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. He is also the co-host of the Free Speech Unmuted podcast.
Eugene Volokh
Latest from Eugene Volokh
S. Ct. Will Decide: When May Politicians Selectively Block Public Comments on Their Social Media Pages?
The question turns on whether the politician's web page is seen as the politician's own speech as a citizen, or as a government page.
Thursday Open Thread
What's on your mind?
Professional Duty to Warn Clients About Risk of Reputational Harm from Filing Lawsuit?
"Plaintiff was not informed by his legal counsel prior to filing suit of the potential for immediate disclosure of his name if his Motion to Proceed Under Pseudonym was denied."
Parents' Lawsuit Against School Social Worker Can Go Forward
The social worker had reported the parents for educational neglect; the parents argue this was knowingly false, because the social worker knew the parents "were in compliance with their statutory obligation to educate their child" by home schooling.
No First Amendment Violation in Requiring Law Student to Meet with "Behavior Intervention Team" Related to …
allegedly "threaten[ing] ... administrators, ma[king] female instructors and students uncomfortable, and show[ing] signs of 'disjointed' thinking."
"40 Officers of China's National Police Charged in Transnational Repression Schemes Targeting U.S. Residents"
"Defendants accused of creating fake social media accounts to harass PRC dissidents, and working with employees of a U.S. telecommunications company to remove dissidents from company's platform."
Meet Jane Doe [UPDATED]
[UPDATE: It turns out that the Maryland intermediate appellate court reached the opposite result for the same plaintiff; post bumped up so readers can see the update, which is available in the second half of this post.].]
Court Rejects Defendant's Request to Seal 9-Year-Old Libel Case
"By maintaining access to these records, the Court promotes the public's interest 'in ascertaining what evidence and records the District Court ... relied upon in reaching [its] decision,' and the Court provides 'the public with a more complete understanding of the judicial system, including a better perception of its fairness.'"
When Are Slurs and Vulgarities Defamation?
The Mississippi Court of Appeals splits 5-4 on the subject.
Cornell University President's and Provost's Statement Rejecting Student Assembly Call for Trigger Warning Mandate
The call was for trigger warnings for "any traumatic content that may be discussed, including but not limited to: sexual assault, domestic violence, self-harm, suicide, child abuse, racial hate crimes, transphobic violence, homophobic harassment, xenophobia."
Connecticut S. Ct. Sharply Limits State's "Racial Ridicule" Law
Prosecutors and police had read the law, which restricts "advertisements," as broadly banning racial slurs; the Connecticut court read it, as written, to restrict only commercial advertisements.
Divorced Father Inflicted "Mental Injury" on 12-Year-Old Son By Religious Criticisms of Son's Felt Homosexuality
The Appellate Court of Maryland just upheld the lower court's finding, and related protective order.
Plaintiff, Who Had Published an Article Describing Herself as Escort, Sues Newspaper for Calling Her an Escort
Plaintiff "asserts that her published work and other accounts describing life as an escort were part of an effort to build a career in writing and were entirely fictional. As for the websites and other internet advertisements cited by defendants, she claims that they were produced for the purpose of satisfying Medium’s 'fact-checking' requirements and possibly promoting a future fictional web series on the topic."
