Eugene Volokh

Torts

Dog Nips Cow, Cow Tramples Man

If a statute imposes strict liability for dog bites, does that extend to a herding dog nipping at a cow that then trampled the plaintiff?

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.4.2019 11:06 AM

Volokh Conspiracy

A Fine Obituary for the Weekly Standard, from Reason's Katherine Mangu-Ward

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.3.2019 8:32 PM

Volokh Conspiracy

Welcome Also to Our New Coblogger Stephen Sachs

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.3.2019 5:49 PM

Crime

Welcome to Our New Coblogger, Irina Manta

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.3.2019 5:39 PM

Crime

The Northam Controversy, the Kavanaugh Controversy, and Long-Past Misbehavior

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.2.2019 2:37 PM

Criminal Law

Refusal to Testify = Being Accessory After the Fact

An interesting 2018 California case I just came across.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.2.2019 1:54 PM

Crime

No, Gov. Northam Shouldn't Resign Because of 1984 Blackface/KKK Photo

A 60-year-old is far removed from the 25-year-old he once was.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.1.2019 8:58 PM

Crime

California State Bar Gender / Sexual Orientation Options

I'm just registering for my online bar account, and here's what I'm given for a survey they're running about, among other things, professional satisfaction.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.1.2019 3:28 PM

Islam

Council of Europe: "The Institution of Sharia Law and a Theocratic Regime [Are] Incompatible with … a Democratic Society"

The Council of Europe's new resolution about Sharia at home and abroad.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.1.2019 10:57 AM

Guns

Second and Fourth Amendments

"Since openly carrying a handgun is not only not unlawful [in Washington], but is an individual right protected by the federal and state constitutions [as the Washington Supreme Court had earlier held]," it cannot "be the basis, without more, for an investigative stop."

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.31.2019 8:36 PM

Islam

"Shariah Law Does Not Apply" -- But American Law Does

A Michigan appellate court correctly enforces a Muslim couple's "mahr" agreement, entered at the time of the couple's marriage and calling for the husband to pay certain funds to the wife -- it's a valid contract, enforceable under secular law, regardless of its religious motivation.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.30.2019 6:26 PM

Crime

John Althouse Cohen on the Covington Boys

"The encounter was so mundane that you have to wonder what other non-events will be used to try to destroy you or me."

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.28.2019 7:53 PM

Free Speech

Attempted Vanishing of Online Posts, All the Way Down

Don Lichterman was convicted of forgery; I wrote about it. Someone using his name tried to get Google to vanish my article; I wrote about that. Now someone is trying to get Google to vanish that later article -- and to vanish online court records that refer to Mr. Lichterman's case.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.28.2019 1:38 PM

Free Speech

Man Fined $210 in Switzerland for Saying "Allahu Akbar" to a Friend in Public

A police official said "manner in which the phrase had been spoken was key ... and added police officers would have acted in the same way if someone had run around a local square swearing loudly"; but the man denies he was shouting.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.25.2019 8:15 PM

Crime

Law Swag

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.25.2019 8:16 AM

Libel

Libel Law and the Covington Boys

Facts vs. opinions; compensatory/presumed/punitive damages; negligence, recklessness, and knowledge; libel per se; timing; choice of law; and more defamation law fun.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.24.2019 1:01 PM

Crime

TV Recommendations

What have you watched recently, and really liked?

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.23.2019 10:40 PM

Free Speech

Attempt to Get Google to Vanish My Article About a Forged Court Order

The anatomy of two unfounded deindexing requests.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.23.2019 6:43 PM

Religion

Will the Court Read the Free Exercise Clause as Often Mandating Religious Exemptions from Generally Applicable Laws?

Four conservative Justices (Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh) so suggested in an opinion today -- and Justice Breyer had taken a similar view 20 years ago.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.22.2019 2:26 PM

Crime

When Asking for Amicus Briefs, Give Plenty of Lead Time

Parties sometimes wait until their brief is filed before asking for an amicus brief -- but that usually leaves just days or at most a few weeks for the amicus to write the brief.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.20.2019 3:10 PM

Crime

"Doctors Saved Man's Life by Pumping 15 Cans of Beer Into His Body"

Apparently he was suffering from methanol poisoning his liver, and administering ethanol seems to make the methanol less harmful.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.18.2019 6:12 PM

Libel

Appellate Court Rejects Cartoonist Ted Rall's Libel and Employment Claims Against L.A. Times

The claim stemmed from the Times' published statements "questioning the accuracy of a blog post plaintiff wrote for The Times," and the Times' decision not to publish more work from Rall.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.18.2019 5:56 PM

Guns

Washington Lt. Gov. Skips Governor's Speech Because People with Concealed Carry Permits Could Attend

Shouldn't he be avoiding most of the whole state of Washington?

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.16.2019 8:09 PM

Free Speech

The Shutdown and the First Amendment

What happens if a commercial speech licensing scheme is on hold -- and thus the speakers can't speak -- because of the federal government shutdown?

