Civil Liberties
Protests Outside People's Homes (Residential Picketing) and the First Amendment
They can be banned, so long as the ban is content-neutral, and so long as people remain free to generally march through the neighborhood (as opposed to protesting right outside the target's home).
Exposing Donations to Political Causes Can Chill Free Speech
Two lessons from the Canadian truckers' protest
Why Hate Speech Laws Backfire
A new history of free speech argues the best way to defeat hate speech is by openly confronting it in the public square.
Interesting Public Records vs. Academic Freedom Case Related to Animal Research
UPDATE: As predicted, PETA has moved to intervene. FURTHER UPDATE: The court has indeed allowed PETA to intervene.
A Federal Lawsuit Challenges Blatantly Unconstitutional Anti-Crime Checkpoints in Jackson, Mississippi
"You can't treat everyone like a criminal to find the criminals," an outraged driver says. In Jackson, apparently you can.
Colorado Legislators Advance Bill To Ban Police from Lying to Minors During Interrogations
Reason reported last year on how minors are particularly susceptible to being coerced into false confessions.
An Off-Duty Cop Murdered His Ex-Wife. The California Highway Patrol Ignored the Red Flags.
When cops don't police their own, the results can be deadly.
Florida House Passes 'Don't Say Gay' Bill Without Amendment Requiring Principals To Out Students
Problems with the legislation remain, including vague prohibitions that will likely bury schools in lawsuits.
Secret Surveillance Warrants Remain Secret
In November, the Supreme Court declined to consider an ACLU petition arguing that the public has a First Amendment right to see the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court's classified decisions.
College Basketball Star Wayne Arnold (Concordia) Sues for Libel, Discrimination, Etc.
It all started with a stolen PlayStation 5.
Anti-Crime Checkpoints in Jackson, Mississippi, Blatantly Violate the Fourth Amendment
To "get wanted individuals off the streets," police are stopping drivers without any evidence that they have broken the law.
Texas Classifies Medical Treatment of Trans Minors as Abuse, Threatens Parents, Orders Caregivers To Snitch
These orders aren’t about safety. They’re a complete rejection of the legitimacy of these procedures, and a denial of individual liberty.
Michigan Witness-Retaliation-by-Threats Law Requires Intent to Threaten Physical Injury (or Crime)
One judge would have held that threats to injure reputation are criminalized by the law, but the other two disagreed.
Libel Plaintiff Cites "Cancel Culture" in Seeking Protective Order for Identities of Witnesses
The case stems from defendant's claims that plaintiff, a comic book writer, said racist things to her at a comic-book-business social function.
Justin Trudeau's Crackdown Will Make Bitcoin and Cash More Popular
There’s no freedom if the state can separate us from our money.
Grabbing Guns Won't Reduce Urban Violence
Firearm seizures are ineffective, and gun possession arrests are frequently unjust.
The Verdict Against Ahmaud Arbery's Killers Highlights the Problems With Federal Hate Crime Statutes
Such laws, which allow redundant prosecutions based on defendants' bigoted beliefs, supposedly are authorized by the amendment that banned slavery.
Can a Web Designer Be Forced To Make Gay Wedding Pages? The Supreme Court Will Decide
Will this follow-up to the famous wedding cake case finally decide if this is mandated speech violating the First Amendment?
Arizona House Committee Approves Bill To Criminalize Filming Cops on the Job
"You'll have a bunch of people who plead to avoid trial or go broke trying to vindicate their rights."
Libel Case Based on Allegations that Plaintiff Had Made Specific Racist Statements Can Go Forward
The plaintiff, Frank Gogol, and the defendant, Malissa White, are both comic book writers.
Bitcoin Can Fix Financial Deplatforming of Canada's Truckers—But It Won't Be Easy
The government controls on the traditional banking system also apply to custodial cryptocurrency services.
Licensing of Speaking Professions Doesn't Violate First Amendment
So holds the Eleventh Circuit, as to dieticians, viewing itself as bound by an earlier decision involving interior designers.
How Anti-Smut Activists Made 'Louie, Louie' Famous
Censors wore out their welcome during the 20th century's indecency wars.
Conviction for Surreptitiously Recording Conversation with Police Chief in His Office Reversed;
on remand, jury must be instructed that it has to determine (among other things) whether the defendant “reasonably believed the conversation was not confidential.”
No Sealing of Police Body-Cam Video in Lawsuit Over Confrontation With Police,
even though the video includes a brief appearance by a minor (a friend of plaintiff's).
Court in Civil Case Holds Trump's Jan. 6 Speech Could Be Constitutionally Unprotected Incitement
But the claims against Donald J. Trump, Jr. and Rudy Giuliani are dismissed.
Students Strip Searched for Vaping Devices
Prosecutor says no criminal charges will be filed, because the girls could leave their undergarments on.
Biden Administration Files Dubious Lawsuit Challenging Missouri's Gun Sanctuary Law [Updated with a Note on State Courts]
The suit deserves to fail for much the same reasons as Trump-era attacks on immigration sanctuaries.
The Revolt of the Canadian Truckers
In an age of elite scorn, government mandates, a rotten economy—and powerful, decentralized communication tools—common people are pushing back.
European Leaders Find Backdoor Way To Ban Porn on Social Media
Plus: Elon Musk accuses the SEC of trying to silence him, Elizabeth Warren gets her antitrust wish, and more...