Celebrate Independence Day by Insulting a Politician
Perhaps the one thing Americans still have in common is our eagerness to criticize government.
Civil Liberties
Government Employees May Generally Be Disciplined for Sufficiently Controversial Public Political Speech
From the Eleventh Circuit, a reminder that First Amendment protections against government employer action are much weaker than the protections against the government as sovereign (especially, but not only, when the speech is also "disrespectful, demeaning, rude, and insulting").
NIMBYism Stifles Housing Construction in Previous Growth Areas
In recent years, exclusionary zoning and other regulatory restrictions have begun to block housing construction in areas where it was once relatively easy.
Florida Can Forbid Transgender High School Math Teacher From Using Feminine Pronouns to Refer to Herself in Class, 11th Circuit Says
The appeals court vacated a preliminary injunction that had been based on her First Amendment rights
Florida Teachers Have No First Amendment Right to Indicate Their Preferred Pronouns and Honorifics in Class
So an Eleventh Circuit panel held today, by a 2-1 vote.
Florida Plans To Deputize 9 National Guardsmen as Immigration Judges To Increase Deportations
Legal experts are concerned that immigration judges with only six weeks of training will not uphold constitutional protections for migrants.
By Settling Trump's Laughable Lawsuit Against CBS, Paramount Strikes a Blow at Freedom of the Press
The company's surrender to Trump's extortion vindicates his strategy of using frivolous litigation and his presidential powers to punish constitutionally protected speech.
The First Amendment Protects CNN's Reporting on ICEBlock and Iran
The Justice Department cannot constitutionally prosecute a news outlet for covering the news.
Lawsuit Against Google for Accurately Reporting Negative Stories About Plaintiff Dismissed
Plaintiff claimed that the search results violated his "right of publicity," and also that the output was defamatory because it "uses a 'negative algorithm' that promotes negative stories about Garmon while suppressing positive stories about him—or, at least, pushing the positive stories down the list of search results."
New York City Tried To Seize Lucy the Pig. Mayor Eric Adams Says the Family Can Keep Her—If She Leaves Town.
The owners faced fines of up to $18,000 for keeping the pig within city limits.
Trump Says the Courts Have No Business Questioning His Dubious Definition of 'Alien Enemies'
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit is considering whether the president properly invoked the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged gang members.
Are Plaintiffs More Eligible to Be Pseudonymous in Lawsuits Against the Government? Less Eligible?
Today's D.C. Circuit decision muddies the matter still further.
Legislation Will Not Protect Kids Online
New laws aimed at protecting kids online won’t work, and could even make things worse. Parents, not politicians, are the best defense against digital dangers.
California Law Stops City from Flying World Flag Above U.S. and California Flag
And the U.S. Constitution doesn't preclude this result.
Court Allows Breach of Contract Claim for Haverford's Allegedly Failing to Respond to Anti-Semitism Complaints—But Only for Nominal Damages
"So whatever hard to imagine rationalization Haverford might offer for obscuring the content of its actual bias policy—an artifice reminiscent of Dean Wormer's 'double secret probation'—I find the demarcation 'draft' to be of no legal import."
I'm No Fan of UVA's President. That Doesn't Mean the Government Should Force Him Out.
Jim Ryan is the latest casualty in Trump's unconstitutional war against elite universities.
Trump Is Now More Powerful Thanks to the Supreme Court. But Will It Last?
Plus: Conservatives won big overall this year at the Supreme Court.
Federalist Society Webinar on the 20th Anniversary of Kelo v. City of New London
The panelists included Peter Byrne (Georgetown), Wesley Horton (counsel for New London in the case), Timothy Sandefur (Goldwater Institute), and myself.
The 5th Circuit Rejects Qualified Immunity for a Child-Snatching Texas Cop Who Falsely Alleged Abandonment
Alexandra Weaver argued that she could not reasonably have been expected to know her actions were unconstitutional.
No Qualified Immunity for School District Police Officer Who Seized Home-Schooled 14-Year-Old from Home
The child, and her 12-year-old brother, were left under the supervision of a neighbor by the mother, who left town for six days for a foreign job interview.
Cancellation Litigation + Doxing Claim, over Allegedly Malicious Publicizing of Snapchat Video with Allegedly Racist Statements
"[B]oth parties exchanged these Snapchat videos while they were intoxicated and their judgment was impaired. Notwithstanding, the communications were private and intended to be jokes between close friends."
New Orleans City Council Considers Ordinance To Adopt Real-Time Facial Recognition Technology
America is slipping steadily down the slippery slope to a surveillance state.
Clarence Thomas Undermines Free Speech in Porn Site Age-Verification Case
The Supreme Court's decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton weakens the First Amendment rights of adults everywhere.
Criminal Justice Reformers Should Welcome Pam Bondi's Gun Rights Restoration Initiative
Democratic critics of the new program overlook the injustice of permanently disarming Americans who pose no threat to public safety.
How DHS Facial Recognition Tech Spread to ICE Enforcement
More government agencies are using facial recognition for enforcement than ever before.
How Should Courts Analyze Age Verification Requirements for Porn That's Illegal for Minors?
Prohibiting the distribution of porn to minors, the Court says, legitimately carries with it some burdens on adults as well, when the burdens are closely linked to distinguishing the adults and the minors.
Big Free Speech Takeaway from Today's Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton Porn Age Verification Decision
"Strict scrutiny is unforgiving because it is the standard for reviewing the direct targeting of fully protected speech.... [A]s a practical matter, it is fatal in fact absent truly extraordinary circumstances."
Trump Plans To Dismiss Hundreds of Thousands of Asylum Claims To Boost Deportations
Dismissing asylum applications for migrants who entered the U.S. unlawfully would boost immigration-related arrests, but have little impact on public safety.
No Pseudonymity for Illinois Ex-Med Student Suing Under Title IX to Challenge Dismissal for Sexual Misconduct
The Seventh Circuit is generally much more hesitant than courts in other circuits to allow pseudonymity in such cases.
Zohran Mamdani's Jewish Problem
The presumptive Democratic nominee for mayor of New York has repeatedly missed opportunities to forthrightly condemn antisemitic violence.
Lawyers' Public Allegations of Racial Prejudice by Trial Judge Lead to 30-Day Suspension
The Florida Supreme Court concludes that, among other things, the allegations were knowingly or recklessly false.
Immigration Raids Are Ensnaring Innocent, Legal Bystanders
That's inevitable. It should also be deeply troubling to anyone who cares about constitutional government.
Student Visa Applicants Will Now Be Forced To Make Their Social Media Accounts Public
The Trump administration continues its war against disfavored speech.
Pride Is a Triumph of the First Amendment
Free speech, assembly, and protest—not government action—have powered LGBTQ+ progress in America.
Reflections on the 10th Anniversary of Obergefell v. Hodges - A Great Civil Rights Milestone that Could be Even Better
The Supreme Court's ruling striking down laws banning same-sex marriage was a great victory for liberty and equality. But it should have been based on better legal reasoning.
