Civil Liberties
Nebraska Municipalities May Not Ban Guns from Public Parks, Trails, and Sidewalks
So concludes the Nebraska AG's office, partly based on Nebraska state law and partly based on the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
Town Says Burger Joint's Mural Can't Show Any Burgers
Salina, Kansas, restaurant owner Steve Howard argues in a new lawsuit that the city's sign regulations violate the First Amendment.
Florida Man Sentenced to 4 Years in Federal Prison After Shooting Down a Drone
Rather than destruction of property, Wendell Goney was convicted of possession of a firearm as a felon.
"Freedom of Expression in Generative AI—A Snapshot of Content Policies"
A new report from the Future of Free Speech project (a collaboration between Vanderbilt University and Justitia).
California Violated the Second Amendment by Disarming People Based on Nullified Convictions
A federal judge ruled that three men who committed nonviolent felonies decades ago are entitled to buy, own, and possess guns.
New York Times Staffers Bullied a Conservative Writer
The Chick-fil-A story heard 'round the world.
Sheriff Who Presided Over Violent 'Goon Squad' Tries To Play Dumb
"Nobody's ever reported that to me," Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey said after his deputies admitted to brutalizing innocent people.
SCOTUS Ponders the Implications of Prosecuting Gun Owners for a Crime Invented by Bureaucrats
Several justices seemed troubled by an ATF rule that purports to ban bump stocks by reinterpreting the federal definition of machine guns.
Justice Department Finds Unconstitutional Conditions in 3 More Mississippi Prisons
Mississippi's prisons are falling apart, run by gangs, and riddled with sexual assaults, a Justice Department report says.
Texas Sues Pornhub for Failing to Check IDs
A federal judge in an ongoing case called the porn age-check scheme unconstitutional. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton doesn't seem to care.
Supreme Court Looks Poised To Gut Restrictive Social Media Laws
The First Amendment restricts governments, not private platforms, and respects editorial rights.
Texas and Florida Say the First Amendment Must Be Sacrificed to Save It
Supreme Court arguments about two social media laws highlight a dangerous conflation of state and private action.
Preview of Supreme Court Bump Stock Case
In Cargill v. Garland, the Court should apply the National Firearms Act text that Congress did enact, and not the text that gun control advocates wish had been enacted.
Most Justices Seem Skeptical of the Florida and Texas Social Media Laws
The Supreme Court seems inclined to recognize that content moderation is protected by the First Amendment.
China and Iran Have Their WikiLeaks Moment
Hackers have unmasked some of the tactics Beijing and Tehran use to silence their opponents.
Poll: Almost a Third of Americans Say the First Amendment Goes 'Too Far'
The survey also found that two-thirds of respondents believe that America is on the "wrong track" when it comes to free speech.
Requiring Public High School Student to Perform Monologue by Classmate May Be Unconstitutional Speech Compulsion
The monologue was sexually themed, but it's not clear to what extent the court's rationale might extend to situations where a student objects to the monologue for other reasons.
Netflix Wins Lawsuit Over 13 Reasons Why, on Statute of Limitations Grounds
The plaintiffs claimed that 15-year-old Bella Herndon committed suicide because of the film.
The Spy in Your Pocket
Byron Tau's Means of Control documents how the private sector helps government agencies keep tabs on American citizens.
Supreme Court Seems Likely to Strike Down Florida and Texas Social Media Laws
The laws violate the First Amendment because they require social media sites to abjure most content moderation, and platform speech they disapprove of.
Texas and Florida Want the Supreme Court To Bless Their Unconstitutional Social Media Laws
Both states are trying to force tech companies to platform certain sorts of speech.
4 Reasons Trump Says a Judge Should Dismiss Charges in the Classified Documents Case
His lawyers assert presidential immunity and discretion, criticize an "unconstitutionally vague" statute, and question the special counsel's legal status.
Free Speech Unmuted: Book Bans—or Are They?
I'm delighted to announce this new video/audio podcast series by Prof. Jane Bambauer (Florida) and me, and its first episode.
States Try To Strip Sex From Literature in Libraries, Schools
These aren't outright bans. But they still can chill free speech and academic freedom.
"The Coddling of the American Mind" Movie
This is the film based on the bestselling book by FIRE's Greg Lukianoff and Prof. Jonathan Haidt (NYU).
Proposition E Would Make It Easier for Police To Surveil San Francisco
The measure, which will be on the March 5 ballot, would greatly expand the SFPD's power while subjecting it to even less scrutiny.
Justin Amash: 'I'd Impeach Every President'
Former Rep. Justin Amash says "the idea of introducing impeachment legislation suggests there's other people who will join you. Otherwise, it's just an exercise in futility."
Biden Is Trying To Motivate Voters Who Oppose Pot Prohibition. Maybe He Should Stop Supporting It.
The supposedly reformed drug warrior's intransigence on the issue complicates his appeal to young voters, who overwhelmingly favor legalization.
Fourth Circuit on One-Sided Pseudonymity in Sexual Assault Cases
The decision allows such pseudonymity when the defendant has already been found (by default judgment) to have committed the assault, but Judge Wilkinson's concurrence argues that, absent this unusual factor, one-sided pseudonymity should be frowned on.
Government Is Snooping on Your Phone
Many apps collect data that is then accessed by outside entities. Should you care?
The Biden Administration Is Bent on Setting an Alarming Precedent by Prosecuting Julian Assange
The WikiLeaks founder already has spent as much time in a London prison as DOJ lawyers say he is likely to serve if convicted in the U.S.
"Victimizing the Families of Opposing Counsel and Causing Well-Founded Concern for Their Well-Being … Is … a Profound Dishonor as a Lawyer"
"Lawyers in litigation may be expected to assume the risk of a certain amount of rough-and-tumble. Their families do not. In preying on the families of opposing counsel, Mr. Manookian crossed the Rubicon."
White University Administrator's Race Discrimination Case Can Go Forward
The administrator, at Texas A & M University Texarkana, alleges he was pushed out because of his race, and because he had declined to discipline a student who "had used the word 'Nigga' in [a classmate's] presence while on a trip to the mall."
Don't Pick Out That Corvette Yet: Prosecutor Loses Libel Lawsuit Against Newspaper
What does it mean, in context, to say that a prosecutor "assisted with the prosecution" of someone who has been exonerated?
