Eli Lake: Exploring the Darkest Corners of the Deep State
The journalist and podcast host on foreign policy, democracy, and habitual law breaking by the NSA, CIA, and FBI
Civil Liberties
Town Closes Playground Due to Mouse Sighting
This could be just the tip of the (m)iceberg.
Don't Tread on Jaiden! School District Learns Its Lesson
The 12-year-old boy kicked out of class for sporting a Gadsden flag patch is back in school.
Denmark May Ban Burning the Quran
A cabinet minister who once defended the right to blaspheme now wants a crackdown.
Massive Sanctions Against Rudy Giuliani for "Willful Shirking of His Discovery Obligations" in Libel Lawsuit Against Him
Among other things, "Default judgment will be entered against Giuliani as a discovery sanction ..., holding him civilly liable on plaintiffs' defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy, and punitive damage claims ...."
From 'Fetus' to 'Unborn Child': Ohio Adopts Biased Ballot Summary of Abortion Amendment
Plus: First Amendment experts talk about age verification laws, fentanyl fact check, and more…
Can a Controversial User Really Get Kicked off the Internet?
In theory, yes; in practice, perhaps soon.
Polls Offer Little Comfort for Supporters of Gun Control
Americans support tighter laws, but not as much as they distrust government and like owning guns.
Don't Bring Back COVID Authoritarianism
People should be free to choose how cautious to be. Mask mandates, lockdowns, and closing schools won't stop the virus.
A Ruling Against a Man Arrested for a COVID-19 Joke Highlights the Influence of a Pernicious Analogy
A federal judge compared Waylon Bailey’s Facebook jest to "falsely shouting fire in a theatre."
12-Year-Old Boy Removed From School Over 'Don't Tread on Me' Patch
"The Gadsden flag is a proud symbol of the American revolution," says Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.
The Fifth Circuit on the "Trump Train" / Biden-Harris Bus Lawsuit
The lawyer's true superpower is to turn every case into a case about procedure.
A Conservative Constitutional Argument Against a National Abortion Ban
Conservative legal scholar William Hodes argues that federal restrictions on abortion are beyond the scope of Congressional power.
Alabama Set To Try New, Untested Execution Method
The state has filed a motion to set an execution date for Kenneth Eugene Smith, who survived a previous execution attempt.
But Is It Art?
What counts as an "artistic work" for purposes of special protection under the Texas anti-SLAPP statute?
Can the State Regulate Content Moderation?
It's hard to argue that providing a pipe constitutes a speech act.
Prosecution in Apple's iPads-for-Concealed-Firearms-Licenses Bribery Case Can Go Forward
"This appeal raises a question not yet addressed by any California court: whether a public official may be bribed with a promise to donate to the official's office."
GOP Debate Stuff We Didn't Hate
Plus: A listener question about the continued absurdity of sports stadium subsidies
Talking About Sex Online Shouldn't Be Illegal
Porn sites and other online spaces with adult content are fun; they’re also important sources of community and information.
'No Reasonable Officer' Would Have Arrested a Guy for a COVID-19 Joke, the 5th Circuit Says
The appeals court ruled that a Facebook post alluding to World War Z was clearly protected by the First Amendment.
Martin Luther King's Lofty Dream Turns 60
Is our country getting closer to living out the true meaning of its creed, "All men are created equal"?
When Should the Law Regulate Content Moderation?
Only when necessary to protect five basic internet rights.
Limits on Using Prior Acquittal of Sexual Assault as Evidence of Guilt in a New Sexual Assault Case
"[T]he Government argue[d] that when considering that the charged offenses occurred after the acquittal, the [appellant's] tactics were emboldened and this factor weighs in favor of admissibility."
Did Banks Hand Private Financial Data to the FBI Without Legal Process?
Banks routinely snitch on customers and even deny services to people politicians don’t like.
Sixth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to School Officials
Court finds parent's right to comment on their interactions with their child's coaches or teachers is cleartly established.
Playground Sign Outlaws 'Loitering at Slide Entry or Exit'
"This is literally a playground that's for 2- to 5-year-olds," says former preschool teacher Katie Courtney.
Court Rejects Lawsuit by Sorority Members Against Sorority for Admitting Transgender Member
The sorority, the court held, had a First Amendment freedom of expressive association right to choose which students to admit (logic that suggests that a sorority would equally be free to exclude transgender members).
Hospital Threatens Defamation Suit Over a 15-Year-Old's Change.org Petition
The hospital baselessly claimed the teenager's mother wrote the petition after she was fired without cause.
The Washington Post Says Democracy Demands Less Freedom of Speech
The paper worries that "social media companies are receding from their role as watchdogs against political misinformation."
Court Rejects RNC's Lawsuit Claiming Google Discriminatorily Treated RNC's Email as Spam
Section 230, the court says, immunizes good-faith attempts to block spam—and RNC didn't introduce enough evidence of bad faith.
Joke "We Need You Brad Pitt" Post at Start of COVID Pandemic Protected by First Amendment
The post led to the author being arrested for "terrorizing"; so clearly unconstitutional that the police officer lacks qualified immunity, says the Fifth Circuit.
Penis Squeezing Not Protected by Qualified Immunity
Plus: FIRE fights college's vague "greater good" policy, Biden administration pushes double talk on tariffs, and more...
No Pseudonymity or Sealing for Japanese User Seeking to Use American Courts to Subpoena Twitter Critics' Names
"Applicant's warning of a prima facie violation of Japanese law's privacy protections fails to constitute a harm severe enough" to justify pseudonymity.
Second Amendment Roundup: Looking for Historical Tradition in All the Wrong Places
The Government drops reference to the slave codes as a historical analogue in Rahimi.
Stop Publishing Mug Shots—Even Donald Trump's
Mug shots are not taken to humiliate a defendant before they've been convicted. But that's the purpose they widely serve now.
California Public Records Requester Can File Anti-SLAPP Motion Objecting to Attempt to Block Request
The motion allows early dismissal of a lawsuit, here the lawsuit that aimed to block UC Irvine from responding to a public records request from the Center for Scientific Integrity (the Retraction Watch people).
Federal Judge: "Public Interest" Requires That Restrictions on "Medical Misinformation" Not Be Enjoined
So a court concludes in a case brought by presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Candidates Spar Over National Abortion Ban in First Republican Debate
Plus: Invade Mexico?!, "Trump added $8 trillion to our debt," and more...
Why We Should Care About Pseudonymity in Litigation
Like other features of legal procedure—such as the jury trial, the mechanism for appointing judges, the availability of appeal—pseudonymity both deeply affects the fairness of litigation and, often, the substantive outcomes.
30 Years Later, Politically Incorrect PCU Has a Lot To Say About College
“The whole woke movement, it’s obviously an echo of those times.”
