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Brickbat: A Nightmare Before Christmas (and After Halloween)

Brickbat: A Nightmare Before Christmas (and After Halloween)

Property Charles Oliver | 1.14.2025 4:00 AM Decorating for Halloween, Alexis Luttrell put a skeleton and a skeleton dog in her yard in Georgetown,...

yesterday 10

Reason.com

Charles Oliver

Free Speech and Private Power: The Right to "Present[] a Curated Compilation of Speech"

Free Speech and Private Power: The Right to

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | 1.14.2025 11:45 AM [I am serializing my short Harvard Law Review Forum essay titled "Free Speech and Private Power",...

yesterday 1

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Eugene Volokh

Be Skeptical of 'Beneficially Coercive' New Rules for Booze

Be Skeptical of 'Beneficially Coercive' New Rules for Booze

Alcohol Eric Boehm | 1.14.2025 7:00 AM A new warning from Surgeon General Vivek Murthy that links alcohol to cancer ought to raise questions about...

yesterday 10

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Eric Boehm

Election Reforms Blocked by Elections

Election Reforms Blocked by Elections

Voting Eric Boehm | From the February 2025 issue Several proposed election reforms on the 2024 ballot offered promising solutions: Reduce the power...

yesterday 10

Reason.com

Eric Boehm

Hegseth Faces the Senate

Hegseth Faces the Senate

Trump Administration Liz Wolfe | 1.14.2025 9:30 AM Will Hegseth get through? Pete Hegseth, current Fox News anchor and possible future defense...

yesterday 4

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Liz Wolfe

Today in Supreme Court History: January 14, 1780

yesterday 3

Reason.com

Josh Blackman

Special Counsel David Weiss Responds To President Biden's Attacks on Hunter Biden Prosecution

Special Counsel David Weiss Responds To President Biden's Attacks on Hunter Biden Prosecution

Josh Blackman | 1.14.2025 12:39 PM Jack Smith isn't the only game in town. Attorney General Garland also released a 278-page report from Special...

yesterday 1

Reason.com

Josh Blackman

Jack Smith Explains Why He Did Not Charge Trump With Insurrection

Jack Smith Explains Why He Did Not Charge Trump With Insurrection

Josh Blackman | 1.14.2025 12:11 PM Attorney General Merrick Garland has released Volume I of Jack Smith's report, which focuses on the January 6...

yesterday 1

Reason.com

Josh Blackman

Trump's Inauguration Won't Change the Fact That People Dislike High Gas Prices

Trump's Inauguration Won't Change the Fact That People Dislike High Gas Prices

Free Trade Eric Boehm | 1.14.2025 1:10 PM After a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told...

yesterday 1

Reason.com

Eric Boehm

Yes, Mark Zuckerberg, You Can Shout 'Fire' in a Crowded Theater

Free Speech Emma Camp | 1.14.2025 11:55 AM Mark Zuckerberg has joined a dubious list of prominent Americans—including judges, members of Congress,...

yesterday 1

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Emma Camp

The L.A. Fires Are a Natural Disaster, Not a Policy Disaster

The L.A. Fires Are a Natural Disaster, Not a Policy Disaster

California Christian Britschgi | 1.14.2025 12:35 PM Happy Tuesday, and welcome to another edition of Rent Free. This week's newsletter takes an...

yesterday 1

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Christian Britschgi

Trump Would Have Been Convicted for Election Interference, Says Jack Smith

Trump Would Have Been Convicted for Election Interference, Says Jack Smith

Donald Trump Joe Lancaster | 1.14.2025 1:35 PM In the time between his two presidential administrations, Donald Trump was famously the subject of...

yesterday 1

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Joe Lancaster

Here's How Police Are Being Trained To Deal With Incels

Here's How Police Are Being Trained To Deal With Incels

Homeland security Matthew Petti | 1.14.2025 3:17 PM Some men in the "incel" (involuntary celibate) community want the state to intervene in their...

yesterday 1

Reason.com

Matthew Petti

Lawless II: Critical Theory Returns with a Vengeance

Lawless II: Critical Theory Returns with a Vengeance

Politics Ilya Shapiro | 1.14.2025 8:01 AM Yesterday I laid out my how my personal experience led me to "do the work" and write Lawless . That...

