Civil Liberties
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.
7 Race-Neutral Solutions to Racially Skewed Law Enforcement
These reforms would protect all Americans while reducing racial disparities in policing.
Colorado Police Reforms Mandate Body Cameras, Strip Bad Officers of Lawsuit Immunity
The legislation rolls back regulations that have been shielding bad police from accountability.
Why Bad Cops Aren't Punished: The Case Against Qualified Immunity
Police officers shouldn't be above the law.
How Police Reform Bills in Congress Compare
Everybody is talking about changing law enforcement, but not all proposals are equally worthy—or serious.
Let's Stop Talking About Free Speech and Start Defending It
Don't lock down expression along with so much else of American society.
Ordinary Woman Fired Because of Washington Post Article About Costume She Wore at Halloween Party Two Years Ago
Not a high-level official, not a spokesperson, not an endorser -- just an ordinary person.
MLB Letter in Yankees Sign-Stealing Investigation Should Be Unsealed, Says Federal Judge
The decision has been promptly appealed.
Will Latin American Civil Rights Be a Casualty of Coronavirus?
Protesters in many countries may find themselves facing down state forces with extralegal powers and a muzzled press.
New Louisiana Law Will Let Doctors Decide When Marijuana Is Right for Their Patients
While there are still numerous barriers to access in Louisiana's medical marijuana system, a specific list of "qualifying conditions" will no longer be one of them.
Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal on Left-Wing Cancel Culture
The heterodox hosts of the popular Blocked and Reported podcast talk about surviving internet outrage, the roots of speech repression, and the power of direct financial support from fans.
The Justice Department Is Trying To Stop the Publication of John Bolton's White House Tell-All
They’re not likely to succeed, but the real goal is to seize any money he makes.
'Without Police, There Is Chaos': Trump Signs Police Reform Executive Order
It does not touch qualified immunity or police unions.
Matt Boermeester, a USC Football Player Who Was Expelled After an Unfair Title IX Investigation, Wins in Court
"USC stripped away my hopes and dreams of playing in the NFL, and this ‘win' does not erase that."
Ohio S. Ct. Reverses Order Blocking Man from All "Posting About" His Sister and Mother
"Even if past [mentally distressing] speech that an offender made to a person ... could be considered ... integral to the criminal conduct of menacing by stalking [and thus unprotected], we do not believe that this principle may be applied categorically to future speech ... directed to others."
Protest Organizers Shouldn't Be Liable for Other People's Crimes
A lower court precedent left unchallenged would unjustly compromise First Amendment protest rights. The Supreme Court should reconsider.
Former eBay Employees "Charged with Leading a Cyberstalking Campaign Targeting the … Publisher of a Newsletter"
"that eBay executives viewed as critical of the company" (as best I can tell, the newsletter is EcommerceBytes).
Public and Private Sectors Clash on Contact Tracing
Apple and Google’s API promises to put privacy first. State health authorities have other ideas.
The Cops Who Sicced a Dog on a Surrendered Suspect Got Qualified Immunity. SCOTUS Won't Hear the Case.
"I have previously expressed my doubts about our qualified immunity jurisprudence," writes Associate Justice Clarence Thomas in a dissent.
Clarence Thomas Upbraids SCOTUS for 'Prolonging Our Decade-Long Failure to Protect the Second Amendment'
"The fundamental protections set forth in our Constitution," Thomas writes, should be "applied equally to all citizens."
Supreme Court Rules, 6–3, That LGBT Workplace Discrimination Violates Civil Rights Act
Justice Neil Gorsuch's majority decision offers a textualist argument for the ruling.
Art History Professor Condemned by Stanford Undergraduate Senate
Her crime? Spelling out what the rap group N.W.A. stands for, and quoting one of their lyrics.
"No Official, High or Petty, Can Prescribe What Shall Be Orthodox"
"in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion."
