Let's Have Fewer Public Statues

Culture War Steven Greenhut | 7.3.2020 8:00 AM If you think America's statue battles are at a fever pitch, then consider the battles that Europeans...

Today in Supreme Court History: July 3, 1941

Today in Supreme Court History Josh Blackman | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.3.2020 7:00 AM 7/3/1941: Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone takes oath....

Arizona Gyms Reject Governor Doug Ducey's Shutdown Order

Arizona Christian Britschgi | 7.3.2020 7:30 AM Arizona's gym owners want big brother off their lats. Some of the state's fitness centers have...

Will Uruguay's Luis Lacalle Pou Deliver Where Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro Has Faltered?

Uruguay Daniel Raisbeck | 7.3.2020 10:00 AM South America's libertarian moment was supposed to have arrived in Brazil. A free-market economist...

Action Park

Books Jesse Walker | From the August/September 2020 issue Action Park was the Somalia of theme parks, a New Jersey thunderdome for people who...

Review: The Outpost

Movies Kurt Loder | 7.3.2020 7:00 AM The Outpost is a ripping combat film that demonstrates one more time how soldiers confronting death in some...

More Money Does Buy More Happiness, Says Study

Happiness Ronald Bailey | 7.3.2020 9:30 AM "Does money buy happiness?," asked economist Richard Easterlin in his famous 1973 essay in The Public...

Brickbat: No True Scot

Brickbats Charles Oliver | 7.3.2020 4:00 AM A Scottish court has fined Terry Myers £280 (about $345) for sending threatening emails to his ex-...

Brandon Straka's #WalkAway Lawsuit Against LGBT Community Center Thrown Out

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.3.2020 2:43 PM From Justice Kathryn E. Freed's decision Wednesday in Straka v. Lesbian Gay...

Post-Pandemic Americans May Be Done With Taking Orders

Coronavirus J.D. Tuccille | 7.3.2020 3:45 PM On June 19, the mayor of Cottonwood, Arizona, unilaterally ordered city residents to wear face masks...

Overtime July begins with Emanations and Penumbras from the Shadow Docket

Josh Blackman | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.3.2020 3:11 PM Blue June is so last month. Now, we are in Overtime July. Yes, the Supreme Court term has...

Supreme Court of Texas Divides Over July and September Administrations of the Texas Bar

Josh Blackman | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.3.2020 4:41 PM In April, the Supreme Court of Texas created a second date at which the Texas Bar would be...

Golden State Killer's Capture Complicates Documentary I'll Be Gone in the Dark

Television Glenn Garvin | 7.3.2020 3:00 PM I'll Be Gone in the Dark. Available now on HBO Go and HBO Now. I'll Be Gone in the Dark as an account of...

In 2020, Words Are 'Violence,' Arson Is Not

Violence Billy Binion | 7.3.2020 4:30 PM There's a righteous anger driving protests against police brutality in the U.S. But an effort on the left...

Body Camera Footage Shows Florida Cops Laughing About Using Rubber Bullets on Anti-Police Brutality Protesters

Use of Force Zuri Davis | 7.3.2020 4:15 PM A Florida police department is investigating officers who joked on camera about the protesters they shot...

Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions

John Ross | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.3.2020 3:30 PM Please enjoy the latest edition of Short Circuit, a weekly feature from the Institute for...

Phony Overtime, Fictional Drug Buys, and Mysterious C.I. Payments Offer a Glimpse of Houston Police Corruption

Police Abuse Jacob Sullum | 7.3.2020 6:30 PM On January 22, 2019, Houston narcotics officer Hodgie Armstrong paid a confidential informant who...

Colorado Court Elaborates the "Reasonable Exercise" Test Under the Colorado Constitution's Right to Keep and Bear Arms

Eugene Volokh | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.3.2020 5:00 PM Article II, section 13 of the Colorado Constitution reads: The right of no person to keep...

Lawsuit Against 'Shitty Media Men' List Creator Can Proceed, Judge Says

Reason Roundup Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 7.2.2020 9:30 AM A case against the creator of the "Shitty Media Men" list can move forward, per a federal...

Mary Trump Temporarily Enjoined from Publishing Memoir—But Injunction Lifted as to Her Publisher

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.2.2020 11:02 AM From yesterday's decision in Robert Trump v. Mary Trump by New York Appellate...

En Banc D.C. Circuit Delivers Big Win for Landowners

Property Rights Jonathan H. Adler | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.2.2020 11:00 AM On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued...

