Texas Takes Intellectually Disabled Inmate Off Death Row
Randall Mays, who has an IQ of 63, was resentenced to life without parole.
Texas
Christopher Yoo on Regulating Social Media Platforms as "Common Carriers"
The Univ. of Pennsylvania legal scholar makes the most thorough critique yet of this approach to justifying regulations that bar social media firms from engaging in most types of content moderation.
Judge Quashes Felony Murder Charges Against Former Houston Cop Whose Lies Led to a Deadly 2019 Drug Raid
Gerald Goines' lawyers argued that the indictment did not adequately specify the underlying felony of tampering with a government document.
Fifth Circuit Rules Against Texas SB 4 Immigration Law
In the process, the court also rejected Texas's argument that illegal migration and drug smuggling qualify as "invasion."
My New Lawfare Article on Why "Immigration is Not Invasion"
Texas is wrong to equate illegal migration and drug smuggling with invasion. If accepted by courts, the argument would set a dangerous precedent.
Amicus Brief in United States v. Abbott Explains Why Texas is Wrong to Equate Illegal Migration and Drug Smuggling With "Invasion"
The state's position is at odds with the text and original meaning of the Constitution and would set a dangerous precedent if accepted by federal courts.
Will the Supreme Court Let Sylvia Gonzalez Sue the Political Enemies Who Engineered Her Arrest?
"Mayors should not be allowed to launder animus through warrants," the former city council member's lawyer told the justices.
Texas SWAT Team Held Innocent Family at Gunpoint After Raiding the Wrong Home
The officers are avoiding accountability after getting qualified immunity.
The Dark Side of Housing Bipartisanship
Plus: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is fooled by TikTok housing falsehoods, Austin building boom cuts prices, and Sacramento does the socialist version of "homeless homesteading."
Texas Barred From Detaining Border-Crossers
Plus: Cuba's collapse, D.C.'s crime rate, Austin's housing market, and more...
Court Should Focus on Coercion in Murthy v. Missouri
The government is entitled to try to persuade social media to take down posts, but not to coerce them to do so.
Pornhub Pulls Out of Seventh State
The company leaves Texas over an “ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous” age-verification law.
UT Austin Brings Back the SAT After Scoreless Kids Underperform
The college is the latest in a spate of schools reinstating SAT and ACT test requirements.
FIRE Highlights the Blatant Hypocrisy of State Officials Who Decry Government Meddling With Social Media
Even as they attack the Biden administration's crusade against "misinformation," Missouri and Louisiana defend legal restrictions on content moderation.
Federal District Court Rules Red States Lack Standing to Challenge Legality of Immigration Parole Program for Migrants from Four Latin American Countries
The ruling allows the CNVH private sponsorship program - covering migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Haiti to continue. But it is likely to be appealed.
Historic Preservation Board Stops Family Removing KKK Supporter's Initial From Front of their House
Kristy Kay Money and Rolf Jacob Sraubhaar are now suing the city of San Marcos, Texas, saying they're being forced to keep a Klan-linked symbol on the front of their house is a physical taking.
Everything Is Getting Bigger in Texas
Plus: An interview with Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, Minnesota lawmakers try to save Minneapolis zoning reform from excess environmental review, and the White House's new housing supply action plan.
Supreme Court Tells Texas to Hold On
Plus: More reactions to the Supreme Court's other decision in the Trump ballot disqualification case, D.C.'s continued minimum wage confusion, California's primary elections, and more...
Federal Court Rejects Texas's Argument that Illegal Migration Qualifies as "Invasion" [Updated to include link to the decision]
The ruling has the most extensive discussion of the meaning of "invasion" in the Constitution ever included in a court decision.
Texas Sues Pornhub for Failing to Check IDs
A federal judge in an ongoing case called the porn age-check scheme unconstitutional. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton doesn't seem to care.
Supreme Court Looks Poised To Gut Restrictive Social Media Laws
The First Amendment restricts governments, not private platforms, and respects editorial rights.
Texas and Florida Say the First Amendment Must Be Sacrificed to Save It
Supreme Court arguments about two social media laws highlight a dangerous conflation of state and private action.
