Republicans Defend Texas Social Media Law—and Compelled Speech
Plus: Twitter defends user anonymity, Oklahoma legislature approves abortion ban, and more...
Texas
Why the Texas Social Media Law is a Menace to Freedom of Speech
The law forces social media firms to host and promote speech they oppose, and would set a dangerous precedent if upheld by the courts.
Taking Formula From Immigrant Babies Won't Fix the Shortage
If you put infants in federal custody, you're obliged to feed them.
The Impact of Overturning Roe v. Wade Will Be Less Dramatic Than Abortion-Rights Advocates Fear
Abortion is likely to remain legal in most states, and workarounds will mitigate the effects of bans.
Texas Court Stays Execution of Mom Sentenced for Child's Death
The state claimed she beat a 2-year-old to death. But evidence may show it was the result of a fall down stairs.
Texas' Social Media Law Recycles Left-Wing Media Theory
Forcing private companies to host speech violates the First Amendment.
Possible Problems With Lethal Injection Drugs Stop Tennessee Execution
Meanwhile in South Carolina, the state Supreme Court delays a planned execution by firing squad.
Houston Says Businesses Must Install Surveillance Cameras and Cops Can View Footage Without a Warrant
Plus: The Warrant for Metadata Act, DOJ will appeal order ending mask mandate, and more...
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Ends His Onerous Truck Inspection Order Impeding International Commerce on the Mexican Border
The inspections caused great economic harm, and may also have violated the Dormant Foreign Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
Greg Abbott Screwed Over Truck Drivers in a Misguided Attempt to Increase Border Security
The new inspection initiative duplicated screenings that were already being carried out, irking trade officials and truckers—even those who have supported Abbott up until this point.
Local Lawyers Think 'Gross Negligence' Explains an Unlawful Murder Charge Based on a 'Self-Induced Abortion'
Starr County District Attorney Gocha Allen Ramirez has yet to explain how this egregious error escaped his notice.
Annual Inflation Hits 8.5 Percent, Highest Rate Since 1981
Plus: China's unsustainable COVID lockdowns, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's performative anti-immigration antics snarl supply chains, and more...
Texas Prosecutors Blatantly Ignored the Law When They Charged a Woman With Murder 'by a Self-Induced Abortion'
As Starr County District Attorney Gocha Allen Ramirez belatedly conceded, that charge is explicitly prohibited by the Texas Penal Code.
Texas Woman Accused of Self-Induced Abortion Was Jailed for 2 Nights Before Murder Charges Were Dismissed
Plus: An index of school book bans, new "ghost gun" regulations, and more...
Faulty Police Field Tests Said This Trucker Was Carrying 700 Gallons of Meth. It Was Diesel.
Juan Guzman spent nearly six weeks in jail based on unreliable field tests that have resulted in hundreds of other wrongful arrests.
Greg Abbott Has Used Migrants as Political Pawns Again and Again. Now, He Says He'll Bus Them to Capitol Hill.
Given his track record, it isn’t surprising that Abbott would opt for a blusterous anti-migrant spectacle that comes at the expense of Texas taxpayers.
Handgun Carry Permits Transform a Right Into a Privilege
The argument for loosening restrictions on armed self-defense goes beyond the measurable impact on public safety.
The 5th Circuit Approves a Cop's Violent Response to a Dispute Over a 7-Year-Old's Littering
The officer used a "pain compliance maneuver" to force information from the boy's sister, who was recording the encounter.
Opponents of the Texas Abortion Ban Still Have Ways To Challenge It
Although a Texas Supreme Court ruling ended the main challenge to the law, other cases could ultimately block its enforcement.
The Legal Battle Over Texas SB 8 is Far From Over
Opponents of this dangerous law have a variety of options left to pursue in state and federal courts, despite their recent defeat in the Texas Supreme Court.
Enforcing Abortion Bans Is Much Harder Than Passing Them
The experience in Texas shows that workarounds pose daunting obstacles to such laws.
How Texas Women Are Circumventing the State's New Abortion Law
Plus: free speech history, against regulating social media like phone companies, and more...
Cities Force Businesses to Oversupply Parking Spaces. A Lawsuit Says That's Unconstitutional.
