Eugene Volokh is the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, and the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA School of Law. Naturally, his posts here (like the opinions of the other bloggers) are his own, and not endorsed by any institution.
Eugene Volokh
Latest from Eugene Volokh
Fighting Words in the Connecticut Supreme Court
Three interesting opinions: a sound majority, a plausible concurrence, and another concurrence focused on "hate speech" that I think is unsound.
Kamala Harris on the Second Amendment
A 2008 brief that she signed (1) argued that a total handgun ban was constitutional, and (2) strongly suggested that the Second Amendment doesn't secure an individual right.
Dean Lyrissa Lidsky on the Nicholas Sandmann Litigation
Dean Lidsky is a libel law scholar, and one of the two Reporters of the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Defamation & Privacy.
A $5,764 Small Claims Judgment Leads to …
competing conclusions of unconstitutionality under two separate constitutional provisions, in two separate jurisdictions.
Anti-Riot Act Partly Upheld, Partly Struck Down
The Fourth Circuit decides a case involving defendants who violently participated in two white supremacist rallies in California and in the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, but the logic applies equally to rioters of all stripes.
#MeToo, #TheyLied, and Pseudonymous Litigation (II)
When can libel plaintiffs, suing over allegedly false claims of sexual misconduct, sue pseudonymously? When can defendants defend pseudonymously?
Immediate Appellate Review of Prior Restraint in Cincinnati Policeman Libel Suit?
Here's an amicus brief we just filed. It's just like with the Nazis!
Is Solidified Pour-On Liquid Latex "Clothing"?
A Texas agency could concluded that it is not, says the Texas Court of Appeals.
Do Threatened Businesses and Institutions Have Heightened Legal Obligations to Provide Security?
This case involved a Colorado Springs abortion clinic, but it could equally apply to synagogues, bookstores selling books with Mohammed cartoons, animal research facilities, etc.
Statements about American Jews as a Group Can't Be Libelous
So holds a federal court, quite correctly; of course, the same is true about any religious group, racial group, or other such large group.
Tweeting That Someone Is Xenophobic Is Nonlibelous Opinion
An interesting decision in former AP journalist Charles Ganske's lawsuit against former Member of Parliament Louise Mensch, with allegations of Russian bots and Tweeting frenzies thrown in for good measure.
Defendant Ordered "Not to Post Pictures or Comments About" the Administrator of Nursing Home Where Defendant's Mother Lives
Unconstitutional, says a Massachusetts appellate court (correctly).
"The Information [U.S. Customs & Border Protection] Wants to Seal … [Is] Not Secret Anymore"
"CBP asks the Court to close the stable door to keep an invisible horse from bolting. But that stable door sat open for five months before CBP asked the Court to secure it. Neither the Court nor CBP know whether the horse is gone, but the possibility that it's still be there can't outweigh public's interest in open doors."
Government's Seeking to Force Landlord to Evict You Because of Your Threatened Lawsuit Against Police
would clearly violate the Constitution, and so would giving a ticket to your lover because of the romantic relationship.
Lawsuit Against Pro-Palestinian / Anti-Semitic Protesters Outside Synagogue Thrown Out
The First Amendment protects "'anti-Israeli, anti-Zionist, [and] antisemitic" speech, the court correctly observes.
Iowa State English Professor Forbids Papers "Against Gay Marriage, Abortion, Black Lives Matter,"
threatens to kick students out of class for "othering." Fortunately, the university has stepped in and rejected this position.
Cincinnati Enquirer Writes About the Police Officer's Pseudonymous Libel Lawsuit,
mentioning the name of an officer against whom publicly available complaints -- the contents of which matches the contents of the allegedly libelous post -- were filed.
Court Rejects Constitutional Challenge to Critical Teaching About Islamic Terrorism
The case was filed against the Maricopa County Community College District, over Prof. Nicholas Damask's World Politics class.
Saying a Lawyer "Need to Go Back to Law School" Not Libelous
Bonus: We learn that calling a doctor "a real tool" isn't libelous, either.
Restrictions on Grand Jurors' Speech Upheld …
in a case stemming from the Darren Wilson prosecution.
Puerto Rico Banned Political Officials from Mentioning Their Positions and Accomplishments on Social Media,
including on their own non-government-run reelection campaign pages. A federal court has just struck that down.
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).
"How Racist Are Universities, Really? Hyperbolic Accusations Do More Harm Than Good"
An excellent piece by Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy, one of the nation's leading scholars of race, law, and society.