The National Guard at the Lincoln Memorial

Photo Reason Staff | From the August/September 2020 issue D.C. National Guard members blocked access to the Lincoln Memorial on June 2 while...

The Ten Phases of Blue June

Josh Blackman | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.2.2020 7:30 AM Blue June has finally drawn to a close. It was a month unlike any other in recent memory....

Americans Get Paid To Donate Plasma. Everyone Else Should Too

Blood Donors Peter Jaworski | 7.2.2020 8:30 AM Life-saving plasma therapies are essential for many patients, but every year we flirt with a...

Brickbat: Thank You for Your Service

Brickbats Charles Oliver | 7.2.2020 4:00 AM A state investigation of a Massachusetts veterans home where 76 residents have died of from coronavirus...

Trump's Bizarre Twitter Attack on Obama-Era Fair Housing Regs Reveals an Administration at War With Itself

Housing Policy Christian Britschgi | 7.2.2020 1:20 PM The White House appears to be at war with itself on housing policy following a late-night...

Why Haven't We Seen the Body Cam Footage of Duncan Lemp's Killing?

Militarization of Police C.J. Ciaramella | 7.2.2020 6:07 PM It's been nearly four months since Montgomery County police killed 21-year-old Duncan...

"University of Massachusetts Nursing Dean Fired After Saying 'Everyone's Life Matters'"

Campus Free Speech Eugene Volokh | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.2.2020 7:06 PM Prof. Jonathan Turley (GW) reports: We have been discussing...

Somerville (Mass.) Allows Multi-Member Domestic Partnerships

Eugene Volokh | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.2.2020 2:12 PM From an ordinance enacted last week: The city, recognizing its commitment to...

New Charges and Audit Results Reveal Widespread Laxness and Corruption in the Houston Narcotics Division That Killed an Innocent Couple

Drug War Jacob Sullum | 7.2.2020 2:30 PM Ten months after Houston cops killed a middle-aged couple during a no-knock drug raid based on a...

Lindsey Graham's Terrible Anti-Privacy 'EARN IT' Act Passes Senate Committee

Section 230 Scott Shackford | 7.2.2020 1:35 PM Bad news for freedom lovers as we approach Independence Day weekend: A bill compromising online...

Is the COVID-19 Pandemic Self-Flattening, or Will It Grind Relentlessly on?

Coronavirus Ronald Bailey | 7.2.2020 2:45 PM Seeking auguries of the future, people in the past probed the livers of sheep, observed the flights of...

Today in Supreme Court History: July 2, 1908

Today in Supreme Court History Josh Blackman | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.2.2020 7:00 AM 7/2/1908: Justice Thurgood Marshall's birthday. NEXT: The...

"Shitty Media Men" List Libel Lawsuit Can Go Forward

Libel Eugene Volokh | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.2.2020 4:48 PM From Tuesday's decision by Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall in Elliott v. Donegan: On or...

Welcome to the New Radical Classical Liberals Blog

Libertarianism Ilya Somin | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.2.2020 3:49 PM Last month, I lamented the end of the long-running Bleeding Heart Libertarians...

The Next Pandemic Will Be Caused by the National Debt. It Will Crater the Economy.

Debt Nick Gillespie | 7.2.2020 3:00 PM One of the most frustrating aspects of the novel coronavirus pandemic is how many early warning signs and...

Empowered by Excessive Regulations, 'Permit Karen' Harasses Her Neighbors and Calls the Cops

Regulation Zuri Davis | 7.2.2020 3:15 PM Zoning and other municipal regulations give busybodies a license to harass people they don't like and...

Senate Bill Would Grant Refugee Status to Hong Kong Protestors

Hong Kong Max Dunat | 7.2.2020 4:00 PM Five senators introduced a bill Tuesday that would grant priority for refugee status to Hongkongers fleeing...

Out-of-School K-12 Student Speech Can't Be Punished Even If It Causes "Disruption" at School

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.1.2020 8:31 PM Students, the Supreme Court has held, do not "shed their constitutional rights...

"Rockland County [N.Y.] Issues Subpoenas, Fines to Contain Coronavirus Cluster"

Eugene Volokh | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.1.2020 8:41 PM From the New York Post (Bernadette Hogan and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon): Rockland County is...

Chief Justice Roberts Rewrote Morrison v. Olson

Josh Blackman | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.1.2020 5:32 PM Chief Justice Roberts talks a good game about stare decisis and stability. But time and...

