Civil Liberties
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.
Punishing Revenge Porn as (Federal) Criminal Libel
It doesn't always work, but it worked on the facts of this case.
The 10 Most Infuriating Challenges to Free-Range Parenting in 2024
Here's hoping for a free-range 2025!
The Racist Roots of Gun Control
Measures restricting gun ownership still disproportionately harm black and brown people, says Maj Toure, founder of "Black Guns Matter."
Supreme Court Can Protect Property Owners From Eminent Domain Abuse
A Utica, New York, land grab offers the justices an opportunity to revisit a widely criticized precedent.
IRS Failed To Properly Dispose of Sensitive Tax Documents, Report Finds
Some IRS offices routinely threw away sensitive material with regular trash, while others used unlocked or damaged storage bins.
Pay Up, Trump
Plus: Biden's last-minute Ukraine cash surge, Tennessee age-verification law blocked, Kentucky man killed by cop who showed up at wrong house, and more…
Arkansas Can't Jail Librarians for Giving Kids 'Harmful' Books
Portions of a law, struck down last week, would have subjected individuals to misdemeanor charges for providing "harmful" materials to minors.
"He Admitted Receiving the Password" for the Laptop, but "It Took Him Over an Hour to Log In"
Defamation litigation ensues.
Shareholder Derivative Lawsuit Against Fox Officers and Directors Over Fox $787M Libel Settlement Can Go Forward
"[T]he complaint alleges facts sufficient to raise a reasonable doubt that at least three other directors lack independence from Murdoch."
Alabama Teen Killed During 'No-Knock' Drug Raid Had His Hands Raised, Lawsuit Says
The wrongful death lawsuit says Randall Adjessom came out of his bedroom with a gun when Mobile police broke down his family's door in a predawn raid, but when he realized they were cops, he put his hands in the air.
The Government Took a Developer's Land and Gave It to a Competitor. In New York, That's Business As Usual.
The case gives the Supreme Court an opportunity to revisit a widely reviled decision that invited such eminent domain abuses.
Bringing Shame on the Family Name
"The articles, from the York Daily Record and FOX43 websites, detailed an incident in which Father was 'found sleeping half-naked in his car at a Rutter's store' and offered an investigating officer $50 instead of his license. The articles indicate that Father was charged with DUI, indecent exposure, open lewdness, and other related charges."
No Sealing of Transgender Prisoner's Case
The prisoner had argued that other inmates were accessing the case documents, and as a result were urging other inmates to beat, rape, and kill the prisoner, apparently because of information in the court file related to the crime of which the prisoner had been convicted.
Women Allegedly Raped in Prison by Trans-Identifying Inmate Will Have To Refer to Attacker as 'She/Her'
The recent ruling means that on the stand those women may be subject to speech policing from their alleged rapist—who has opted for self-representation.
Plaintiff Suing Sean Combs / P. Diddy and Shawn Carter / Jay-Z Can Proceed Pseudonymously
This further adds to the split among Manhattan federal judges as to pseudonymity in the various Doe v. Combs cases.
2 Florida Men Who Thought They Were Freeing Illegally Caught Sharks Are Now Felons
Federal prosecutors argued that John Moore and Tanner Mansell stole property when they hauled in a fishing line they mistakenly believed had been set by poachers.
