Civil Liberties
"Gaslighting" Isn't "Abuse" for Child Custody Law Purposes
So holds an Oregon appellate court.
Department of Homeland Security
DHS Funded
Plus: FISA reauthorization, driverless trucks in California, and an Epstein suicide note.
California Can't Define 'Hate Speech' But May Mandate Workplace Training Anyway
The term “hate speech” gets thrown around a lot, but it’s legally protected in the U.S.
How High
Plus: FISA reauthorization passes the House, a very capitalist museum, escalation in the redistricting wars, and more...
"[Anti-Harassment] Injunctions Are Not a Remedy for Interpersonal Conflict"
So reasons a Florida appellate court, though other courts in other states seem to take a different view.
SCOTUS Narrows the Reach of the Voting Rights Act
Plus: The Supreme Court says “demands for a charity’s private member or donor information” raises First Amendment problems.
Free Speech Unmuted: "Defamacast" and More: How American Defamation Law Works
Jane and I lay out the structure of American defamation law, using the recent lawsuits brought by FBI Director Kash Patel as a launching point. Special bonus: Almost no discussion of New York Times v. Sullivan (an important case but one that listeners have doubtless heard much about elsewhere).
Bankers Scouring Porn Sites. Payment Processors Punishing Journalists. Here's How 'Big Finance' Is Chilling Speech
Financial censorship should worry us all, suggests Rainey Reitman in Transaction Denied.
Unanimous Supreme Court Affirms Standing to Challenge Subpoena for Info on Financial Supporters
The Court dispatches with an easy case the lower courts should have gotten right.
All New Cars Could Have Mandatory Surveillance Tech Unless Congress Stops This Mandate
Cars are already spying on drivers. A 2021 law requires manufacturers to install more tracking technology.
Fauci Aide Charged
Plus: A dicey FISA reauthorization, kingly quips about burning down the White House, the world's narrowest tax breaks, and more...
"Making Negative Statements" About People to Their Employers = Criminal Harassment
"[S]tatements made to third parties can be 'directed at' the victim," and thus criminal harassment if they're repeated and likely to cause serious annoyance or distress, "when they are designed to provoke an adverse consequence against the victim."
A SCOTUS Case Exposes the Dangers of 2 Misguided Fourth Amendment Doctrines
"Geofence" searches illustrate the perilous combination of modern technology and deference to law enforcement.
Trump Administration's Review of ABC's Broadcast Licenses Looks Like 'Illegal Jawboning'
When he returned to the White House, Trump vowed to protect free speech from the government. The FCC's latest move against ABC and Disney looks like the opposite.
Historic Taking
The owners of the house that Marilyn Monroe died in claim in a lawsuit that the city took their property when it landmarked it.
D.C. Circuit Lets Pentagon Require That Journalists Be Escorted While in Pentagon
The panel (by a 2-1 vote) stayed a district court order that, among other things, blocked the newly established escort requirement.
SCOTUS Weighs 'Geofence Warrants' and the Future of Digital Privacy
The government wants access to millions of cell phone location histories. The Supreme Court will decide what the Fourth Amendment allows.
Judge Reaffirms: EEOC May Subpoena Penn's Records as to "Jewish-Related Organizations" (and Others) in Investigation of Anti-Semitic Harassment at Penn
But the judge suspends his decision pending appeal, so that the appellate court has "time to consider and decide the merits of this case, absent unnecessary procedural deadlines."
Why Homewrecking in North Carolina Could Cost You Millions
Some states still allow vengeful spouses to sue a third party for destroying their marriages.
Civil Liberties Groups Sue for Information on ICE's Speech-Chilling Subpoenas
The feds have been demanding that tech companies identify the administration's anonymous online critics. That violates the First Amendment.
Allowing Censorship of Military Retirees Like Sen. Mark Kelly Would Set a Chilling and Dangerous Precedent
To justify punishing a legislator for his speech, a FIRE brief notes, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth relies on a Supreme Court precedent that is clearly inapposite.
Congress Still Has a Chance To Curb Section 702 Surveillance Abuses
Sen. Ron Wyden warns that Americans would be “stunned” at how officials have used the law.
Separation of Church and State
Federal Appeals Court Says Texas' Ten Commandments Law Isn't Indoctrination
The 5th Circuit upheld a controversial law requiring Texas schools to display the Ten Commandments.
No Libel in "Murder for Hire Conspiracy Case Results in Conviction" Headline,
even though (as the full article explained) the conviction was for attempt to commit stalking, not for conspiracy to commit murder.
Injunction Against Publicly Identifying Pseudonymous Litigants Is Content-Based Prior Restraint,
and thus presumptively a First Amendment violation (though here the presumption was rebutted by national security interests).
Fourth Circuit Upholds Injunction Against Disclosing Names of Perceived Afghan Collaborators
The order came in a peculiar context—a civil lawsuit over the custody of a child born in Afghanistan—but its logic extends further.