yesterday 10

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Ilya Shapiro

The Law That Disarmed Trump Is Unfair, Illogical, and Constitutionally Dubious

yesterday 0

Reason.com

Jacob Sullum

The Best of Reason: 'The Constitution Is Not a Suicide Pact'

yesterday 0

Reason.com

Jacob Sullum

The 10th Most-Cited-by-Cases Law Journal Article Since 1990 Was Written by a Student

yesterday 4

Reason.com

Eugene Volokh

Reminder: Donald Trump Promised To Free Ross Ulbricht on 'Day One'

yesterday 10

Reason.com

Nick Gillespie

Second Amendment Roundup: Circuit Conflict in Felon Gun Ban Cases

Second Amendment Roundup: Circuit Conflict in Felon Gun Ban Cases

Stephen Halbrook | 1.13.2025 9:47 PM On December 23, the Third Circuit en banc handed Bryan Range an early Christmas present by ruling that despite...

previous day 10

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Stephen Halbrook

California's Insurance Regulation Fixes Came Too Little, Too Late

California's Insurance Regulation Fixes Came Too Little, Too Late

Wildfires Christian Britschgi | 1.13.2025 3:00 PM At the end of last year, California issued emergency new insurance regulations giving insurers...

previous day 10

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Christian Britschgi

Maryland Cop Who Recklessly Shot a 5-Year-Old Boy Got Qualified Immunity

Maryland Cop Who Recklessly Shot a 5-Year-Old Boy Got Qualified Immunity

Qualified Immunity Jacob Sullum | 1.13.2025 4:40 PM During an August 2016 standoff with an armed woman at an apartment in Baltimore County,...

previous day 20

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Jacob Sullum

How Awful Policies Fueled the L.A. Fires

How Awful Policies Fueled the L.A. Fires

California Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Peter Suderman | 1.13.2025 4:49 PM HD Video Download In this week's The Reason...

previous day 10

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Matt Welch

The Incoming FCC Chief Is No 'Warrior for Free Speech'

The Incoming FCC Chief Is No 'Warrior for Free Speech'

FCC Joe Lancaster | 1.13.2025 3:30 PM President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office next week, and his second-term agenda is taking shape as...

previous day 10

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Joe Lancaster

Monday Open Thread

Monday Open Thread
previous day 10

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Eugene Volokh

Brickbat: Driven To Drink

Brickbat: Driven To Drink

Drunk driving Charles Oliver | 1.13.2025 4:00 AM Kayla Pier, a former school bus driver in Indiana's La Porte County, has been charged with...

previous day 8

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Charles Oliver

"Regulation of Algorithms" Panel at Federalist Society Faculty Conference,

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | 1.13.2025 5:00 PM I much enjoyed participating, and I hope some of you will enjoy watching. Here's the panel...

previous day 6

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Eugene Volokh

41 Percent of Chicago Teachers Were Chronically Absent Last Year, Report Finds

41 Percent of Chicago Teachers Were Chronically Absent Last Year, Report Finds

Public schools Emma Camp | 1.13.2025 2:19 PM More than four in 10 public school teachers in Chicago were chronically absent last year, according to...

previous day 9

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Emma Camp

Sage Steele Loses Claim That Her Agents Didn't Properly Protect Her Free Speech Rights

Sage Steele Loses Claim That Her Agents Didn't Properly Protect Her Free Speech Rights

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | 1.13.2025 8:32 AM From the California Department of Industrial Relations Labor Commissioner in Creative Artists Agency...

previous day 10

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Eugene Volokh

Prosecutor Disbarred for Forged Texts Apparently Aimed at Framing Co-Worker for Sexual Harassment

Prosecutor Disbarred for Forged Texts Apparently Aimed at Framing Co-Worker for Sexual Harassment

Legal Ethics Eugene Volokh | 1.13.2025 9:17 AM The Denver Post (Shelly Bradbury) was apparently the first to report on the story: Yujin Choi...

previous day 10

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Eugene Volokh

"How Not to Decide TikTok: U.S. Press Freedom Hangs in the Balance"

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | 1.13.2025 1:55 PM An interesting analysis by Prof. David Cole (Georgetown), the former National Legal Director of the...

previous day 4

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Eugene Volokh

Boston Police Officer's Tweets from "Stop the Steal" Rally Protected by First Amendment Against Government Employer Retaliation

Boston Police Officer's Tweets from

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | 1.13.2025 1:18 PM An excerpt from the >16,000-word opinion written by Commissioner Paul Stein in Abasciano v. Boston...

previous day 4

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Eugene Volokh

California's Fire Catastrophe Is Largely a Result of Bad Government Policies

California's Fire Catastrophe Is Largely a Result of Bad Government Policies

California J.D. Tuccille | 1.13.2025 7:00 AM In the weeks, months, and years to come, there will be plenty of blame to share for the lapses that...

previous day 30

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J.d. Tuccille

When New Jersey Hiked Minimum Wages, Fast Food Prices Rose

When New Jersey Hiked Minimum Wages, Fast Food Prices Rose

Minimum Wage Eric Boehm | 1.13.2025 8:00 AM As New Jersey ratcheted up its minimum wage on three occasions between 2019 and 2021, fast-food...

previous day 10

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Eric Boehm

What's Wrong With a Private Firefighter?