Stare Decisis is an Old Latin Phrase that Means "Let the Decisions of the Warren Court Stand"

Josh Blackman | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.1.2020 6:51 PM Superficially, Bostock may seem like a triumph for textualism. It wasn't. Rather, Justice...

And Another N.Y. Bill Targeted at "Hate Speech" (and Advocacy of Boycotts of Friendly Countries)

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.1.2020 7:38 PM The bill, S.5285, was filed in May 2019 by state senator Robert G. Ortt, but...

As Bastiat Would Say, Peer Past the Obvious With Pandemic Policies

Coronavirus Veronique de Rugy | 7.2.2020 12:01 AM This week marks the 219th birthday of the great 19th-century French economist Frederic Bastiat....

After 3 Weeks and 4 Shootings, Seattle Dismantles Its 'Autonomous Zone'

Seattle Christian Britschgi | 7.1.2020 4:15 PM The dream is over. This morning Seattle police cleared away the last remnants of an "autonomous...

Florida Just Passed the Most Sweeping Occupational Licensing Reform in History

Occupational Licensing Eric Boehm | 7.1.2020 4:00 PM Sweeping reforms signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday will loosen or...

Would Derek Chauvin Receive Qualified Immunity for Killing George Floyd?

George Floyd Jacob Sullum | 7.1.2020 3:30 PM Derek Chauvin, the now-former Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on George Floyd's neck for more...

As Delayed Tax Day Approaches, Consider What You Get for Your Money

George Floyd Jacob Sullum | 7.1.2020 3:30 PM Derek Chauvin, the now-former Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on George Floyd's neck for more...

Wesley Yang: Woke Protests Against 'White Supremacism' May Be the New Normal

George Floyd Jacob Sullum | 7.1.2020 3:30 PM Derek Chauvin, the now-former Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on George Floyd's neck for more...

Police Departments Asked Live PD To Cut Footage That Made Cops Look Bad

Police Scott Shackford | 7.1.2020 1:55 PM After A&E canceled the police ride-along reality show Live PD in response to growing criticism and...

Justice Kagan on Hamilton in Federalist No. 77

Josh Blackman | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.1.2020 2:09 PM There is much to admire in Justice Kagan's Seila Law dissent. She wrote a robust...

Supreme Court's LGBT Discrimination Ruling Forces Harvard To End Ban on Single-Gender Clubs

Sex Discrimination Scott Shackford | 7.1.2020 12:15 PM Among the unexpected beneficiaries of last week's Supreme Court decision banning workplace...

Judge Luttig on How the D.C. Circuit Bungled the Flynn Case

Criminal Law Jonathan H. Adler | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.1.2020 12:22 PM Before the U.S. Court of Appeals decided to grant Michael Flynn's...

COVID-19 Herd Immunity Is Much Closer Than Antibody Tests Suggest, Say 2 New Studies

Coronavirus Ronald Bailey | 7.1.2020 11:40 AM The prevalence of immunity to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 may be much higher than previous...

Brickbats: July 2020

Brickbats Charles Oliver and Peter Bagge | From the July 2020 issue Lucio Delgado was proud to have the chance to become an American citizen after...

3 Things To Know About the 'New NAFTA' That Begins Today

Free Trade Eric Boehm | 7.1.2020 10:30 AM A little more than 26 years after it ushered in a new era of continent-wide trade, the North American...

Touching Your Phone While Driving Is Now Illegal in Idaho, Illinois, and Indiana

Reason Roundup Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 7.1.2020 10:00 AM As Americans celebrate Independence Day this week, state authorities will be armed with...

N.Y. State Bill to Ban "Hate Speech" from Social Media

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | The Volokh Conspiracy | 7.1.2020 8:02 AM The bill (S. 7275) was proposed in January by state senator David Carlucci, but...

Today in Supreme Court History: July 1, 1985

Criminal Justice John Stossel | 7.1.2020 12:30 AM Protesters say America's criminal justice system is unfair. It is. Courts are so jammed that...

Brickbat: I See Your Picture

Brickbats Charles Oliver | 7.1.2020 4:00 AM Minnesota State Patrol trooper Albert Kuehne has been charged with two counts of felony stalking....

The Chief Justices Battle over the Removal Power

Josh Blackman | The Volokh Conspiracy | 6.30.2020 2:32 AM Seila Law was the Court's most significant separation of powers case since Noel Canning....