Most Justices Seem Skeptical of the Florida and Texas Social Media Laws
The Supreme Court seems inclined to recognize that content moderation is protected by the First Amendment.
Supreme Court Seems Likely to Strike Down Florida and Texas Social Media Laws
The laws violate the First Amendment because they require social media sites to abjure most content moderation, and platform speech they disapprove of.
Texas and Florida Want the Supreme Court To Bless Their Unconstitutional Social Media Laws
Both states are trying to force tech companies to platform certain sorts of speech.
The "Migrant Crisis" is Caused by Flawed Work and Housing Policies, not Migrants
The difficulties some cities are experiencing arise because many migrants aren't allowed to work, and because of restrictions on construction of new housing.
The Biden Administration Is Bent on Setting an Alarming Precedent by Prosecuting Julian Assange
The WikiLeaks founder already has spent as much time in a London prison as DOJ lawyers say he is likely to serve if convicted in the U.S.
This Prosecutor Secretly Worked for the Judges Overseeing His Cases. Will His Victims Be Able To Sue?
Ralph Petty likely violated the Constitution. In a rare move, a federal court signaled this week that lawsuits against him may not be dead on arrival.
Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Enforcement of Houston Ordinance Against Feeding the Homeless
The judge found that Food Not Bombs' activity was clearly expressive conduct under the First Amendment.
Houston Faces First Amendment Lawsuit for Cracking Down on Feeding the Homeless
Food Not Bombs activists argue that feeding the needy is core political speech, and that they don't need the city's permission to do it.
Texas Cops Held a Terrified Couple at Gunpoint After Raiding the Wrong House
Tyler Harrington has filed a lawsuit after four police officers burst into his home in the middle of the night.
More on Why Immigration is not "Invasion"
Legal scholars Frank Bowman and Steve Vladeck weigh in on Texas's dangerous argument.
The 5th Circuit Says Criminalizing Journalism Is Not Obviously Unconstitutional
The appeals court dismissed a civil rights lawsuit by a Laredo gadfly who was arrested for asking questions.
She Was Arrested for Her Journalism. A Federal Court Says She Can't Sue.
Priscilla Villarreal, also known as "Lagordiloca," has sparked a debate about free speech and who, exactly, is a journalist.
No, Texas Has Not "Defied" The Supreme Court
Perhaps Governor Abbott will flout a directive from the Supreme Court in a future case, but reports of Texas "defying" the Supreme Court are bunk, and many making such claims should know better.
Politics Created the Border Crisis
Plus: A listener asks if libertarians are too obsessed with economic growth.
The Twisted Logic of Greg Abbott's Border Policy
Undocumented immigrants aren’t the same as an invading army, but the Texas governor keeps acting like they are.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Doubles Down On Dangerous Claim that Immigration is "Invasion"
The argument is badly wrong, and would set a dangerous precedent if ever accepted by courts.
Damning Justice Department Report Finds Leadership Failures Led to Botched Uvalde Police Response
"Responding officers should have immediately recognized the incident as an active shooter situation," the report found.
Fifth Circuit Grants En Banc Rehearing to Case Where Texas Claims Immigration and Drug Smuggling Qualify as "Invasion"
The court could potentially resolve the case without addressing the invasion arguments.
Escalation in the Red Sea
Plus: Inheritance taxes, lady gadgets, a stabbing in South Korea, and more...
This Innocent Woman Is on the Hook for Thousands After a SWAT Team Destroyed Her Home
An error-prone investigation in search of a fugitive led police to Amy Hadley's house.
Texas' New Immigration Law Will Lead to More Policing With Less Accountability
S.B. 4 will let officers arrest people well beyond the border. It also “provides civil immunity and indemnification” for state officials who get sued for enforcing it.
Southern Border Showdown
Plus: Houthi attack, Milei misinformation, Instagram rooster eugenics, and more...
California Officials Force Elderly Couple To Dismantle Home, Citing Blocked Ocean Views
Plus: Austin's newly passed zoning reforms could be in legal jeopardy, HUD releases its latest census of the homeless population, and a little-discussed Florida reform is spurring a wave of home construction.
