Touching Your Phone While Driving Is Now Illegal in Idaho, Illinois, and Indiana
Plus: More (bad, weird, and occasionally good) new state laws that start taking effect today.
Civil Liberties
N.Y. State Bill to Ban "Hate Speech" from Social Media
"Hate speech" would be defined as an intentional "insulting statement about a group of persons because of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion or beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity or physical, mental or intellectual disability."
Marsha P. Johnson Probably Didn't Start Stonewall, and Might Not Have Been Trans. Does It Matter?
The media and activists are using revisionist history of the Stonewall Riots to fit their intersectional narrative.
Partisan Hypocrisy on Display in Supreme Court Ruling on Anti-Prostitution Pledge and the First Amendment
Can the government compel speech? For Supreme Court justices, that seems to depend on the content of that speech.
Supreme Court Declares Another Abortion Law Unconstitutional
Plus: More states pause reopening, Oregon measure to legalize psilocybin moves forward, and more...
Kneeling in the Church of Social Justice
America certainly has work to do on race, but ritual and symbolic acts aren't the way forward.
Expelled Student's Sex Discrimination Claim Against Oberlin College Can Go Forward
"[The Oberlin] panel's decision was arguably inexplicable. Per the terms of Oberlin's Policy, intoxication does not negate consent—only 'incapacitation' does.... And the record here provided no apparent basis for a finding that Roe [was incapacitated]."
Why John Roberts Joined the Supreme Court's Democratic Appointees in an Abortion Case
Roberts dissented in 2016 when SCOTUS struck down an abortion law. What changed this time around?
With Chief in Charge, SCOTUS Strikes Down Louisiana Abortion Law and Eliminates CFPB Independence (Updated)
The Chief Justice provides the pivotal vote in the June Medical Services abortion case and Seila Law v. CFPB.
"These Days … It Is Safest to Be Circumspect and Cautious"
"To survive as a ... professor requires constant self-censorship and compromise, especially in the humanities .... Resistance comes at a cost .... [H]er colleague ..., a law professor, was interrogated and suspended from teaching after publishing a series of essays critical of ...."
New York's Highest Court Upholds Taking of Private Property for Pipeline that Might Never Get Built
The 4-2 ruling is reminiscent of the federal Supreme Court's dubious decision in Kelo v. City of New London, which also upheld a condemnation for a project that turned out to be a dud.
Self-Defense When You're Violating the Law
You generally can't claim self-defense if you're a robber "defending" yourself against your victim's own self-defense—but do you also lose your self-defense rights if your only crime is illegally carrying a handgun?
Twitter Wins Lawsuit Over "Devin Nunes' Cow" Twitter Feed
Rep. Devin Nunes can't hold Twitter liable for allegedly defamatory posts by Twitter user:
Tucker Carlson Might Want To End Qualified Immunity If He Actually Knew What It Was
The Fox News host says reforming qualified immunity would "end law enforcement." That's not even close to being true.
States Can Reform Qualified Immunity on their Own
State reform isn't a complete substitute for abolition of the federal judicial doctrine. But it can achieve a lot. A recent Colorado law provides a model other states would do well to imitate.
Seattle 'Autonomous Zone' Sparks Class Action Lawsuit From Local Businesses
The plaintiffs argue that the city's tolerance of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest has resulted in lawlessness and lost business.
This Republican Senator Calls Three Black Men Peacefully Carrying Long Guns 'Mob Rule'
A Second Amendment hypocrite with a plan to undermine federalism
Prison Guards Who Locked Naked Inmate in Cell Filled With 'Massive Amounts' of Feces Got Qualified Immunity
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals acknowledged that the plaintiff's Eighth Amendment rights were violated.
Devin Nunes Can Sue Cow Account but Not Twitter, Says Judge
Plus: Time to cancel U.S. propaganda outlets, Twitch sued over sexy women, new Assange indictment, social-justice symbolism, and more...
"Resolution of Judicial Misconduct Complaints About District Judge Lynn Adelman"
Judge Adelman's article sharply criticizing the Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit concluded, was largely permissible under the Canons of Judicial Conduct, except "the opening two sentences of the article and the criticisms of recent policy positions taken by one political party."
Florida Judges Split on Injunction Against Critic of State Senator
"Publicly expressing anger toward an elected official is not a basis for entry of an injunction. In public debate, elected officials must tolerate insulting remarks—even angry, outrageous speech—to provide breathing room for the First Amendment."
Senators Propose a Cool New Contest To Destroy Your Online Privacy
A new, terrible anti-encryption bill with a twist
"Ambulance Chaser Is Too Good a Term for Him" Isn't Libelous (At Least in Yelp Review)
"Defendant's Yelp post about plaintiff is reasonably and best understood to be, simply, name-calling."
Prosecution for Incitement to Riot
"Be there by 10:30, lace your shoes, wear masks and gloves. Bring hammers bricks whatever you want."
A Senate Republican Has Officially Come Out Against Qualified Immunity
The legal doctrine frequently allows police officers to violate your rights without fear of civil liability.
To Demilitarize the Police, We Need To Change More Than Just Their Uniforms
The problem isn’t just that cops look like occupying soldiers, it’s that too many think and act like them.
The 15th Anniversary of Kelo v. City of New London
Today is the anniversary of one of the most controversial - and most unpopular - property rights decisions in the history of the Supreme Court.
Protesters Attacked a Journalist at the D.C. Protests. Then the Police Handcuffed Her.
A dispatch from the Black House Autonomous Zone
Seattle Says It Will Ask Protesters To Voluntarily Leave 'Autonomous Zone.' What Happens If They Don't?
Plus: Trump tries to cancel skilled worker visas, Seattle repeals "prostitution loitering" law, Pennsylvania makes cosmetologists prove "good moral character," and more...
Russia Lifts Ban on Telegram App
Two years of rule-flouting by elites and ordinary citizens show the unsustainability of top-down prohibition.
What Will You Do During the Statue Wars, Daddy?
From Forrest to Roosevelt, Confederates to Cervantes, Washington to Whittier, a discussion of iconography politics on The Reason Roundtable.
The University of Chicago Took a Stand for Free Speech. Faculty Say They Live in Fear Anyway.
Former professor John Cochrane: "I spent much of my last few years of teaching afraid that I would say something that could be misunderstood and thus be offensive to someone."
Protests Against Police Brutality Continue To Be Met With Police Brutality
Plus: IMDb wins First Amendment case, Akon launches a new cryptocurrency, and more...
Michigan State University VP of Research Ousted Because of His Past Scientific Statements
He remains a tenured faculty member.
Turning Local Disturbances into Federal Cases
The Department of Justice is finding creative ways to file federal charges against rioters and looters.
Ninth Circuit Strikes Down Statute Limiting IMDb's Display of Actor Ages
The interest in fighting age discrimination in employment doesn't trump free speech rights.
Judge Royce Lamberth Condemns John Bolton's Conduct, But Declines to Block Publication of Bolton's Memoir
"By the looks of it, the horse is not just out of the barn—it is out of the country."
Of Chris Rock, Cartoons, and Qualified Immunity
A Sixth Circuit panel rejects claims of qualified immunity for officers and Monell immunity for a Cleveland suburb.
