Court Dismisses Defamation Suit Filed by Jussie Smollett's Hoax Attackers
The Osundairo brothers sued Smollett's lawyer for suggesting that they might have put on white makeup for the hoax.
Civil Liberties
Activists Tried To Cancel a Record Number of Campus Events in 2024
164 events or speakers were targeted, mostly over the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Trump Media & Technology Group Loses Lawsuit Against Washington Post Over Story About Trump Social Deal
The statements were true or at least substantially true, the court concludes, plus Trump Media failed to adequately allege knowing or reckless falsehood on the Post's part.
A SWAT Team Destroyed an Innocent Woman's House. The Supreme Court Won't Hear Her Case.
Whether or not the government is required under the 5th Amendment to pay such victims will remain an open question.
Court Blocks Arkansas Law That Limits "Harmful to Minors" Books in Public Libraries and Bookstores, and Also
limits "inappropriate" books in libraries.
"Not Only Is [the Race Discrimination Plaintiff] a Perpetual Claimant, He Is a Holdup Artist"
A judge sanctions a self-represented litigant who threatened to contact defendant's donors as a means of trying to pressure defendant into settling.
Much of Government Response to Parent's Criticism of School Board "Was Beyond the Pale," but Can't Justify an Injunction …
because there's not enough evidence that the response would recur (which is what is required for an injunction, which is a forward-looking remedy).
Do You Have To Choose a Side in Politics? Reason Versus The Bulwark
The Bulwark's Tim Miller and Sarah Longwell debate Reason's Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch on choosing a side in politics.
The Spending Bill Would Fund Censorship
Republicans should not give any more money to the Global Engagement Center.
Trump Mounts a 'Direct Assault on the First Amendment' by Portraying Journalism As Consumer Fraud
The president-elect's lawsuit against The Des Moines Register is a patently frivolous and constitutionally dubious attempt to intimidate the press.
Allegation: Carnegie Mellon Prof to Jewish Student: Time on Jewish-Related Project "Would Have Been Better Spent" Exploring "What Jews Do to Make Themselves Such a Hated Group"
A federal judge has allowed the (now-graduated) student's discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and breach of contract case to go forward.
Institute for Justice Petitions Supreme Court to Take Case Seeking to Overrule Kelo v. City of New London
Kelo is the 2005 ruling in which the Supreme Court held that the government can take property for private "economic development.""
Odds Are Against TikTok at the Supreme Court
It seems unlikely that five Justices will buy TikTok's First Amendment arguments when neither Judge Douglas Ginsburg nor Judge Neomi Rao nor Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan did so.
Judge Rejects Meta's Attempt to Seal Various Information About Moderating Practices
"The manner in which Meta moderates content from an adult platform competing with OnlyFans versus content that originates from OnlyFans is directly at issue. Therefore, Meta's general policies which articulate the extent to which sexual content is permitted on any of Meta's social media platforms are also relevant."
After Plaintiff "Criticized the City Manager …, the Manager Complained About Him to the Police."
"Two officers convinced a prosecutor to charge Blackwell with stalking. But a judge acquitted him. Blackwell then sued the manager and officers for violating the First Amendment by inducing this prosecution in retaliation for his political speech."
Given George Stephanopoulos' Carelessness, ABC's Defamation Settlement With Trump Seems Prudent
The host of This Week repeatedly and inaccurately asserted that Trump had been "found liable for rape."
The IRS Is Required To Protect Kids From Identity Theft. They're Not Complying.
One in four kids will be the victim of identity theft or fraud. Here's how the government is making it worse.
El Salvador's New Cybersecurity Laws Raise Concerns Over Media Freedom
Proponents call it modernization, but watchdogs see a path to censorship.
7 Ways To Mark the International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers
December 17 is a day for mourning sex workers lost to violence and for drawing attention to conditions—like criminalization—that put sex workers at risk.
Rape Allegations in #TheyLied Defamation Lawsuit Aren't on a Matter of "Public Interest," Says N.Y. Judge
"M.V. ... [sued] J.T., alleging that this action arises out of a personal vendetta and jealous revenge plot by J.T. to destroy his life and reputation. M.V. asserts that, intent on causing him maximum damage after he finally ended their casual, on-and-off sexual relationship that spanned years including through their time together in college, J.T. knowingly published numerous false and defamatory statements to the social media application YikYak, falsely accusing M.V. of rape ...."
Pro-Israel Jewish Students Suing Haverford College for Hostile Environment Harassment Can Proceed Pseudonymously
"[T]he presence of masked protesters in the room, who defied the authority of Haverford administrators and had to be removed by campus security, with a chanting group of protestors outside, would reasonably be viewed as a form of intimidation going far beyond the 'normal' chaos of a confrontational campus protest."
Supreme Court Adds Two Potentially Significant Cases to OT2024 Docket
December certiorari grants on standing and religion are early holiday gifts for Court watchers.
5 Years After Giving Birth, a Mississippi Mother Was Arrested for a Felony Based on a Postnatal Drug Test
Brandy Moore, who stopped using meth midway through her pregnancy, was charged with "aggravated domestic violence" because she decided not to have an abortion.
Control Freaks Use Brian Thompson Murder To Peddle 'Ghost Gun' Bans
More laws couldn’t have stopped the crime and won’t stop people from making their own weapons.
Firearms Law Works-in-Progress Conference 2025
Present your paper for review by diverse scholars
He Was Convicted of a Felony for Holding a Gun on the Sidewalk in Front of His House
Gabriel Metcalf argues that his prosecution under the Gun-Free School Zones Act violated his constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
Mike Lee's App Store Accountability Act Would Make Google and Apple Check IDs
Lee says this is about "sexual and violent content." It goes far beyond that.
