Eugene Volokh

Self-Defense

Duty to Retreat and Duty to Comply with Demands

If you support the duty to retreat (before using deadly force), what do you think of the duty to "comply[] with a demand ... [to] abstain from performing an act"?

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.22.2021 10:42 AM

Alcohol Awareness Month

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.21.2021 8:56 PM

Guns

3/4 of States Are Now Stand Your Ground; only 12 Are Duty to Retreat

But what exactly do these terms mean?

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.20.2021 6:07 PM

Free Speech

Social Media Platforms as Common Carriers?

An interesting conversation I had with UMass law professor (and associate dean) Shaun Spencer, organized by the UMass Law Federalist Society.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.20.2021 1:00 PM

Free Speech

Fear of Blackballing by Employers Doesn't Justify Pseudonymity in Wages-and-Hours Class Action

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.19.2021 8:01 AM

Kurt Lash Guest-Blogging on The Reconstruction Amendments: The Essential Documents

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.18.2021 9:31 PM

Free Speech

Court Order Protecting People Displaying Press Passes and Covering Protests in Minnesota

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.18.2021 5:56 PM

Free Speech

Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) Faculty Legal Defense Fund

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.18.2021 2:29 PM

Religion

Religion and Failure to Provide Medical Care for Dying Children

An illustration of our individualistic law of religious exemptions.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.17.2021 1:27 PM

Free Speech

Court Refuses to Seal Case That Plaintiff Wanted to Hide from Potential Employers

Unsurprisingly, the court also refuses to order private caselaw repositories and search engines to hide the information.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.16.2021 8:06 PM

"Caught up in a Storm of False Accusations, Professors Found Themselves Fighting to Clear Their Names"

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.16.2021 2:00 PM

Free Speech

"Facebook Prevents Sharing New York Post Story on Black Lives Matter Founder Patrisse Cullors' Real Estate"

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.16.2021 1:11 PM

Free Speech

Looking for E-Mail Distribution Service That Won't Limit What We Write

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.16.2021 12:31 PM

N.Y. Government Pressuring Regulated Insurance Companies into "Diversity" Hiring

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.16.2021 12:29 PM

"Governments [May Be Constitutionally Obligated] to Provide 'Vaccine Passports'"

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.16.2021 11:37 AM

Libel

Pharma Co. Demands Preliminary Injunction to Take Down Anesthesiology Journal Articles

Pacira Biosciences' redacted brief supporting the motion for the preliminary injunction is now available—but it says nothing about the First Amendment, or about how the injunction could escape the prior restraint doctrine.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.16.2021 8:01 AM

Thursday Open Thread

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.15.2021 5:36 PM

Race Discrimination

Florida Supreme Court Rejects Race/Sex/Etc. Quotas in Continuing Legal Education Programs

[UPDATE: This might make American Bar Association CLE programs, for which the ABA requires such quotas, ineligible for Florida CLE credit.]

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.15.2021 4:22 PM

Free Speech

Pharma Co. Suing American Society of Anesthesiologists, Seeking Removal of Criticisms in Anesthesiology Journal + Retraction

Pacira Biosciences, Inc. is suing over allegedly "false and misleading statements made about EXPAREL, a pain medication drug."

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.14.2021 7:33 PM

Free Speech

Threat of Frivolous but Reputation-Damaging Lawsuit Can Be Criminal Extortion,

if it's used as an attempt to get a settlement, the Ninth Circuit rules .

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.14.2021 3:15 PM

Free Speech

Zoom Sharply Reduces Its Content Restrictions for Academic Institutions

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.14.2021 12:10 PM

Abortion

6th Cir. Upholds Ban on Doctors Performing Abortions Knowing the Reason Is Down Syndrome

The 9-7 en banc ruling appears to rest on the ban applying on to doctors who know the woman's reason; women could apparently still get such abortions if they don't disclose the reason.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.13.2021 1:26 PM

Mass. Trial Court Rejects Right to Be Forgotten

"The Commonwealth's statute governing expunged records does not govern what the press may or may not choose to publish," and the First Amendment in any event protects such publication.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.13.2021 8:01 AM

Free Speech

City Council Member Owes $47K in Attorney Fees, for Losing Harassment Restraining Order Case Against Critics

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.12.2021 4:19 PM

Free Speech

Georgetown Law Prof. Lama Abu Odeh on the "Progressoriat" and "Georgetown's Cultural Revolution"

"Terror and dread fill academic workers, professors, and staff alike, and it is everywhere."

