Courts Grant Qualified Immunity to Cops in More Than Half of Cases When Invoked
A Reuters investigation reveals courts "growing tendency" to grant cops immunity from civil rights lawsuits.
Civil Liberties
We Need Economists, Civil Libertarians, and Epidemiologists in the COVID-19 Discussion
The tradeoffs among considerations of health, prosperity, and liberty are catching up with us even if we don't want to acknowledge them.
Court Strikes Down Injunction Banning Divorcing Parents from Disparaging Each Other
An important decision from the Massachusetts high court.
FISA Surveillance and Possible Reforms Are Back on the Senate's Agenda
The USA Freedom Act expired in March. Some senators are pushing for better privacy protections before the renewal vote.
Supreme Court Can Put a Stop to Rule Compelling Anti-Prostitution Speech From Anti-HIV/AIDS Groups
The anti-prostitution pledge is unconstitutional when applied to U.S. nonprofits. But the feds say it's still OK to compel speech from these groups' foreign affiliates.
Biden Vows To Destroy Campus Due Process Again If Elected
Plus: Homeland Security has detained thousands of pregnant women, Ginsburg wrong about "seamless" contraception coverage, and more...
Immigrants Have a Right to Privacy Too
Forcibly collecting DNA samples from immigrants in detention is yet another horrifying form of mass surveillance
Alberta Cops Handcuffed a Woman in a Star Wars Costume Because Someone Complained About Her Fake Blaster
Considering Stormtroopers aren't known for their aim, the police had nothing to fear.
This App Protects Privacy While Tracing COVID-19 Infections
Stanford researcher Tina White and the new nonprofit Covid Watch are committed to protecting both individual rights and public health.
New Facebook Oversight Board Will Handle Tricky Moderation, but Will It Value Free Speech?
Mark Zuckerberg can't please the anti-tech populists on the left and the right, no matter what he does.
Supreme Court Justices in Texas and Pennsylvania Emphasize That COVID-19 Lockdowns Require Judicial Scrutiny
Not everything that states do in the name of protecting public health is consistent with the Constitution.
Canada's New Gun Ban Validates Fears of Arbitrary and Authoritarian Government
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s unilateral order confirms suspicions that government is always on the verge of abusing its power.
Eisenhower's Military-Industrial Complex Speech in the Age of Coronavirus
The 1961 speech by President Dwight Eisenhower foreshadowed the current government's response to COVID-19.
Josh Duggar ("19 Kids and Counting") Lawsuit Thrown Out
Josh Duggar had sued over the government's releasing records of his juvenile investigation.
When Are COVID-19 Control Measures 'Arbitrary' and 'Unreasonable'?
Courts so far have not been inclined to ask that question.
Masks Can Be a Symbol of Privacy and Personal Responsibility, Not Tyranny
Plus: Family Dollar guard murdered over mask enforcement, doctors see "multisystem inflammatory syndrome" in kids with COVID-19, and more...
18-to-20-Year-Olds and the Second Amendment: Challenge to Florida Law Can Continue
So holds a federal district court.
"Clear, Compelling, Written Language Is Required to Waive" Free Speech Rights
An important First Amendment holding in a factually fascinating case, which involves an alleged breach of contract, a World War II Medal of Honor, a dispute over a history book, and a discussion of anti-libel injunctions.
How to Track COVID-19 Without Mass Surveillance
Apple and Google's Bluetooth-based app would reportedly be voluntary and anonymous. Privacy advocates say we should accept nothing less.
How COVID-19 Will Affect the Future of Policing
Like all of us, law enforcement will face a world of reduced public interactions, devastated economies, and changed ways of life.
District Court in Ninth Circuit Issues Anti-Libel Injunction
But other courts in the Ninth Circuit have categorically said that such injunctions are unconstitutional—the law remains quite unclear.
Reopening States Aren't Faring So Well. Neither Are the Ones Staying Closed.
Plus: Court rules against Kentucky's ban on drive-in church services, FDA authorizes remdesivir for COVID-19 treatment, and more...
America Wasn't Ready for Coronavirus
Early takeaways from the country's response to a pandemic
"Well, We Have Reviewed That Order, Too"
Not a great thing to see in an appellate opinion, if you claimed that reviewing a court order shows that you should win.
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.)
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.
Accusing Someone of Inadvertent Patent Infringement Is Not Libelous
"Even the most dedicated patent lawyer would have difficulty mustering 'hatred' for a computer user who inadvertently violated a patent."
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.
No, the Kelo Case Doesn't Require Takings Compensation for Businesses Closed by Coronavirus Shutdown Orders
Despite a contrary argument by Prof. Enrique Guerra-Pujol, Kelo doesn't even address the relevant issue.
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.
Ninth Circuit Refuses to Reconsider Ruling that Mandating Union Organizer Access to Employer Property is not a Taking - but Eight Judges Dissent
The case is an important one that could be headed to the Supreme 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.
Michigan Gov. Rolls Back Some of State's More Insane Coronavirus Restrictions
The strict stay-at-home order received a great deal of backlash for its more arbitrary prohibitions.
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.