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.16.2019 4:50 PM

Free Speech

Alabama Judge Strikes Down State Law Protecting Confederate Monuments

But the decision seems wrong as a matter of federal constitutional law, because the law regulates only local governments -- and local governments lack any federal constitutional rights against their states.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.15.2019 6:47 PM

Guns

N.Y. Bill Would Violate Gun Rights, Free Speech Rights, and Privacy

Among other things, it would call for investigators to review three years' worth of a would-be gun buyer's social media postings for "excessive discriminatory content."

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.15.2019 5:54 PM

Guns

Many Foreign Tourists -- and Most Foreign Students -- Are Barred from Going to Shooting Ranges

Come from England or Japan for a short visit? Feel free to shoot at a range! Return on a student visa? Federal felony for you (and friends who take you) if you go shooting. Unless, of course, you've gotten a hunting license -- even if the range visit is completely unrelated to the hunting.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.15.2019 8:03 AM

Free Speech

Orlando-Area Lawyer Interested in Pro Bono Unsealing Case?

I'm trying to get access to the papers in an Orange County (Florida) case in which someone got a a restraining order that he is using to try to get online criticism deindexed by Google.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.14.2019 4:53 PM

Crime

Chief Justice Robots

What should it take for us to accept AIs as judges?

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.14.2019 8:01 AM

Guns

More on Guns and Strict Liability

An interesting opinion from an Illinois appellate judge, arguing against the Illinois rule under which it's a crime to possess a gun with a defaced serial number even if one has no reason to know that it's defaced.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.13.2019 8:58 AM

Guns

Illegal Aliens, Guns, and Strict Liability

Federal law bans felons, illegal aliens, and others from knowingly possessing guns (or ammunition); does the government also have to show that the defendant knew he was a felon, illegal alien, or within some other prohibited category? [UPDATE: Last paragraph corrected.]

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.12.2019 6:39 PM

Guns

Ninth Circuit Upholds Federal Ban on Gun Ownership by Illegal Aliens

Other circuit courts have reached the same result, though not all have used the same reasoning.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.9.2019 11:28 AM

Free Speech

New(ish) Lawyers in Santa Barbara Interested in Arguing a Fun First Amendment Cal. Superior Court Motion?

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 1.2.2019 10:13 AM

Islam

No Compulsory Sharia for Greek Muslims, European Court Rules

Greek law had provided (or some Greek courts had ruled) that Greek Muslims' will disputes would be resolved under Islamic law -- but that's forbidden religious discrimination, rules the European Court of Human Rights.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 12.21.2018 2:23 PM

Campus Free Speech

Universities May Have Duty to Block Students' Access to Sites That Carry Supposedly "Harassing" Statements About Students

A bad decision from the Fourth Circuit, aptly criticized by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 12.19.2018 5:19 PM

Crime

Tel Aviv Tips

Any suggestions for what to do around town?

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 12.19.2018 1:51 AM

Defamation

ACLU (N.H.) Challenging Criminal Libel Statute

The Supreme Court, though, has suggested that such laws, if narrow enough, are constitutional.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 12.18.2018 9:21 PM

Crime

Nunchaku Are Protected by the Second Amendment

So a federal district court held Friday.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 12.18.2018 1:47 PM

Crime

Understanding the New Obamacare Decision, Texas v. United States: Part II

[Part of a continuing series of guest posts by Prof. Josh Blackman (South Texas College of Law). -EV]

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 12.17.2018 8:00 AM

Volokh Conspiracy

Fourth Circuit Rejects Libel Claims over Misleading Edits in Katie Couric's "Under the Gun"

The "questionable" "editing choices," the court said, weren't sufficiently injurious to reputation to qualify as libelous (whether or not they conveyed a false message).

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 12.14.2018 12:04 PM

Volokh Conspiracy

"Free Speech Rules," My New YouTube Video Series -- Episode 1 (Speech in Schools) Now Out

Please share it widely -- there will be at least nine more in the upcoming months.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 12.13.2018 12:28 PM

Due Process

Court Sets Aside USC Student's Expulsion for Alleged Rape

USC's procedures didn't fairly treat the accused, a California appellate court rules.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 12.13.2018 11:09 AM

Volokh Conspiracy

Unconstitutional "Hate Speech" Prosecution in New York

"[SUNY] Purchase College student Gunnar Hassard was arraigned in Harrison Town Court for Aggravated Harassment in the First Degree, a class E felony, for hanging posters with Nazi symbolism in areas of the campus."

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 12.12.2018 9:53 PM

Volokh Conspiracy

Plaintiff Can't Seal Case He Brought Against Ex-Employer

"Protection against the possibility of future adverse impact on employment does not overcome the presumption of public access."

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 12.12.2018 12:09 PM

Volokh Conspiracy

"Ruling on Iranian Law" in California Courts

And it's good.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 12.10.2018 8:12 AM

Volokh Conspiracy

Help! We Need a Name for a Series of Short Videos Explaining Free Speech Law

We've got a grant -- we've finished the first video (under 4 minutes) -- but we need a good title for the whole series.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 12.7.2018 3:16 PM

Volokh Conspiracy

Being Called a "Putz" Isn't a Sign of Hostility Against Jews -- It's a Sign of Hostility by Jews

(Not necessarily religiously discriminatory hostility, of course.)

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 12.4.2018 8:04 PM