Civil Liberties
Hours After Going Dark, TikTok Is Back
The popular video app restored service in the U.S. after President-elect Donald Trump promised to postpone a federal ban.
The Laken Riley Act Reminds Us: If a Law Is Named After Someone, It's Probably Bad
Riley's murder was an atrocity. But the law bearing her name is a grab bag of authoritarian policies that have little to do with her death.
"Another Email Account Impersonating a Banker Working for [Plaintiff] Invited … Recipients … to Join a Fictitious Neo-Nazi Banking Club"
One of many allegedly defamatory statements allegedly sent by a former summer intern at a financial company; the court holds a proposed preliminary injunction against future speech by defendant about plaintiff would be an unconstitutional prior restraint, but issues a narrower injunction.
Bill Maher's Saying Trump "Might Be" "Fucking" Republican Activist Laura Loomer Might Be Defamation of Loomer
A judge lets Loomer's defamation claim against Maher and HBO go forward.
DEA Ends Airport Gate Searches After Years of Documented Abuses of Civil Asset Forfeiture
The Justice Department temporarily suspended the program in November because of "significant risks" of constitutional violations.
Lawless IV: Leadership Failures Old and New
The pandemic showed the weakness of the leadership class. [UPDATE: Inadvertently posted it under my byline, but it's of course Ilya Shapiro's post, as the byline now reflects. -EV]
So…Is TikTok Really Getting Banned?
The Supreme Court appears poised to uphold a ban on the app, but many creators aren't so sure.
The Future of Online Porn Is At Stake Today
The Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a Texas case that could have major ramifications across the country—including, perhaps, the end of anonymity online.
The Law That Disarmed Trump Is Unfair, Illogical, and Constitutionally Dubious
The president-elect lost his Second Amendment rights thanks to a nonsensical gun ban.
The Best of Reason: 'The Constitution Is Not a Suicide Pact'
How a 1949 Supreme Court dissent gave birth to a meme that subverts free speech and civil liberties.
Here's How Police Are Being Trained To Deal With Incels
The Department of Homeland Security is watching men who are mad they can’t get girlfriends.
Yes, Mark Zuckerberg, You Can Shout 'Fire' in a Crowded Theater
Anyone discussing free speech should at least try to get this right.
"Regulation of Algorithms" Panel at Federalist Society Faculty Conference,
featuring Prof. Saurabh Vishnubhakat (Yeshiva), Profs. Gregory Dickinson (Nebraska), Prof. Christina Mulligan (Brooklyn), Dhruva Krishna (Kirkland & Ellis), and me.
How Awful Policies Fueled the L.A. Fires
Plus: A listener asks the editors if Donald Trump is the most libertarian president ever.
Maryland Cop Who Recklessly Shot a 5-Year-Old Boy Got Qualified Immunity
The Cato Institute is urging the Supreme Court to take up the case and reaffirm that the liability shield does not apply to "obvious rights violations."
Massachusetts Court Weighs Whether All Prostitution Is Sex Trafficking
Five "traffickers" arrested for responding to an undercover cop's sex ad are challenging their convictions in the state's high court.
Lawless I: The Illiberal Takeover of Legal Education
My "lived experience" at Georgetown gave me a unique perspective on the higher-ed crisis.
N.H. Court Rejects Attempt to Impose Hate Crime Liability on Neo-Nazis for Hanging "Keep New England White" Sign on Overpass
The right result, I think, but I don't think the court's reasoning is quite right.
Nicaragua's Regime Wages War on Religious Freedom
President Daniel Ortega's crackdown on religion is part of a broader attack on civil liberties.
'The Constitution Is Not a Suicide Pact'
How a 1949 Supreme Court dissent gave birth to a meme that subverts free speech and civil liberties
TikTok Took a Beating at the Supreme Court
Justice Neil Gorsuch criticized "the government's attempt to lodge secret evidence in this case." Still, things look grim for the app.
Trump's Latest Defeat Is One of Many Decisions That Suggest SCOTUS Won't Rubber-Stamp His Agenda
Despite some notable wins, the president-elect's overall track record shows he cannot count on a conservative Supreme Court to side with him.
Georgia Man Sues Glynn County Police After He Was Arrested for Refusing To Give ID
A police incident report admitted "we had no probable cause" to arrest the man on loitering and prowling charges after he wouldn't give his name to officers.
No Pseudonymity and Sealing in Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Man's Apparent Suicide, Despite …
wife's concern "about public embarrassment and potential harm to Decedent's surviving children."
Smartmatic's Defamation Suit Against Fox Corp. (and Not Just Fox News) Can Go Forward
"[P]laintiffs ... allege[] that ... [Fox Corp.] 'actively participated in, directed, and controlled the publication' of the above defamatory statements composed and broadcast by the other defendants."
Facebook's New Free Speech Policy Shows Business Getting Back to Business
It’s the latest company to step back from dangerous alliances with political factions.
Nate Silver on "The Rise and Fall of 'Fact-Checking'"
"'Fact-checkers' as the high priests of journalism had a political beginning at Facebook — and have met a political end."