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.12.2021 3:48 PM

Free Speech

Criminal Impersonation and Criminal Libel

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.12.2021 8:01 AM

First Man in Space (Yuri Gagarin), 60 Years Ago Today

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.12.2021 3:01 AM

"[1] Cohabitating While Unmarried, [2] Unfamiliarity with [Shofars], and [3] Being Silly Are All Lawful Acts"

Good to know that!

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.10.2021 5:22 PM

Libel

"Provably False" to Call Club Owner "Tragically Pathetic"?

Quite a libel lawsuit here ....

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.9.2021 7:06 PM

Thursday Open Thread

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.8.2021 5:52 PM

Free Speech

Can Places of Public Accommodation Exclude People Based on Their Politics?

It all depends on where you are.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.8.2021 5:46 PM

Self-Defense

Stand Your Ground on Track to Adoption in North Dakota

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.8.2021 4:56 PM

Free Speech

The Blacklist Spreads: Twitch Now Banning "Known Hate Group" "Member[s]," "Even if These Actions Occur Entirely off Twitch"

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.8.2021 1:12 PM

Copyright

Some Thoughts on Google v. Oracle, from Prof. Rebecca Tushnet (Harvard)

"Categories, microworks, and market circularity."

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.8.2021 12:55 PM

Funny Lawyer Joke

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.7.2021 5:04 PM

Free Speech

Ex-Rep. Katie Hill's Revenge Porn Lawsuit Against Daily Mail (UK) Dismissed

"Defendant has established that the images are a matter of public concern, as they speak to Plaintiff's character and qualifications for her position as a Congresswoman, allegedly depicting an extramarital sexual relationship with a paid campaign staff member, the use of illegal drugs by a sitting Congresswoman, and a tattoo similar to the symbols formerly used by white supremacists."

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.7.2021 3:28 PM

Due Process

N.Y. Appellate Court Upholds Semester Suspension for Attending Unmasked/Undistanced Off-Campus Parties During Epidemic

“While the penalty of suspension is very harsh, it is not shockingly disproportionate to the offense. It does not shock the conscience for a university, acting during a pandemic, to enforce rules designed to prevent the spread of the virus with the penalty of suspension.”

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.7.2021 1:16 PM

Arabic Numerals, the Supreme Court, and Where Credit Is Due

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.7.2021 1:08 PM

Right of Access

Names of Police Officers Involved in Defensive Shooting of Suspects Aren't Public Records

So holds the Florida Court of Appeal, interpreting the Florida Constitution's crime victims' rights provision. ("If a prosecutor determines that the officer was  not a victim and instead charges the officer for his conduct," the names would be released, but no such determination was made here.)

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.7.2021 12:56 PM

Free Speech

University Trying to Block Distribution of Faculty Senate Meeting Video Excerpts Using Copyright Law

An interesting controversy involving Portland State University.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.7.2021 8:01 AM

Free Speech

"The People Have Every Right to Look Over Our Shoulder and Review the Documents Before the Court"

"This is beyond the pale. The indiscriminate use of the confidentiality stamp alone warrants the denial of the entirety of the motions."

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.5.2021 5:56 PM

Free Speech

Justice Thomas Suggests Rethinking Legal Status of Digital Platforms

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.5.2021 10:49 AM

Free Speech

Some Rhetoric from the Rotenberg v. Politico Complaint

Gripes about publishers getting "private commercial benefit" from "hate speech, propaganda, and statements that seek to destabilize American democracy"; argument that "[t]he public figure doctrine emerged in an era prior to the Internet advertising model that rewards news organizations for the ongoing display of defamatory content."

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.5.2021 8:01 AM

Libel

The Legal Complexities in Rotenberg v. Politico—#1332 Might Surprise You!

Remember: Lawyers’ true superpower is the power to turn all questions into questions about procedure.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.4.2021 2:47 PM

Free Speech

The Libel Portion of the Rotenberg v. Politico Lawsuit

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.4.2021 1:49 PM

Free Speech

When Is It Tortious to Report on Someone's Positive COVID Result?

A privacy controversy in a lawsuit by privacy advocate Marc Rotenberg (formerly of EPIC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center).

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.3.2021 5:03 PM

Race Discrimination

Vermont: Special Vaccine Access If You're of the Right Racial Group

Clearly unconstitutional.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.2.2021 3:06 PM

Torts

California Court Refuses to Apply Iranian Law, in Part Because It Reflects Religious Ideology Rather Than Economic Interest

Plaintiff had been an Iranian citizen exposed to asbestos in Iran, from 1959 to 1979; he then moved to California (after defendants' negligent conduct took place), and developed mesothelioma and died.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.2.2021 2:39 PM