What's Wrong With a Private Firefighter?

California Liz Wolfe | 1.13.2025 9:31 AM An update on the fires: So far 24 people are known to have died in the fires burning in and around Los...

previous day 8

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Liz Wolfe

Today in Supreme Court History: January 13, 2014

Today in Supreme Court History: January 13, 2014
previous day 3

Reason.com

Josh Blackman

Massachusetts Court Weighs Whether All Prostitution Is Sex Trafficking

Massachusetts Court Weighs Whether All Prostitution Is Sex Trafficking

Prostitution Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 1.13.2025 11:25 AM "So every John is a sex trafficker?" asked Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Scott L....

previous day 6

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Elizabeth Nolan Brown

Supreme Court Denies Certiorari in Climate Tort Suits

Supreme Court Denies Certiorari in Climate Tort Suits

Supreme Court Jonathan H. Adler | 1.13.2025 10:52 AM Today the Supreme Court denied certiorari in  Sunoco LP v. Honolulu and Shell PLC v....

previous day 5

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Jonathan H. Adler

Despite 2024 Setbacks, Drug Policy Is Still on a Long-Term Trend Toward Reform

Despite 2024 Setbacks, Drug Policy Is Still on a Long-Term Trend Toward Reform

War on Drugs Jacob Sullum | From the February 2025 issue In 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022, voters approved a raft of drug policy reforms. They...

previous day 1

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Jacob Sullum

Supreme Court Denies Certiorari for Braidwood Nondelegation Claim

Supreme Court Denies Certiorari for Braidwood Nondelegation Claim

Supreme Court Jonathan H. Adler | 1.13.2025 10:23 AM As I noted on Friday, the Supreme Court accepted certiorari to hear an appointments clause...

previous day 2

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Jonathan H. Adler

Nevada Judge to Nevada Cops: You Can't Use This Loophole To Get Around Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform

Nevada Judge to Nevada Cops: You Can't Use This Loophole To Get Around Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform

Civil Asset Forfeiture C.J. Ciaramella | 1.13.2025 1:08 PM In the first decision of its kind in Nevada, a judge ruled last week that state law...

previous day 3

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C.j. Ciaramella

Lawless I: The Illiberal Takeover of Legal Education

Lawless I: The Illiberal Takeover of Legal Education

Free Speech Ilya Shapiro | 1.13.2025 8:01 AM Thanks to Eugene for inviting me to participate in the Volokh Conspiracy's venerable tradition of the...

previous day 5

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Ilya Shapiro

Looting Is Bad. So Are Curfews.

Looting Is Bad. So Are Curfews.

California Jack Nicastro | 1.13.2025 11:04 AM The California National Guard arrived in burn zones Friday to assist local police "with traffic...

previous day 8

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Jack Nicastro

Ilya Shapiro Guest-Blogging About "Lawless: The Miseducation of America's Elites"

Ilya Shapiro Guest-Blogging About

Politics Eugene Volokh | 1.12.2025 3:25 PM I'm delighted to report that Ilya Shapiro (Manhattan Institute) will be guest-blogging this week about...

sunday 3

Reason.com

Eugene Volokh

Easing Zoning Restrictions Can Facilitate Rebuilding After the LA Fires

Easing Zoning Restrictions Can Facilitate Rebuilding After the LA Fires

Wildfires Ilya Somin | 1.12.2025 4:28 PM   Much of the debate over the horrible wildfires afflicting the Los Angeles areas focuses on issues...

sunday 20

Reason.com

Ilya Somin

The Pentagon Keeps Losing Equipment and Buying Stuff It Doesn't Need

The Pentagon Keeps Losing Equipment and Buying Stuff It Doesn't Need

Military Matthew Petti | From the February 2025 issue Keeping track of inventory is hard for any large organization. Workers misplace items,...

sunday 30

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Matthew Petti

Today in Supreme Court History: January 12, 1932

Today in Supreme Court History: January 12, 1932
sunday 4

Reason.com

Josh Blackman

N.H. Court Rejects Attempt to Impose Hate Crime Liability on Neo-Nazis for Hanging "Keep New England White" Sign on Overpass

N.H. Court Rejects Attempt to Impose Hate Crime Liability on Neo-Nazis for Hanging

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | 1.11.2025 8:01 AM From yesterday's N.H. Supreme Court decision in Attorney General v. Hood : [According to the State's...

