Contrary to What Ted Cruz Thinks, Prepubescent Twerking Does Not Make Cuties Illegal
The federal definition of child pornography does not encompass risqué dancing by clothed 11-year-olds.
First Amendment
The Julian Assange Case Threatens All Journalists Who Scrutinize Government Conduct
U.S. officials claim their espionage laws apply to the world, but constitutional protections do not.
Massachusetts Abandons Its Puzzling Public Health Distinction Between Casinos and Video Arcades
A week after being sued over his arbitrary COVID-19 policy, Gov. Charlie Baker says he will allow arcades to reopen.
SCOTUS Contender James Ho Combines Respect for Free Speech and Gun Rights With a Troubling Deference to Cops
The 5th Circuit judge is a mixed bag from a libertarian perspective.
Are Video Arcades More Dangerous Than Casinos During a Pandemic?
A federal lawsuit argues that the distinction drawn by Massachusetts is unconstitutional.
FOSTA Is Unconstitutional, Argue Sexual Freedom Advocates and First Amendment Lawyers in New Motion
Plus: People have doubts about democracy, Washington state sues Juul, and more...
New Jersey Mayor Bills Teen Protest Organizer for Police Overtime Pay
Plus: Congress to vote on marijuana decriminalization, tech visas are getting turned down at high rates, and more...
Judge Rules Vegan 'Butter' Can Be Labeled as 'Vegan Butter'
American shoppers aren't idiots.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Donates $10 Million to Ibram X. Kendi, Who Wants To Make Racism Unconstitutional
"This research will inform and fuel much needed and overdue policy change."
Democrats Hate Facebook. Republicans Want To Ban TikTok. The Bipartisan Backlash Against Big Tech Is Here and It's a Disaster.
Even as Americans rely on tech more than ever, our early-pandemic truce with the industry is officially over.
Comedian Ricky Gervais Rips Cancel Culture While Admitting To Being Like Hitler
"I’m a vegetarian and I love dogs, like Hitler. But the only thing I have in common with Hitler are the good bits!"
Trump Is Trying To Take Away Americans' Access to Popular Apps by Executive Order
Plus: the latest unemployment numbers, Biden apologizes for comment on diversity, Ohio governor gets flip-flopping COVID-19 results, and more…
'Cancel Culture' Is a Dangerous, Totalitarian Trend
It's a game of gotcha, played by people who want to destroy their political opponents—and drive them into the outer darkness.
'Literally Hitler' Election Mailer Is Protected by the First Amendment
Plus: Trump talks COVID-19 numbers, more demands for TikTok, how the media might blow the 2020 election, and more..
Linda Greenhouse Thinks COVID-19 Rules That Favor Casinos Over Churches Raise No Constitutional Issues Worth Considering
The former New York Times SCOTUS reporter does not seem to understand the arguments she is criticizing.
The Second Amendment Is Not Restricted to White Conservatives
An encounter between militias in Louisville shows the enduring practical and symbolic importance of the right to armed self-defense.
'The President's Speech Police': Trump Pushes Forward With Regulating Bias Online
Plus: The EARN IT Act is "a wolf in sheep's clothing," Joe Biden's "Agenda for Women," and more...
Judge Orders Federal Officers in Portland To Stop Harassing and Assaulting Journalists and Legal Observers
U.S. District Judge Michael Simon reminds the feds that they are bound by the First Amendment.
Trump Deploys Lawlessness Against Lawlessness
The president’s heavy-handed response to protests against police brutality belies his promise of "law and order."
Feds Send Outside Agitators To Escalate Conflict in Portland
Plus: How H-1B visa restrictions cost U.S. jobs, a woman sues the British health service over hormone blockers, and more...
The Army Tries To Use Esports as a Recruiting Tool, Gets Trolled, Grabs the Banhammer
By kicking out critics on Twitch and Discord, is the military running afoul of the First Amendment?
How Non-Existent Cancel Culture Works at Princeton and Elsewhere
When a university president threatens a professor with consequences for writing an article, free expression loses out.
Churches, Which Account for 0.02% of COVID-19 Cases, Are a 'Major Source' of Infection, The New York Times Says
The paper's claim reflects the same arbitrary distinction between religious and secular activities that churches are challenging in court.