Azael Sepulveda is suing the city of Pasadena, Texas over its requirement that his autobody shop add 23 parking spaces he insists he doesn't need and can't afford.
Texas Sued As State Starts Investigating Parents of Trans Children for 'Child Abuse'
ACLU: “The agency’s new rule substitutes parents’ judgment as to what medical care is in the best interests of their children for the judgment of the government.”
Texas Classifies Medical Treatment of Trans Minors as Abuse, Threatens Parents, Orders Caregivers To Snitch
These orders aren’t about safety. They’re a complete rejection of the legitimacy of these procedures, and a denial of individual liberty.
Dallas Police Seized an Airline Passenger's Cash. New Information Only Makes Their Case Weaker.
Police seized more than $100,000 in cash from a 25-year-old Chicago woman for not correctly describing what her suitcase looked like.
Texas Town Shuts Down Her Home Day Care After Nearby Golfers Complain the Kids Were Making Too Much Noise
Bianca King argues in a new lawsuit that Lakeway, Texas, zoning officials illegally deprived her of her right to earn a living by denying her a permit for her home day care business.
An Austin Zoning Technicality Made His Landscaping Business Illegal Overnight
Brandon Krause has spent $30,000 trying to legalize a business that the city said for years was all up to code.
Someone Placed a Record-Setting Super Bowl Bet From His Phone
But he still had to drive two hours to do it in a legal state.
This Texas Town Rejected Stimulus Money to Avoid Vaccine Mandates
"Obviously we could have used the money, but at what cost?,” says Sheila Hemphill, an activist and lobbyist from Brady, Texas
An LGBT-Friendly Charter School in the Heart of Alabama Shows the Power and Flexibility of School Choice
But culture war political fights over race and sex education threaten their educational freedom.
Police Misbehavior Is a Crucial Threat to Liberty
Cops in Los Angeles killed a young girl in a department store dressing room by accident while firing at a suspect armed with nothing more than a bike lock.
My Law 360 Article on the Texas SB 8 Case and Prospects for the Future
The article explains why SB 8 potentially poses a threat to constitutional rights far beyond the abortion context, and how future court decisions could potentially mitigate it.
Tony Timpa Died After Cops Kneeled on His Back and Joked About It. A Court Says His Family Can Sue.
The officers originally received qualified immunity, meaning Timpa's estate had no right to state their case before a jury.
The Year's Highlights in Blame Shifting
Politicians and cops found creative ways to dodge responsibility in 2021.
Americans Fled California, New York, and D.C. During COVID
Financial pressure is the main reason why people say they move, and pandemic-era public policy created a lot more financial pressure in certain places.
Who's Voting with their Feet for Texas and Why
Recent articles in the Texas Monthy and the New York Times provide some useful insight on why Texas has been gaining migrants at such a high rate.
Police Oversight Board Demands Answers After Dallas Cops Seized Traveler's Cash
And some state politicians are talking about asset forfeiture reform.
Taking a Page From the Texas Abortion Ban, California's Governor Threatens To Attack Gun Rights With Private Lawsuits
Gavin Newsom is exploring legislation to authorize private civil actions against people who sell "assault weapons" or gun kits.
How Narrow is the Pathway the Supreme Court Left for Suits Challenging SB 8 and Other Similar State Laws?
Things are far from completely clear. But Justice Gorsuch's opinion may give preenforcement challenges to SB 8 and other similar laws a good deal more wiggle room than many think.
SCOTUS Says State Judges and Court Clerks Can't Be Sued To Block Enforcement of the Texas Abortion Ban
The Court allowed claims against health care regulators to proceed, but that will not prevent the private civil actions authorized by the law.
Here Is Why a Texas Judge Concluded That the State's Abortion Ban Is Unconstitutional
District Court Judge David Peeples focused on the law's "unique and unprecedented" enforcement mechanism rather than abortion rights.
Texas State Court Rules SB 8 Enforcement Mechanism is Unconstitutional
The ruling is mostly based on the Texas state constitution and probably will not affect the federal case challenging SB 8, currently before the Supreme Court. But it makes some notable points, nonetheless.