11.01.2025 20

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Eugene Volokh

Today in Supreme Court History: January 11, 1830

Today in Supreme Court History: January 11, 1830
11.01.2025 40

Reason.com

Josh Blackman

'The Constitution Is Not a Suicide Pact'

'The Constitution Is Not a Suicide Pact'

Supreme Court Jacob Sullum | From the February 2025 issue By the time Arthur Terminiello arrived at Chicago's West End Woman's Club on a Thursday...

11.01.2025 7

Reason.com

Jacob Sullum

Nicaragua's Regime Wages War on Religious Freedom

Nicaragua's Regime Wages War on Religious Freedom

Nicaragua Katarina Hall | 1.11.2025 7:00 AM Nicaragua has become one of the 20 most dangerous countries in the world for Christians, according to...

11.01.2025 9

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Katarina Hall

Athletes Find New Way To Avoid Taxes

Athletes Find New Way To Avoid Taxes

Sports Jason Russell | 1.11.2025 6:30 AM It felt groundbreaking when Shohei Ohtani did it with the Los Angeles Dodgers over a year ago. By the time...

11.01.2025 9

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Jason Russell

Another Study on Flavored Vaping Products the FDA Can Ignore

Another Study on Flavored Vaping Products the FDA Can Ignore

Vaping Jonathan H. Adler | 1.11.2025 6:03 PM The Food and Drug Administration has been particularly resistant to approving the sale of vaping...

11.01.2025 10

Reason.com

Jonathan H. Adler

Misinformation Expert's "Citation to Fake, AI-Generated Sources in His Declaration … Shatters His Credibility with This Court"

Misinformation Expert's

AI in Court Eugene Volokh | 1.10.2025 7:10 PM From today's order by Laura Provinzino (D. Minn.) in Kohls v. Ellison (see this Nov. 19 post for...

10.01.2025 3

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Eugene Volokh

Attorneys May Have to Ask Expert Witnesses "Whether They Have Used AI in Drafting Their Declarations and What They Have Done to Verify Any AI-Generated Content"

Attorneys May Have to Ask Expert Witnesses

AI in Court Eugene Volokh | 1.10.2025 8:27 PM From  Kohls v. Ellison , which I quoted more extensively in an earlier post: To be sure, Attorney...

10.01.2025 2

Reason.com

Eugene Volokh

TikTok Took a Beating at the Supreme Court

TikTok Took a Beating at the Supreme Court

Social Media Robby Soave | 1.10.2025 4:25 PM The Supreme Court appeared largely—though not entirely—unmoved by arguments that a federal ban on...

10.01.2025 10

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Robby Soave

Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in Becerra v. Braidwood Management

Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in Becerra v. Braidwood Management

Supreme Court Jonathan H. Adler | 1.10.2025 6:48 PM Most Supreme Court watchers today were focused on the oral argument in the TikTok case, but...

10.01.2025 4

Reason.com

Jonathan H. Adler

Can New York Enter A Final Criminal Judgement Against Trump While The Federal Removal Action Is Still Pending?

Can New York Enter A Final Criminal Judgement Against Trump While The Federal Removal Action Is Still Pending?

Josh Blackman | 1.10.2025 4:35 PM Today Judge Merchan issued a sentence against President-Elect Trump, and presumably created a final appealable...

10.01.2025 10

Reason.com

Josh Blackman

Los Angeles Zoning Laws Pushed People and Homes Toward Fire-Prone Areas

Los Angeles Zoning Laws Pushed People and Homes Toward Fire-Prone Areas

Zoning Jack Nicastro | 1.10.2025 3:50 PM The disastrous fires in the Los Angeles area have now claimed at least 10 lives and damaged or destroyed...

10.01.2025 10

Reason.com

Jack Nicastro

Trump's Latest Defeat Is One of Many Decisions That Suggest SCOTUS Won't Rubber-Stamp His Agenda

Trump's Latest Defeat Is One of Many Decisions That Suggest SCOTUS Won't Rubber-Stamp His Agenda

Donald Trump Jacob Sullum | 1.10.2025 4:10 PM On Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump's lawyers urged the U.S. Supreme Court to block his...

10.01.2025 30

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Jacob Sullum