Supreme Court Strengthens First Amendment Protections for Religious Employers
SCOTUS rules 7-2 in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru.
Lawsuit Against 'Shitty Media Men' List Creator Can Proceed, Judge Says
Plus: Tech giants will testify in Congressional antitrust hearing, Seattle police clear out CHOP, and more...
Wesley Yang: Woke Protests Against 'White Supremacism' May Be the New Normal
The Souls of Yellow Folk author says a new "elite consensus" fixated on racial outrage is forming and may destroy our ability to function.
Don't Let the Pandemic Kill Religious Freedom
COVID-19 control measures violate the First Amendment when they arbitrarily favor secular conduct.
Partisan Hypocrisy on Display in Supreme Court Ruling on Anti-Prostitution Pledge and the First Amendment
Can the government compel speech? For Supreme Court justices, that seems to depend on the content of that speech.
With Chief in Charge, SCOTUS Strikes Down Louisiana Abortion Law and Eliminates CFPB Independence (Updated)
The Chief Justice provides the pivotal vote in the June Medical Services abortion case and Seila Law v. CFPB.
New York's Pandemic-Inspired Restrictions on Church and Synagogue Services Are Unconstitutional, a Federal Judge Rules
U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe finds that the state's COVID-19 control measures arbitrarily discriminate against religious conduct.
Devin Nunes Can Sue Cow Account but Not Twitter, Says Judge
Plus: Time to cancel U.S. propaganda outlets, Twitch sued over sexy women, new Assange indictment, social-justice symbolism, and more...
San Francisco Police Were Ordered To Turn Off Body Cameras in Raid on Journalist's Home
Their illegal search was not recorded.
Let's Stop Talking About Free Speech and Start Defending It
Don't lock down expression along with so much else of American society.
Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal on Left-Wing Cancel Culture
The heterodox hosts of the popular Blocked and Reported podcast talk about surviving internet outrage, the roots of speech repression, and the power of direct financial support from fans.
Drakeo the Ruler Recorded an Album on a Prison Phone
The rapper, whose real name is Darell Caldwell, is speaking out about his lyrics and videos being used against him in a murder trial.
Protest Organizers Shouldn't Be Liable for Other People's Crimes
A lower court precedent left unchallenged would unjustly compromise First Amendment protest rights. The Supreme Court should reconsider.
Federal Aircraft Accused of Tracking Protesters
Plus: Breonna’s Law bans no-knock raids in Kentucky, Amazon's third-party problem, new findings on metabolism, and more...
It Wasn't Tear Gas. It Was a Gaseous Substance That Causes Tears.
Plus: Protest updates, COVID-19 upates, a surge in gun sales, and more...
It's Hard To Take Either Side in Trump's Twitter Spat Seriously
The president promises penalties he has no power to impose, while the company promises moderation it cannot deliver.
John Roberts Does Not Think California's Special Restrictions on Religious Services Discriminate Against Churches
As SCOTUS declines to issue an injunction, the chief justice says the state's COVID-19 control measures seem consistent with the First Amendment.
Roberts Accuses Kavanaugh of Judicial Activism in Coronavirus Church Closure Case
"Although California's guidelines place restrictions on places of worship," Roberts wrote, "those restrictions appear consistent with the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment."
Should the Supreme Court Reconsider Keller v. State Board of California?
Do mandatory, integrated state bar associations violate the First Amendment? Two justices would like the Court to reconsider this question.
Are the COVID-19 Lockdowns Constitutional?
Several courts have invalidated elements of state shelter-in-place orders. Constitutional law Professor Josh Blackman says that the longer they continue, the less legal they become.
Minnesota Police Arrest CNN Reporters for the Act of Doing Journalism During George Floyd Protests
So much for the First Amendment.
Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden vs. Twitter vs. Facebook
Thank god for the First Amendment and the feuds among powerful politicians and platforms that will keep free speech alive.
Trump's Illegal, Impossible Plan to Teach Twitter a Lesson
Plus: unrest in Minneapolis, Twitter labels Trump tweet, and more...
