monitors, some states are taking all the wrong steps to slow the spread of COVID-19.
FCC Rejects Petition to Censor Broadcasts of President Trump's Coronavirus Press Conferences (and Other Speech)
"The Commission does not ... act as a self-appointed, free-roving arbiter of truth in journalism. plus an interesting discussion of the FCC's hoax rules.
Joe Biden Sexual Assault Allegation Made Alyssa Milano Backtrack on 'Believing All Women'
Under fire for refusing to support Tara Reade, Milano says she never thought #MeToo would "destroy innocent men."
To Enforce Social Distancing Rules, Cops Fined a Pennsylvania Woman Who Was Driving Alone
Not every apparent violation of a quarantine order is a risk to other people, and not all need to be (or can be) enforced equally.
Sixth Circuit Declines to Reinstate Ohio Limit on "Non-Essential" Abortions
On appeal, Ohio interpreted the limit (part of a temporary ban on all "non-essential" surgeries and procedures) as not banning abortions when "any delay will jeopardize the woman's right to obtain an abortion," but only as delaying earlier-term abortions that can be delayed—but it apparently hadn't made that argument in the trial court.
