How Awful Policies Fueled the L.A. Fires
Plus: A listener asks the editors if Donald Trump is the most libertarian president ever.
Civil Liberties
Maryland Cop Who Recklessly Shot a 5-Year-Old Boy Got Qualified Immunity
The Cato Institute is urging the Supreme Court to take up the case and reaffirm that the liability shield does not apply to "obvious rights violations."
Massachusetts Court Weighs Whether All Prostitution Is Sex Trafficking
Five "traffickers" arrested for responding to an undercover cop's sex ad are challenging their convictions in the state's high court.
Lawless I: The Illiberal Takeover of Legal Education
My "lived experience" at Georgetown gave me a unique perspective on the higher-ed crisis.
N.H. Court Rejects Attempt to Impose Hate Crime Liability on Neo-Nazis for Hanging "Keep New England White" Sign on Overpass
The right result, I think, but I don't think the court's reasoning is quite right.
Nicaragua's Regime Wages War on Religious Freedom
President Daniel Ortega's crackdown on religion is part of a broader attack on civil liberties.
'The Constitution Is Not a Suicide Pact'
How a 1949 Supreme Court dissent gave birth to a meme that subverts free speech and civil liberties
TikTok Took a Beating at the Supreme Court
Justice Neil Gorsuch criticized "the government's attempt to lodge secret evidence in this case." Still, things look grim for the app.
Trump's Latest Defeat Is One of Many Decisions That Suggest SCOTUS Won't Rubber-Stamp His Agenda
Despite some notable wins, the president-elect's overall track record shows he cannot count on a conservative Supreme Court to side with him.
Georgia Man Sues Glynn County Police After He Was Arrested for Refusing To Give ID
A police incident report admitted "we had no probable cause" to arrest the man on loitering and prowling charges after he wouldn't give his name to officers.
No Pseudonymity and Sealing in Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Man's Apparent Suicide, Despite …
wife's concern "about public embarrassment and potential harm to Decedent's surviving children."
Smartmatic's Defamation Suit Against Fox Corp. (and Not Just Fox News) Can Go Forward
"[P]laintiffs ... allege[] that ... [Fox Corp.] 'actively participated in, directed, and controlled the publication' of the above defamatory statements composed and broadcast by the other defendants."
Facebook's New Free Speech Policy Shows Business Getting Back to Business
It’s the latest company to step back from dangerous alliances with political factions.
Nate Silver on "The Rise and Fall of 'Fact-Checking'"
"'Fact-checkers' as the high priests of journalism had a political beginning at Facebook — and have met a political end."
What It Takes to Allege "Actual Malice" in #TheyLied Libel-by-Accusation-of-Sexual-Assault Claims
Generally, when defendants made factual accusations based on what they said was personal knowledge, it's enough that plaintiff swear the statements are false, so it can be inferred that they are knowingly false. If that happens, it's usually up to the jury to decide who's telling the truth.
Defamation Lawsuit Over Statements Related to 2020 Georgia Ballot Counting Controversy Dismissed
The lawsuit is brought by Jacki Pick against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, based on statement in Raffensperger's book, Integrity Counts.
Texas Cop Chases Prostitution Suspect, Causes Car Accident, Gets Immunity
Houston police "initiated a high-speed chase to pursue a suspect evading arrest for paying $40 to solicit sexual activity from another adult," notes a Texas Supreme Court judge.
Decrying First Amendment Threat, FIRE Will Defend Pollster Whom Trump Sued for 'Consumer Fraud'
The president-elect frivolously claims that J. Ann Selzer and The Des Moines Register owe him damages because of an erroneous preelection poll.
Mark Zuckerberg Was Right To Fire Facebook's Rogue Fact-Checkers
"The fact-checkers have just been too politically biased," says the Meta CEO.
Challenge to California Policy Limiting Teachers' Disclosure to Parents of Student's Changed Gender Identity …
can proceed (under the First Amendment and under parental constitutional rights law), the court says, though there's no actual decision on whether the plaintiffs (parents and teachers) will prevail.
5th Circuit Reaffirms That Prosecuting a Marijuana User for Illegal Gun Possession Was Unconstitutional
Patrick Darnell Daniels Jr. was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for violating a federal law that bars drug users from owning firearms.
Top-Down Political Cowardice Helped Make Charlie Hebdo a Lonely Target
From Jimmy Carter to Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama to John Kerry, politicians have led the abandonment of free speech.
Is Threatening to Kill Jews Generally—with No Person or Institution Specifically Named—Punishable?
Not under California law, a court says. (Federal law and the law in other states may be different.)
Kentucky Cops Arrest Man for Shouting at Them
"Speaking from a balcony isn't a crime," the man's lawyer says. "And just because a cop was offended because of some language doesn't give him the power to arrest you."
Court Rejects Title VI Lawsuit Over Alleged Anti-Semitism at Haverford College
"As a result of Plaintiffs' scattered pleading, any serious allegations of actionable discrimination are buried as needles within a haystack of distraction."
Stop Overprotecting the Children, Say Courts in Tennessee and California
Courts block laws regulating algorithms and online porn.
Ohio Court Strikes Down Categorical Prohibition on Gun Possession by People Under Indictment
A few months ago, the Sixth Circuit upheld the federal categorical prohibition on gun acquisition and transportation by people under indictment.
Federal Court Declines to Issue Harassment Restraining Order Related to Crypto Litigation
An interesting window into how courts sometimes think about such requests; this decision turned heavily on the fact that plaintiff had already gotten a state court harassment restraining order against the defendant.
He Lost the Title to His Home Over a Small Property Tax Debt. Years Later, He's Finally Getting It Back.
A local government gave ownership of Kevin Fair's Nebraska house—and all of its value—to a private investor, in a practice known as home equity theft.
Weak Allegations of Shaken Baby Syndrome Keep Tearing Families Apart
Nick Flannery faces 12 years in prison for allegedly shaking his 2-month-old son. Child protective services are ignoring the other possible causes of his son's medical problem.
