Enforcing Abortion Bans Is Much Harder Than Passing Them
The experience in Texas shows that workarounds pose daunting obstacles to such laws.
Texas
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.
Dallas Police Took $106,000 From a Traveler. They Haven't Explained Why.
A police dog's alert prompted the search, and the money was seized via civil asset forfeiture.
5th Circuit Temporarily Restores Greg Abbott's Ban on School Mask Mandates
The appeals court is skeptical of the claim that the Texas governor's order illegally discriminates against people with disabilities.
Here Is Why a Federal Judge Blocked Enforcement of the Texas Social Media Law
Gov. Greg Abbott attacks First Amendment rights in the name of defending them.
A SWAT Team Blew Up This Innocent Woman's House and Cost Her Over $50,000. The City Tried To Stop Her From Suing.
A federal court wasn't having it.
Every Year, Police Pull People Over To Give Out Turkeys Instead of Tickets. That Could Be Illegal.
There are better ways to build trust in the community than by violating the Fourth Amendment.
A (Belated) Final Word on Principles and Texas SB 8
A delayed, but hopefully still helpful final rejoinder to Stephen Sachs.
A Ruling Against Greg Abbott Suggests Federal Law May Require Schools To Mandate Masks
A federal judge concluded that the Texas governor's ban on mask mandates illegally discriminated against students with disabilities.
A Cop Was Indicted for Homicide After Shooting a Fleeing Driver. He Still Got Qualified Immunity.
Bau Tran might go to jail for his conduct, but he will be insulated from having to face a jury in civil court.
Texas' Costly 'Operation Lone Star' Leaves Alleged Illegal Immigrants Trapped in Jail with No Due Process
Gov. Greg Abbott’s crusade is costing the state huge sums just to try to prosecute thousands of misdemeanor trespassing cases.
More on SB 8, Reasons, and Limiting Principles - A Rejoinder to Stephen Sachs
The slippery slope risks created by upholding SB 8 threaten a vital constitutional principle - one far more important than any considerations on the other side. That is sufficient reason to rule against Texas in this case.
Cops Arrested Her for Exercising Her First Amendment Rights. They Got Qualified Immunity—but the Appeals Court Wasn't Having It.
"This is not just an obvious constitutional infringement—it's hard to imagine a more textbook violation of the First Amendment."
The Texas Abortion Ban Is a Roadmap to Privatized Oppression
Even justices who take a dim view of Roe v. Wade recognize the law’s chilling implications.
Limiting Principles and the Texas SB 8 Case - Why Texas' Law is a Greater Slippery Slope Menace than a Ruling Against it Would be
If Texas' SB 8 subterfuge works, it would be a dangerous road map for attacking other constitutional rights. The slippery slope risks on the other side are minor by comparison.
Abortion Providers Seem Likely to Prevail in Texas SB 8 Case
Today's Supreme Court oral argument suggests they will get the votes of six or more justices. If so, it will be a crucial victory for judicial protection of all constitutional rights, not just abortion rights.
The Firearms Policy Coalition Offers a Simple Way to Resolve the Texas SB 8 Case
The Firearms Policy Coalition amicus brief offers a simple and effective way to neuter the threat to judicial review posed by SB 8.
Last Month's Drop in Texas Abortions Was Far Smaller Than Supporters of the State's Ban Claimed
The actual number of abortions that S.B. 8 prevented by the end of September may be closer to 500 than 3,000.
Barely Legal Strippers Now Illegal in Texas
Under S.B. 315, it is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail, to employ 18- to 20-year-olds at any sexually oriented business.
Abbott's Vaccine Order Is Just as Oppressive as Biden's
Neither politician is willing to tolerate deviation from the one business policy he thinks is best.
Texas Court Recommends a New Trial for a Man on Death Row, Saying the Trial Judge's Anti-Jewish Bias Violated Due Process
A district court judge found "overwhelming evidence" of Vickers Cunningham's bigotry.
Without Roe v. Wade, Abortion Will Remain Legal in Most States
The experience with the Texas Heartbeat Act offers a preview of what that means.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Bans Private Businesses From Mandating Vaccines for Workers
Plus: A dangerous misunderstanding about what caused America's opioid overdose epidemic, a look at this year's Nobel Prize winners, and more...
