Eugene Volokh, Author at Reason.com

Volokh Conspiracy

Application to Release Grand Jury Material Quoted in Mueller Report

Since I've been blogging today about public rights of access to sealed files, I thought I'd pass this along.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.1.2019 1:58 PM

Volokh Conspiracy

No Sealing of Tampa Bay Buccaneers Appellate Argument in Deepwater Horizon Claim Case

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.1.2019 1:39 PM

Volokh Conspiracy

Libel Case with the Alleged Libels Under Seal

This violates the First Amendment and common law rights of access to court records, I think; Paul Alan Levy (Public Citizen) has just filed a motion to intervene and unseal in the matter (Shelby Resorts Corp. v. Does, in New Jersey Superior Court).

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.1.2019 12:32 PM

Crime

South Bend Mayor Channels Montgomery Burns

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.28.2019 5:08 PM

Free Speech

Waiting-and-Seeing on the Trump Campus Free Speech Executive Order

It's an order to create policies, not a policy -- so it's hard to tell what it will do until we see what policies various departments create.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.26.2019 10:11 AM

Free Speech

San Antonio Likely Violating Chick-Fil-A's First Amendment Rights

Its exclusion of Chick-Fil-A from the airport appears to be based on the viewpoint expressed by Chick-Fil-A and various organizations to which it donates.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.26.2019 8:15 AM

Large image on homepages | Photographerlondon/Dreamstime.com

Guns

Right to Possess Stun Guns in N.Y., Right to Carry Them in Illinois

Two Second Amendment wins late last week.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.25.2019 12:46 PM

Free Speech

Incitement at 100 -- and 50 -- and Today, at Brooklyn Law School, April 12

A very interesting symposium, with (among many others) Floyd Abrams, Prof. Leslie Kendrick (Virginia), Nadine Strossen (former head of the ACLU), and more.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.20.2019 4:24 PM

Free Speech

No, a Web Platform's Decision to Restrict Speech Doesn't Strip It of 47 U.S.C. § 230 Immunity

[UPDATE: Sorry, this was double-posted; please add any comments to the post above.]

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.20.2019 2:26 PM

Free Speech

No, a Web Platform's Decision to Restrict Speech Doesn't Strip It of 47 U.S.C. § 230 Immunity

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.20.2019 2:26 PM

Free Speech

Rep. Devin Nunes Seeks Court Order Entirely Suspending @LizNair and Other Accounts

But courts can't order suspension of an entire account even if they find that some posts were libelous.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.20.2019 7:58 AM

Free Speech

Rep. Devin Nunes Suing Tweeters for "Insulting Words," Claiming the Insults Caused $250M of Damage to Him

This is besides the libel claims he is bringing against them; highly insulting Tweets, he argues, are "fighting words" and thus punishable under Virginia law.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.20.2019 7:57 AM

Large image on homepages | Pavel Starikov / Dreamstime

Free Speech

Rep. Devin Nunes's $250M Lawsuit Against Twitter Will Go Nowhere

The defamation (and negligence) claims against Twiter are blocked by 47 U.S.C. § 230.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.20.2019 7:56 AM

Free Speech

Montana Criminal Libel Statute Struck Down

The statute doesn't require that the defendant knew the statement was false or likely false, and is thus inconsistent with Supreme Court precedent.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.18.2019 8:52 PM

Large image on homepages | Orlando Florin Rosu / Dreamstime.com

Crime

Does the Constitution Require Unanimous Jury Verdicts in Criminal Cases?

In 1972, a 4-1-4 Supreme Court decision said "yes" in federal cases, no in state cases; the Supreme Court will now reconsider it.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.18.2019 10:56 AM

Evidence

"Your Honor, My Stomach Just Naturally Produced Alcohol"

"Auto-brewery syndrome" (or "gut fermentation syndrome") is apparently a thing -- but, the Maine high court says, the judge permissibly excluded a particular expert who wanted to testify this thing might have happened in this case.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.16.2019 2:13 PM

Free Speech

Free as a Bird: Showing Middle Finger to Police Officer = Constitutionally Protected Speech

Every reasonable officer should know that, says the Sixth Circuit.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.13.2019 2:31 PM

Crime

Desperate Mothers

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.12.2019 1:44 PM

Crime

Finally, Something Nazis Are Good For

And that's expedited appellate review.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.12.2019 1:40 PM

Free Speech

Expedited Appeals of Anti-Libel/Anti-Harassment Injunctions

If your client has been ordered not to say things about someone, here are the precedents supporting your right to an expedited appeal.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.12.2019 1:38 PM

Crime

Chile Is Larger Than Any European Country (Other Than Russia)

But it's so thin!

