This Mom Was Jailed for Leaving Her Teen Home Alone. Now, She's Suing.
An appeals court rejected a qualified immunity defense.
Law & Government
The World Is Still Getting Less Free. A Distressing Number of People Think That's Fine.
Report: “Half of democratic governments around the world are in decline.”
Biden Signs Respect for Marriage Act Into Law
Federal recognition of same-sex marriage is now officially on the books and no longer dependent on the Supreme Court.
Senate Investigation Finds Federal Prisons Fail to Prevent or Investigate Rapes
Long delays and management failures "allowed serious, repeated sexual abuse in at least four facilities to go undetected."
Divided D.C. Circuit Reaffirms F.E.C.'s Enforcement Discretion
A split U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied an en banc petition challenging the Federal Election Commission's failure to pursue claims against New Models.
Merchants of Death, Swaps, and Shake-ups
Plus: The editors briefly celebrate a noteworthy shake-up in the Senate.
Supreme Court Decides to Hear Second Case Challenging Legality of Biden's Loan Forgiveness Plan
Like the first case, it will be argued in February. In the meantime, the plan remains blocked.
What Happened When Mark Joseph Stern Interviewed Judge William Pryor
Slate's legal correspondent questioned the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit about the Federalist Society.
Crime Victims' Rights Now Integrated Throughout the Arizona Rules
The Arizona Supreme Court becomes the first state Supreme Court to thoroughly incorporate crime victims' rights in its rules of criminal procedure. Others should follow.
Sinema's Defection from Democrats Sows Welcome Chaos Among the Political Class
We should appreciate anything that shakes the confidence of both major parties.
Pandemic Repairs Were Supposed To Put D.C. Metro Back on Track. Then It Literally Went Off the Rails.
Putting the district's train system back on track will take more than better bureaucracy.
Would a Carbon Tax Kill Jobs?
A new study examines what happened in British Columbia, while a second looks at how to ensure "revenue neutrality."
'MyPlate,' the USDA's 'Food Pyramid' Replacement, Is Also a Dud
The federal government continues to be very bad at telling people what and how to eat.
Adam Schiff Attempts Censorship by Proxy, 'Demanding Action' To Suppress 'Hate Speech' on Twitter
Instead of debating whether the platform has been flooded by bigotry, Elon Musk should tell the congressman to mind his own business.
Is the "Speak Out Act" Constitutional?
What power lets Congress exempt harassment allegations from NDAs?
Is Justice Jackson the "De Facto Leader" of Progressive Originalists?
Originalist scholar Larry Solum suggests KBJ could be the Left's Antonin Scalia.
It's Far Past Time To Decriminalize Fentanyl Test Strips
Plus: Lawmakers "demanding action" against slurs on Twitter, FTC sues to stop Microsoft from buying Activision Blizzard, and more...
"Sexually Tinged Words" to 10-Year-Old Insufficient to Prove Attempt to Sexually Assault / Entice into Car
An interesting illustration of the evidence required to prove an attempt to commit a crime.
Indiana Lawsuit Accuses TikTok of Fraud, Calls the App a 'Chinese Trojan Horse'
The lawsuit alleges that TikTok's algorithm funnels inappropriate content directly to teens. That not only defies logic, but it is also antithetical to how a social media platform keeps users.
Republicans Will Have To Rely on New Deal–Era Court Precedents If They Want a Federal Abortion Ban
The Supreme Court said in 1942 that local activity, not just interstate activity, was subject to congressional regulation.
Congress' Lame-Duck Legislators Want To Spend Money Like We're Still in a Pandemic
It's especially outrageous when considering the billions of dollars in fraud that took place thanks to COVID-19 relief programs.
Loan Forgiveness Litigation Roundup
This post covers significant developments in cases challenging Biden's loan-forgiveness plan other than the one Supreme Court has decided to hear.
A Law That Facilitates Cannabis Research Exemplifies the Modesty of the Reforms We Can Expect From Congress
Making it easier for scientists to study marijuana is a far cry from the liberalization that most Americans want.
Real ID Enforcement Has Been Pushed Back. Again.
The Real ID Act was passed in 2005. 17 years later, it's worth asking if it's finally time to scrap the law.
Raphael Warnock Defeats Herschel Walker, Removing Obstacle to Biden Administration Agenda
Democrats had already retained their majority, but by keeping Warnock's seat, they gained even more power in the upper chamber to hinder Republican opposition.
A 10-Year-Old Boy Shot and Killed His Mother. Wisconsin Is Charging Him As an Adult.
There is little utility to charging 10-year-olds as adults, yet Wisconsin still mandates the practice in certain cases.
Cronyist Journalism Measure Could Prompt Facebook To Ban News
Plus: ACLU sides against religious freedom, abortions after Dobbs, and more...
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Federal Government Can't Seem to Decide How the CFPB Is Funded
The Solicitor General's brief defending how the CFPB is funded contradicts what the agency and others have said in the past.
What Twitter's Suppression of the Hunter Biden Laptop Story Tells Us About the Media
Plus: The editors consider a listener question on the involuntary hospitalization of the mentally ill.
New York Forces Websites To Monitor 'Hateful' Speech. A New Lawsuit Says This Violates the First Amendment.
"The state of New York can't turn bloggers into Big Brother, but it's trying to do just that," said FIRE attorney Daniel Ortner.
Supreme Court Debates Whether Web Designers Can Be Forced To Make Gay Wedding Pages
A million hypotheticals bloom in arguments over when and where the government may compel speech.
Puerto Rico Inches Toward Self-Determination
"At this point, it is pretty much a fact that Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States," says one observer.
Court Holds That Indiana RFRA Provides Religious Exemptions from Abortion Ban
Note that the decision is not inconsistent with the Supreme Court's holding in Dobbs, though it may of course still be overturned on appeal on other grounds.
Is Florida Giving Up Its Fight Against 'Woke' Disney?
Lawmakers are reportedly planning to undo legislation that would have revoked Disney's special tax and governance status.
Eleventh Circuit Quashes Trump Effort to Block Federal Government Access to Mar-a-Lago Documents
In a brief and forceful opinion, a unanimous court explains why the trial court never had jurisdiction to consider Trump's filings in the first place.
Supreme Court Will Hear Case on Legality of Biden Loan Forgiveness Plan
In the meantime, the justices left in place a lower court injunction against the plan. That probably doesn't bode well for the Biden Administration's chances of winning.
Students at Yale Faced Mental Health Crises. Instead of Helping Them, Yale Forced Them Out.
Administrative bloat leads to increased indifference to struggling students.
Supreme Court to Hear Student Loan Forgiveness Case
The justices refuse to vacate the injunction against President Biden's student loan forgiveness policy, but accept certiorari.
You Can Record Video of Police in Action. But Can You Livestream That Video?
Plus: Court rejects Biden plea on student loan plan, Ohio cops don't understand the First Amendment, and more...
A Lame-Duck Congress Should Reject the Extended Child Tax Credit
The policy has some bipartisan support, despite the fact that it has mostly been a failure since its inception.
Eric Adams' Plan To Involuntarily Hospitalize Mentally Ill Homeless People Will Face Legal Challenges
Civil liberties groups say Adams' plan violates constitutional rights protecting people with mental illness from being confined against their will simply for existing.
What Does the Respect for Marriage Act Actually Say?
This isn't something radical. It basically just affirms a status quo supported by the polls.
