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
Do Electronic Signs Displaying Number of Traffic Fatalities Actually Cause More Crashes?
"The effect of displaying fatality messages is comparable to raising the speed limit by 3 to 5 miles per hour or reducing the number of highway troopers by 6 to 14%."
Thursday Open Thread
What's on your mind?
Supreme Court on What Counts as a Content-Based Speech Restriction
Today's decision in City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising makes this test somewhat fuzzier.
When Is It Unethical to Publicly Identify an Anonymous Speaker?
The @LibsOfTikTok controversy brings up this question, though the broader question is an old one.
Jurors Who "Believe That Some Races … Tend to Be More Violent Than Others,"
interpreting "tend to" as reflecting the "statistics" about racial disparities in committing violent crimes.
Stipulation: I Do Not Think That Word Means What You Think It Means
Also, "The Court is not the parties' paralegal."
Thursday Open Thread
What's on your mind?
Anti-Israel Advocacy at University Doesn't Create Illegal "Hostile Environment" for Israeli Citizens or Jews
The same logic, of course, would apply to criticism of other countries and governments, such as China, Russia, the Palestinian government, and more.
"Facing Fearful Odds"
Some lines that are often (perhaps unfortunately) omitted when this poem is quoted.
Calling Police Officer "Pig," "Terrorist," "Punk Ass," and "Bitch" in Facebook Comments Not Obscene After All
So a federal district court held, reversing an earlier magistrate judge ruling on this point; the court also rejected the view that the Free Press Clause only protects "members of the press."
"Should We Regulate Foreign Speech?"
Some thoughts for me responding to Rick Hasen's, in a Balkinization symposium on Rick's new book, "Cheap Speech: How Disinformation Poisons Our Politics—and How to Cure It"
Thursday Open Thread
What's on your mind?
D.A.'s Office Letter That Opposed Parole for Man Now Arrested in Connection with Sacramento Killings of Six
The letter is dated April 29, 2021, when Martin was three years into a 10-year sentence for a brutal assault on his girlfriend; he was released in February.
Washington S. Ct. Reverses Attempted Child Rape Conviction, Remands for Retrial with Entrapment Instruction
An interesting illustration of the difference between the police merely providing an opportunity to commit an offense (in which case the offense is a crime, even if the intended victims don't exist) and the police inducing someone to commit a crime, which can give rise to an entrapment defense that the jury must consider.
Now There's a Trademark Issue for You
"They should be paying us for burnishment—not suing us for tarnishment."
Thursday Open Thread
What's on your mind?
Lawyer Gets Harassment Restraining Order Against Ex-Clients Based on (Among Other Things) Online Criticism
No, says the Appeals Court of Massachusetts: "We take this opportunity to reiterate that, where a c. 258E order is sought on the basis of speech alone, the plaintiff must prove that the speech rose to the level of true threats or fighting words and not merely that it was 'harassing, intimidating, or abusive in the colloquial sense.'"
Trial Court Focused Too Much on Racial Slurs by Defendant Towards Police Officers
So holds the California Court of Appeal, in sending back to a different judge defendant's motion to retroactively downgrade her conviction (for non-slur resistance to the officers) to a misdemeanor.
