Donald Trump's Bump Stock Ban Turns Peaceful Gun Owners Into Felons by Fiat
The ban, which took effect this week, usurps congressional authority by rewriting an inconvenient law.
Civil Liberties
FOSTA's First Test Targets Cloud Company Used by Backpage
Plus: a Robert Kraft/spa-sting update, Florida sex-buyer registry nixed, D.C. activist alleges entrapment, and more sex-work and sex-policy news.
Arthur Brooks Wants You To Love Your Enemies: Podcast
The president of the American Enterprise Institute says we need to reboot politics and that libertarians may hold the key.
'Heartbeat Bills' Banning Almost All Abortions Are Back
Plus: Parsing competing paid-leave proposals, wisdom from Justin Amash, and Pete Buttigieg on Chick-fil-A.
Hide Those Memes, Folks! Europe Passes Massive Online Copyright Changes That Will Lead to Censorship
Do you have a license to link to that story? Will your sexy Tinder photo get confused with a celebrity's?
Waiting-and-Seeing on the Trump Campus Free Speech Executive Order
It's an order to create policies, not a policy -- so it's hard to tell what it will do until we see what policies various departments create.
San Antonio Likely Violating Chick-Fil-A's First Amendment Rights
Its exclusion of Chick-Fil-A from the airport appears to be based on the viewpoint expressed by Chick-Fil-A and various organizations to which it donates.
Right to Possess Stun Guns in N.Y., Right to Carry Them in Illinois
Two Second Amendment wins late last week.
Preet Bharara's Boy Scout Manual of 'Doing Justice'
The former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York unconvincingly channels Atticus Finch in his legal memoir.
Devin Nunes' Lawsuit Against Twitter Is an Attack on Every American's Right to Free Speech
Q&A with political strategist Liz Mair.
ICE Tracking Immigrants with Huge License Plate Database
The privately maintained database has billions of records on drivers across the country.
New Zealand's Sweeping New Gun Ban Would Be Unconstitutional in the U.S.
The government is prohibiting "military-style semi-automatics" and redefining them to include most guns with detachable magazines.
Indiana Teachers Say Cops Shot Them with Airsoft Bullets During Active Shooter Training
How does shooting teachers with pellet guns make anyone safer?
Incitement at 100 -- and 50 -- and Today, at Brooklyn Law School, April 12
A very interesting symposium, with (among many others) Floyd Abrams, Prof. Leslie Kendrick (Virginia), Nadine Strossen (former head of the ACLU), and more.
No, a Web Platform's Decision to Restrict Speech Doesn't Strip It of 47 U.S.C. § 230 Immunity
[UPDATE: Sorry, this was double-posted; please add any comments to the post above.]
Fight the Soft Totalitarianism of Social Media Cooperation with Government
With big tech helping government officials to control the sharing of information, we need to support alternatives to undermine their censorious efforts.
Rep. Devin Nunes Seeks Court Order Entirely Suspending @LizNair and Other Accounts
But courts can't order suspension of an entire account even if they find that some posts were libelous.
Rep. Devin Nunes Suing Tweeters for "Insulting Words," Claiming the Insults Caused $250M of Damage to Him
This is besides the libel claims he is bringing against them; highly insulting Tweets, he argues, are "fighting words" and thus punishable under Virginia law.
Rep. Devin Nunes's $250M Lawsuit Against Twitter Will Go Nowhere
The defamation (and negligence) claims against Twiter are blocked by 47 U.S.C. § 230.
Supreme Court Gives Feds a Long Leash To Detain Immigrants With Criminal Records
Conservative majority declines to consider constitutional concerns of holding noncitizens without hearings.
Sen. Menendez Calls for Twitter to Stop Spreading Software That Can Help Make Weapons
Press release from Jersey senator asks Twitter to censor specific user @ivanthetroll12.
Devin Nunes Milks Fake Cow Account on Twitter For Nonsense Lawsuit
Plus: SCOTUS declines Hawaii lesbian case, UC stands by professor in free speech standoff, and ACLU warns of "privacy Trojan horse."
Montana Criminal Libel Statute Struck Down
The statute doesn't require that the defendant knew the statement was false or likely false, and is thus inconsistent with Supreme Court precedent.
Trump Keeps Wondering Why People Are Allowed to Make Fun of Him on TV
The "equal time" rule does not mean what the president thinks it means.
Can Victims' Rights Go Too Far?
The rapid spread of Marsy's Law could undermine due process across the country.
A Tattooed Libertarian on the Arizona Supreme Court: Clint Bolick's Long Fight for Freedom
Q&A with the co-founder of Institute for Justice about immigration, his legal philosophy, his battles with Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and that tattoo.
Lawsuit Against Suppliers of the Rifle Used in the Sandy Hook Massacre Will Proceed
The Connecticut Supreme Court rejects an absurdly broad definition of "negligent entrustment" but allows a claim based on "unfair trading practices."
The U.S. Must Stop Supporting War in Yemen, Says Senate
Plus: a Rand Paul add-on makes sure measure doesn't inadvertently authorize new wars, Dick's stores are dropping guns, campus art controversy, and good 8A news
Free as a Bird: Showing Middle Finger to Police Officer = Constitutionally Protected Speech
Every reasonable officer should know that, says the Sixth Circuit.
Maybe Now We Can Finally Read This Star Trek/Dr. Seuss Mash-Up
Federal judge's ruling in a fair-use lawsuit "is a big win for the First Amendment."
Facebook Had Every Right to Reject Elizabeth Warren's Crappy Ad
Nobody in the media should be supporting an elected official trying to control what speech online platforms allow.
Expedited Appeals of Anti-Libel/Anti-Harassment Injunctions
If your client has been ordered not to say things about someone, here are the precedents supporting your right to an expedited appeal.
The E.U. Wants to Censor 'Terrorist Content' Online. What Could Go Wrong?
There's no room for errors and online platforms face huge fines, likely encouraging overly broad takedowns.
Yes, You Can Get Kicked Off Twitter for Saying 'Learn To Code'—Even If It's Not Harassment
"I'm more confused than angry about all of this."
If the Feds Have Stopped Snooping on Our Phone Records, Watch Out for the Anti-Encryption Propaganda
Backdoors into your texts and private message provide far more information than your phone metadata.
Florida Bill Would Make It a Crime for Minors to Post Pictures of Guns on Social Media
Clearly unconstitutional, of course.
When the Fat Lady's Cat is Singing to the Genie, and the Bottle Has Fallen Out of the Bag …
An interesting decision called United States v. Suppressed.
No Preliminary Injunctions Against Libel
Another court opinion reinforces this principle -- even if repetition of libelous statements can be forbidden after a trial on the merits at which the statements are found libelous, it can't be preliminarily enjoined before such a trial.
23-Year-Old Coleman Hughes Is Reframing the Discussion on Race: Podcast
Meet the undergrad who is recovering the legacy of gay, socialist civil-rights activist Bayard Rustin while explicating Kanye West's conservatism.
Preventing Government Facial Recognition Oppression
Pervasive real-time police surveillance is not just theoretical anymore.
Feds Used a Secret Database to Track Journalists Covering the Migrant Caravan: Reason Roundup
Plus: Facebook says it's pivoting to privacy, and congressional Democrats want to "save the internet."
