North Carolina Supreme Court: Flipping Off Cop Did Not Justify Traffic Stop
A state trooper believed a man driving by and flipping the bird at the cops constituted disorderly conduct. (It didn't.)
Civil Liberties
Canada Bans 'Assault Weapons' by Executive Order
Such bans have already proven to be essentially valueless for crime-fighting.
Freedom Is a Pandemic Casualty in Authoritarian Regimes and Liberal Democracies
Around the world, governments are taking advantage of COVID-19 to tighten the screws on their subjects.
Woman Banned from "Making Any … Public Allegations Against" Ex, a Police Sergeant, "on Social Media"
We've filed a friend-of-the-court brief asking the Tennessee Supreme Court to review the case.
The National Labor Relations Board Wants To Punish a Conservative Publisher for a Joke About Unions
The Federalist's Ben Domenech is fighting the government in court.
Alaskan School District Gets Rid of The Great Gatsby, 4 Other 'Controversial' Books
The Mat-Su School Board evidently doesn't understand the purpose of a school.
William Barr Orders Federal Prosecutors to Look Out for Civil Rights Violations During Coronavirus Lockdowns
Barr: "The Constitution is not suspended in times of crisis."
China Is Rolling Out a Government Digital Currency. We Shouldn't Try to Copy Them.
Western countries aren’t immune to the siren call of surveillance via commerce-tracking.
Virginia Court: Governor Lacks Power to Close Gun Ranges
The court was applying a specific Virginia statute that limited the Governor's emergency powers as to guns.
Court Strikes Down California's Ammunition Background Check Requirement
The state has already appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Deeming a Lawsuit Moot, SCOTUS Passes Up a Chance to Correct Judicial Disrespect for the Second Amendment
The Court decided that New York City's revision of its restrictions on transporting guns gave the plaintiffs what they sought.
Fifth Circuit Anti-BDS Lawsuit Dismissed as Moot
The Eighth Circuit lawsuit remains pending.
Condemned to Death by a Split Jury in Florida
Requiring unanimous juries underscores the gravity of a death penalty sentence.
People Stuck at Home Are Making and Watching Porn. Everybody Panic!
Anti-porn crusaders get their panties in a twist about a uptick in porn consumption during COVID-19.
Community Anger Shuts Down Connecticut City's Plan To Use Drones for Coronavirus Monitoring
Westport won’t be using tech to monitor people’s body temperatures or whether they’re properly social distancing.
Expelled for Sexual Misconduct and Falsely Accused of Having HIV, an Indiana Wesleyan Student Had To Take an STD Test During the Coronavirus Pandemic
"It's far worse than we could have imagined," the student's attorney tells Reason.
Is It Time to End the Coronavirus Lockdowns? A Soho Forum Debate
Economists David Henderson and Justin Wolfers debate whether the coronavirus lockdowns are doing more harm than good.
Cellphone-Tracking Can Help Fight the Pandemic Only If Governments Resist Their Snoopy Instincts
Contact tracing might offer hope for slowing the spread of the pandemic—or fulfill every Big Brother-ish fear privacy advocates have ever raised.
Should the Coronavirus Lockdowns End Immediately? A Soho Forum Debate
Hoover Institution's David Henderson vs. University of Michigan's Justin Wolfers
Prisoner in Ohio Halfway House Complains About Lack of COVID-19 Preparations. He's Sent Back to Prison. Now Ohio Prisons are Exploding with COVID-19.
While his own prison is not yet facing a huge problem, Brandon Baxter had a prescient complaint for which he seems to be being punished.
"Car Parades, Cruises, and Joyriding" "Are NOT Prohibited," at Least in Osage County, Kansas
And they would, I think, be peaceable assembly protected by the First Amendment, even in a time of epidemic.
The Attorney General Defends Civil Liberties Against Overreaching COVID-19 Control Measures
While denying Donald Trump's dictatorial impulses, William Barr notes that public health emergencies do not give governments unlimited powers.
Teenager Threatened with Arrest for Posting About Being Sick with Covid-19
She thinks she was -- but the police thought she wasn't (based on a negative test).
Attempt to Vanish (Cubed) Post Critical of the Sandy Hook Hoax Libel Judgment
"Anything you can do, I can do meta."
Facebook Removes Coronavirus Misinformation but Will Only Ban Lockdown Protests If They Violate Social Distancing
"Unless government prohibits the event during this time, we allow it to be organized on Facebook," a company spokesperson tells Reason.
Students Don't "Shed Their … Freedom of Speech … at the Schoolhouse Gate" …
... they apparently shed it well before the schoolhouse gate.
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."
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.
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.'"
Even in a Pandemic, 'Constitutional Rights Still Exist'
A federal judge defended religious freedom by blocking a misguided ban on drive-in Easter services.
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.
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.
