Washington, California Trying to Punish Businesses that Overly Cooperate with Feds on Immigration
Motel 6 sued for passing names along to ICE.
Civil Liberties
Warning: The President Wants to Censor 'Fake News'! The President of France
Politicians cast attacks on them as attacks on democracy. How self-serving.
GAO Agents Tried 72 Times, Failed to Buy Guns on the (Normie) Internet
Their attempts on the dark web had a less than 25 percent success rate
What Is Hate Speech? We Asked College Students
Should the U.S. join other countries in regulating certain speech? Can people even agree on what 'hate speech' is?
Demise of Trump Voter Fraud Commission Is a Victory for Federalism
The President shut down the commission because numerous states refused to turn over voter data, citing concerns about privacy and state sovereignty.
Doctors Call for Decriminalization of Self-Induced Abortion
With abortion pills easily accessible online, the issue could be a big one in coming years.
Lindsay Lohan, Grand Theft Auto V, the First Amendment, and the Right of Publicity
An amicus brief we recently filed in an interesting and important New York high court case.
Will the Government Ban Human Driving?
Do we need a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to drive?
No Foreign Spy Program Reauthorization Without Citizen Protections
The federal government has no business using information gathered under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act against Americans.
The 10 Worst Helicopter Parenting Moments of 2017
It isn't just parents. Cops, schools, reporters, bureaucrats and busybodies got in on the action this year.
Patient Privacy and Transgender Medical Professionals
An interesting incident from England, as reported by the Sunday Times.
Should You Lose Your Liquor License Partly Because You Rudely Criticized Police?
Yes, said San Antonio police officers, arguing that a bar's license shouldn't be renewed -- "those remarks show what kind of people Bottom Bracket's owners really are and that they should not be allowed to operate a bar."
College Presidents Say: "Hate Speech Is Not Free Speech"
But there's no "hate speech" exception to the First Amendment.
Interesting Story on Black Gun Ownership
In the Huffington Post, not usually a source of positive views on guns.
California Prosecuting Man for Insulting Posts on Islamic Center's Facebook Page
The government's theory would equally criminalize insulting posts on a NRA page, or on a pro-Trump organization's page, or on a Communist Party page.
Atheist Arrested in Bangladesh -- Atheism Might Be Banned in Egypt
Two recent stories in the news, plus a third item about Malaysia.
Oregon Court Holds That Statements Opposing Same-Sex Marriage Weren't Illegal Threats of Discrimination
A separate holding from today's Klein v. BOLI (Sweetcakes by Melissa case), from the Oregon Court of Appeals.
Bakers Lose in Oregon Case, But Wedding Singers / Painters / Photographers Might Win
The Oregon Court of Appeals upholds a $135,000 damages award imposed on Sweetcakes by Melissa for its owners' refusal to make a cake for a same-sex wedding.
'Sensitivity Readers' Are the New Thought Police, And They Threaten More Than Novelists
Nobody calls himself a censor anymore in the 21st century. We've got better words for it.
Seattle Bans Landlords From Screening "Qualified" Tenants
The city's goal is to curb "unconscious bias." But the policy is based on dangerous premises, and is likely to harm tenants more than it benefits them.
No Lawsuits for Negligent Lobbying
A woman is injured in a car accident supposedly because of bad roadway design decision (a dangerous cut in the median) -- so she sues business that had lobbied county to make that decision.
Congress Kicks Surveillance Debate into 2018
Short extension of FISA snooping powers shoved into temporary spending bill.
Sorry Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg: If Daniel Ellsberg Is a Hero, So Is Edward Snowden
The crew of The Post celebrates leaking the Pentagon Papers but gets all touchy when Obama's secret surveillance is mentioned.
Universities Are Raising a Generation of Trumplets
Free speech is increasingly triggering.
Senators Warn DHS About Using Facial Scans on Americans at Airports
Will you soon be ordered to subject yourself to even more intrusive surveillance if you travel out of the country?
How Controversial Chinese Billionaire Founder of Faraday Future Got a Gag Order Against Critic
Jia Yueting got an injunction from a Washington state court, forbidding critic Gu Yingqiong from "publish[ing] any posts or [online] commentary concerning" Jia.
Stop Expecting the Justice Department to Fix Your City's Abusive Fining and Policing Practices
Accountability starts at home.
If BYOB Is Legally Allowed at Strip Clubs, They Have a First Amendment Right to Advertise It
So held a federal court in New Jersey yesterday (GJJM Enterprises, Inc. v. City of Atlantic City).
Court Throws Out Libel Lawsuit Brought by Open Source Security
Bruce Perens' claimed that Open Source Security's license violates the GPL open-source license agreement; that's protected opinion, the court said.
Court Reaffirms: H.S. Athlete Likely Has Right to Kneel During National Anthem
A Federal district court grants a preliminary injunction in V.A. v. San Pasqual Valley Unified School District.
First Batch of Inauguration Day Protesters Acquitted In Key First Amendment Case
The Justice Department's attempt to prosecute six anti-Trump protesters falls flat on its face, but it says more trials will follow.
'Degrading and Vile' Modification of Colleague's Wedding Photo Was Protected Speech
The New Jersey Supreme Court narrowly construes a ban on annoying conduct to avoid First Amendment problems.
D.C. Allowed to Exclude Religious Ads from Buses
Seems inconsistent with a 1995 Supreme Court precedent, but the D.C. federal court allowed this, and the D.C. Circuit seems to agree.
GW Students Organize to Fight Oppression By Oppressing Reading Choices
Obvious propaganda should be labeled propaganda, obviously.
Can Public Display of Pictures of Nudity Be Criminalized?
It turns out the Supreme Court has dealt with the question, in Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville (1975).
Congress Mulls Passing Most Intrusive Federal Surveillance Bill Available (Update: Bill Is Dead 'For Now')
This FISA renewal bill would essentially gut the Fourth Amendment.
Court Upholds Right to Display Signs Depicting Aborted Fetuses
A sound decision Monday from a federal district court in Michigan.
King County Cops Illegally Recorded Sex Stings
The good news? Many whose lives they tried to ruin are now off the hook.
Rand Paul: No Surveillance Debate Means a No Vote on Spending Bill
Senators demand discussion of protections for Americans against unwarranted snooping.
