Eugene Volokh is the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law at UCLA. Naturally, his posts here (like the opinions of the other bloggers) are his own, and not endorsed by any educational institution.
Eugene Volokh
Latest from Eugene Volokh
N.J. Court: Newark May Impose Employee Vaccine Mandate Without Negotiating with Union
The appellate court reversed a Public Employment Relations Commission, which had partly restrained the implementation of the mandate.
"Must SCOTUS Injunctions Abide By Precedent?"
A very interesting post by my former colleague (now at the University of Virginia) Richard Re.
"I Eat Ass" Bumper Sticker Might Be Obscene and Thus Constitutionally Unprotected
So holds a district court, concluding that the law is unclear enough that a police officer was entitled to qualified immunity based on his arresting a man for the sticker.
Sheriff Violated First Amendment by Ordering Teen to Take Down Post Saying She Had COVID
“Defendants may have preferred to keep Marquette County residents ignorant to the possibility of COVID-19 in their community for a while longer, so they could avoid having to field calls from concerned citizens, but that preference did not give them authority to hunt down and eradicate inconvenient Instagram posts.”
Libel in the Society for Creative Anachronism
An interesting example of libel that harms reputation within a social community, rather than professional or business reputation.
Friday Open Thread
Friday is the new Thursday, this week.
Government's Frivolous, Retaliatory Demand for Critic's Business Records May Violate First Amendment
"When ordinary people without legal training receive a demand from a government agency to produce tax returns and evidence justifying their business activities, a natural reaction is some degree of apprehension and defensiveness. Such concern is sensible because the transaction costs of dealing with a government investigation are never zero."
Virginia Tech Computer Policy Banning "Intimidation, Harassment, and Unwarranted Annoyance" Is Unconstitutionally Vague and Overbroad
So holds a federal district court.
Tenure Review Files Can't Be Sealed in Academic Employment Discrimination Lawsuit
“Evidence about Penn’s treatment of other tenure candidates will be at the heart of the parties’ arguments.”
Supreme Court Will Stick with Some Seriatim Argument This Fall
The experiment, instituted for remote arguments, seems to have been judged to have been a success. [UPDATE: Note the correction, which I hope is indeed correct ....]
Inadequately Amend Your Complaint, End Your Complaint
Court dismisses Ice Cube's trademark lawsuit over Robinhood's use of his image and of a version of his "Check you self before you wreck yo self" line.
Bonnie Snyder (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) Guest-Blogging About "Undoctrinate" …
"How Politicized Classrooms Harm Kids and Ruin Our Schools―and What We Can Do About It."
Muslim Women Have First Amendment Right Not to Remove Head Covering for Booking Photos
The same logic would apply to Orthodox Jewish women, and to men who wear religious headgear,
Court Rejects First Amendment Overbreadth Challenge to Ban on Obstructing Law Enforcement
The defendant is accused of spraying Portland police officers with bear spray at a protest outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building.
Allegations in Complaint Against Real Estate Agent Broadly Protected Against Libel Liability
So holds the Nevada Supreme Court, applying Nevada law.
Court Seals Name of Party, Orders Public Access Advocacy Group Not to Mention the Name
An interesting prior restraint case now being litigated in the Hawaii Supreme Court.
Paycheck Protection Program Exclusion of Nude Dancing Establishments Likely Constitutional
So says the Seventh Circuit, agreeing with an earlier Second Circuit decision.
Thursday Open Thread
What's on your mind?
Legal Tweet of the Day
The initial question is good, too.
Thursday Open Thread
Better late than never.
California Law Would Define "Harass" to Include Approaching Within 30 Feet to Give Leaflets to Strangers, or to Try to Speak to Them
The bill—focused on speech outside vaccination centers (except labor protests)—just passed both houses of the Legislature, and is waiting for Governor Newsom's signature.
"[No] Posting Anything Further About [Plaintiff]"—You're "Planting Bad Thoughts in People's Heads"
That was the justification for a trial court order, which the North Carolina Court of Appeals has just reversed.
Challenging Unconstitutional Civil Liability Schemes, as to Abortion, Speech, Guns, Etc.
By and large, those schemes (like Texas’s SB 8 liability for abortion providers) must be fought by raising the Constitution as a defense in a civil lawsuit—not through preenforcement challenges.
Thursday Open Thread
What's on your mind?
Virginia Isn't Bound by 1890 Deed to Perpetually Display Robert E. Lee Monument
"Governor McKinney had no power to contract away the Commonwealth's essential power of freedom of government speech in perpetuity by simply signing the 1890 Deed."
Ban on Photographing Children in Parks Struck Down,
in a case brought by a woman who was trying to document her claims that a school affiliated with a local Islamic center was overusing a local park.