Bill Barr Crosses the Rubicon

Supreme Court Declares Another Abortion Law Unconstitutional

Defendant "Not Likely to Emerge From … His [5-Year] Sentence … with a Thoughtful and Pacific Approach to His Fellow Man"

Supreme Court Strikes Down Montana Blaine Amendment Barring State Aid to Religious Schools

11 Redacted Seconds of Video of Fatal 2014 Drug Bust Undermine Florida Cops' Official Story

Supreme Court Delivers Big Win for School Choice and Religious Liberty Advocates

Inmate Coronavirus Infections Skyrocket in California

Brickbat: Move Along Now

Brickbats Charles Oliver | 6.30.2020 4:00 AM Video shows Aurora, Colorado, police using pepper spray to break up an apparently peaceful protest...

Partisan Hypocrisy on Display in Supreme Court Ruling on Anti-Prostitution Pledge and the First Amendment

These Women Received a Death Sentence for Being Sick In Prison

When One Federal Agency Sues Another in Federal Court

House of Representatives Votes to Give D.C. Statehood

Today in Supreme Court History: June 30, 2014

A Rosy End to Blue June

Joe Biden's COVID Response Plan: More Money, More Masks, More Testing

Don't Let the Pandemic Kill Religious Freedom

Coronavirus Jacob Sullum | 7.1.2020 12:01 AM About a month after Bill de Blasio personally led a police raid on a Hasidic rabbi's funeral in...

Want to Reform the Criminal Justice System? End the Drug War.

Criminal Justice John Stossel | 7.1.2020 12:30 AM Protesters say America's criminal justice system is unfair. It is. Courts are so jammed that...

Did COVID-19 Lockdowns Reach Back in Time to Affect Behavior Before They Were Imposed?

Coronavirus Jacob Sullum | 6.30.2020 7:50 PM "By going into lockdown," New York Times science writer Carl Zimmer matter-of-factly reports, "...

The Roberts Court Slowly Inters Justice Kennedy's Ephemeral "Jurisprudence of Doubt"

Josh Blackman | The Volokh Conspiracy | 6.30.2020 7:01 PM Two years ago, Justice Kennedy announced that he would retire from the Supreme Court. One...

UCLA Academic Freedom Committee Statement Related to the Gordon Klein Controversy

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | The Volokh Conspiracy | 6.30.2020 6:44 PM Just posted by the UCLA Academic Senate Committee on Academic Freedom, about...

Marsha P. Johnson Probably Didn't Start Stonewall, and Might Not Have Been Trans. Does It Matter?

Intersectionality Billy Binion | 6.30.2020 5:20 PM Head over to Google today and you'll see one of its famous doodle sketches in the form of Marsha...

Stock Market Suspiciously Healthy. The Federal Reserve Does All It Can to Keep Economic Reality From Setting In.

Stock Market Brian Doherty | 6.30.2020 5:05 PM Despite 33 states with over 10 percent unemployment rates, gross domestic product quarterly dives of...

Revenge of the Coronavirus

Coronavirus Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Robby Soave | 6.29.2020 5:00 PM America might want to be done with the...

Communications With Reputation Repair Firm Aren't Privileged

Eugene Volokh | The Volokh Conspiracy | 6.29.2020 5:53 PM From Brummer v. Wey, decided by Judge Lucy Billings on Jan. 17, but just posted on...

Reason TV Video on the Case for Letting Hong Kong Refugees Migrate to the United States

Immigration Ilya Somin | The Volokh Conspiracy | 6.29.2020 4:46 PM Reason TV has posted a video in which I and others make the case for allowing...

Were COVID-19 Lockdowns Worth the Cost?

Coronavirus Jacob Sullum | 6.29.2020 4:40 PM "More than four months into fighting the coronavirus in the United States," The New York Times says,...

Blue June Glooms On

Josh Blackman | The Volokh Conspiracy | 6.30.2020 1:33 AM I have now finished reading June Medical Services and Seila Law . Collectively, they...

When Can You Threaten Deadly Force as a Defensive Tactic?

Guns Eugene Volokh | The Volokh Conspiracy | 6.29.2020 7:34 PM This question is in the news because of the St. Louis controversy (see, e.g., here...

Trump Said 'You Don't Have To Drop Bombs on Everybody.' He's Right

Foreign Policy Bonnie Kristian | 6.29.2020 5:15 PM Asked by Fox News host Sean Hannity last Thursday to detail his top priorities for a second term...

Kneeling in the Church of Social Justice

Social Justice John McWhorter | 6.29.2020 5:30 PM Over the past several years, a social justice philosophy has arisen that is less a political...