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.12.2019 12:07 PM

Crime

Getting Some Mammoth

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.12.2019 11:21 AM

Guns

Florida Bill Would Make It a Crime for Minors to Post Pictures of Guns on Social Media

Clearly unconstitutional, of course.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.9.2019 11:48 AM

Public Access

When the Fat Lady's Cat is Singing to the Genie, and the Bottle Has Fallen Out of the Bag …

An interesting decision called United States v. Suppressed.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.8.2019 7:33 PM

Libel

No Preliminary Injunctions Against Libel

Another court opinion reinforces this principle -- even if repetition of libelous statements can be forbidden after a trial on the merits at which the statements are found libelous, it can't be preliminarily enjoined before such a trial.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.8.2019 7:24 PM

dreamstime_m_55484561 | Pablo Caridad | Dreamstime.com

Campus Free Speech

Police Officer Stands by While Portland State University College Republicans Event Is Shouted (and Cowbelled) Down

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.8.2019 5:54 PM

Crime

Prof. Doriane Lambelet Coleman (Duke) on Women's Sports and Transgender Questions

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.8.2019 5:26 PM

Crime

Georgia Universities Entitled to Reject Illegal Alien Applicants (Including DACA Recipients)

So holds the Eleventh Circuit, I think quite correctly.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.8.2019 11:48 AM

Crime

Minnesota Public High School Can't Have Girls-Only Dance Team

So the Eighth Circuit holds.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.6.2019 5:32 PM

Religion

Discrimination Against Religion, and the "Churches Are Tax-Exempt" Red Herring

Tax exemptions are an argument for treating churches like other tax-exempt nonprofits, not for specially excluding them from benefits available to such nonprofits.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.5.2019 12:54 PM

Crime

"Fairfax County Police Identify Victims of Deadly Triple Homicide in Springfield"

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.5.2019 1:28 AM

Religion

Discrimination Against Religion

Three Justices opine.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.4.2019 5:29 PM

Executive Power

Prof. Julian Davis Mortenson (Michigan Law) Guest-Blogging About "the Executive Power"

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.4.2019 2:10 AM

Volokh Conspiracy

"Cleaning Up the Lemon Mess"

"What lower courts and local governments desperately need is not guidance on hypothetical cases that have never arisen. They need guidance on the many cases they're wrestling with today. Lemon doesn't provide that guidance. It makes the problem worse."

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.28.2019 12:49 PM

Volokh Conspiracy

Your Dog Is Too Cute for This Deposition

OK, it wasn't just about the dog, but I think its presence (and effect) was likely especially telling ....

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.28.2019 12:38 PM

Volokh Conspiracy

Can a Person Be Banned from Posting Anything About Someone Else, Because His Past Speech Supposedly Stems from a "Vendetta"?

Yes, said an Ohio Court of Appeals majority opinion, reasoning that the speaker's past speech "was not engaged in for a legitimate reason, but instead for an illegitimate reason born out of a vendetta seeking to cause mental distress to his mother and sister and to exact personal revenge." No, argue the EFF, Prof. Aaron Caplan, and I in a brief we've just filed with the Ohio Supreme Court.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.28.2019 8:42 AM

Volokh Conspiracy

Seven Seeds of Freedom In Islam

Islam contains concepts or practices that express religious freedom in a significant way but that fall short of a full and broadly respected human right of religious freedom.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.28.2019 8:04 AM

Volokh Conspiracy

Court Ordered Divorcing Husband Not "to Post Anything on Facebook … in Regards to This Action"

Fortunately, the California Court of Appeal has just reversed the decision, on First Amendment grounds.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.27.2019 7:58 PM

Volokh Conspiracy

"Federal Judges Are Appointed for Life, Not for Eternity"

From today's Supreme Court opinion holding that a judge's vote may not be counted in an opinion released two weeks after his death.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.25.2019 10:33 AM

Volokh Conspiracy

Four Michigan Court of Appeals Precedents Added to Westlaw

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.23.2019 5:23 PM

Volokh Conspiracy

Prof. Daniel Philpott (Notre Dame) Guest-Blogging on Religious Freedom in Islam

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.23.2019 1:30 PM

Volokh Conspiracy

Defendant Has No First Amendment Right to Wear "Black Lives Matter" T-Shirt at Trial

So holds the Kansas Court of Appeals, in reasoning that applies equally to any clothing that displays a message; the defendant in this particular case was on trial for setting fire to a truck that was displaying Confederate flags.

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.22.2019 5:41 PM

Volokh Conspiracy

"Cyberstalking" Ban Violates the First Amendment

So a federal district court in Washington just concluded, about a Washington statute that criminalized "anonymous or repeated" speech intended "to harass, ... torment, or embarrass."

Eugene Volokh |The Volokh Conspiracy | 2.22.2019 2:29 PM

Volokh Conspiracy