Today in Supreme Court History: January 23, 1915

Today in Supreme Court History Josh Blackman | 1.23.2022 7:00 AM 1/23/1915: Justice Potter Stewart born.   To get the Volokh Conspiracy Daily...

The Independents Strike Back

Politics Matt Welch | From the February 2022 issue The Monterey pine tree of California's Central Coast has developed an ingenious method for...

Trigger Warning for 1984 at the University of Northampton

Eugene Volokh | 1.23.2022 6:27 PM Daily Mail (UK) (Chris Hastings) reports: [S]taff at the University of Northampton have issued a trigger warning...

No Arbitration of Claims Against Scientology After Plaintiffs Had Left the Church

Religion and the Law Eugene Volokh | 1.22.2022 3:44 PM From Bixler v. Superior Court , decided Wednesday by the California Court of Appeal...

Two Years Without Twitter

Josh Blackman | 1.22.2022 8:00 AM On January 22, 2020, I decided to take a brief hiatus from Twitter. I made this decision shortly before the New...

The Real-World Conflicts in Yellowstone Can Be Solved by Markets, Not Drama

Television Shawn Regan and Tate Watkins | 1.22.2022 7:30 AM Yellowstone , the modern-day Western starring Kevin Costner, is one of the most popular...

Today in Supreme Court History: January 22, 1890

Today in Supreme Court History Josh Blackman | 1.22.2022 7:00 AM 1/22/1890: Hans v. State of Louisiana argued. To get the Volokh Conspiracy Daily...

New York's Liquor Store Lobby Fights Against To-Go Drink Sales by Bars, Restaurants

Alcohol Baylen Linnekin | 1.22.2022 8:30 AM New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced this month that she hopes  to make permanent the relaxed...

When Humanitarianism Prolongs the Inhumane

War Jesse Walker | From the February 2022 issue Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War, by Samuel Moyn, Farrar, Straus...

The U.S. Export-Import Bank Is a Cesspool of Crony Capitalism. Biden Wants To Expand It.

Export-Import Bank Veronique de Rugy | 1.21.2022 6:30 AM For years now, the U.S. Export-Import Bank—an under-the-radar agency that provides...

There Is Nothing 'Conservative' About Letting Police Violate Our Rights

Qualified Immunity Billy Binion | 1.21.2022 5:21 PM Newly-minted Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin appears on track to become somewhat of a star in the...

Going in for My Spoliation Surgery Tomorrow

Eugene Volokh | 1.21.2022 9:23 AM From Gilliam v. Uni Holdings , decided last month by the N.Y. intermediate appellate court, in an opinion by...

Judge Admonished for Ad Which Said He "Got Into Law in Part to Advocate for Marginalized Communities"

Eugene Volokh | 1.21.2022 8:01 AM From In re David S. Keenan , decided Feb. 5 by the Washington Commission on Judicial Conduct but just posted on...

The Right to Defy Criminal Demands: Negligence and Ransom Demands

Defying Criminal Demands Eugene Volokh | 1.21.2022 8:01 AM I've just finished up a rough draft of my The Right to Defy Criminal Demands article, and...

Federal Judge Says Courts Don't Have To Buy 'Nonsensical Explanations' for Bad Regulations

Regulation Eric Boehm | 1.21.2022 1:20 PM A federal judge in Mississippi will allow a major challenge to the state's Certificate of Need (CON)...

Biden Is Not Trump. After a Year, That's No Longer Enough.

Joe Biden Steven Greenhut | 1.21.2022 8:00 AM To provide an idea of how disastrous the Joe Biden presidency has been after a year, consider the...

Today in Supreme Court History: January 21, 2010

Today in Supreme Court History Josh Blackman | 1.21.2022 7:00 AM 1/21/2010: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decided. To get the...

Review: The King's Daughter

Movies Kurt Loder | 1.21.2022 7:30 AM The year is 1684. The place, France. The king, Pierce Brosnan. This is probably not a French historical fact...

Constitutional Law and Supreme Court Expert Ilya Shapiro Joins the Georgetown Center for the Constitution

Josh Blackman | 1.21.2022 2:21 PM I am happy to pass along this press release from the Georgetown Center for the Constitution: The Georgetown...

COVID-19 Booster Shots Are 90 Percent Effective Against Hospitalization

Coronavirus Ronald Bailey | 1.21.2022 3:05 PM The booster shots of the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are around 90 percent...

New Virginia Attorney General Fires Entire Conviction Integrity Unit

Criminal Justice C.J. Ciaramella | 1.21.2022 2:42 PM Virginia's newly elected Republican attorney general, Jason Miyares, fired about 30 staffers...

Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions

John Ross | 1.21.2022 3:30 PM Please enjoy the latest edition of Short Circuit, a weekly feature from the Institute for Justice. Does any American...

Court Concludes, for TRO, that Federal Disability Law Does Require School Districts to Mandate Masks

Eugene Volokh | 1.21.2022 7:45 PM From Judge Marilyn Horan's opinion Monday in Doe 1 v. N. Allegheny School Dist. (which takes the opposite view...

Anti-Tech Antitrust Bill Draws Criticism From All Sides

Reason Roundup Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 1.21.2022 9:47 AM A slapdash antitrust bill in the Senate has drawn criticism across the political spectrum....

Brickbat: Keep It Trimmed

Brickbats Charles Oliver | 1.21.2022 4:00 AM Burhan Chowdhury, 72, was trying to explain that the treatment for his lymphoma has left him too weak...

Dune

Movies Christian Britschgi | From the February 2022 issue Frank Herbert's Dune is a hard novel to film and an easy one to misunderstand, as shown...

"Belarusian Government Officials Charged With Aircraft Piracy for Diverting … Flight … to Arrest Dissident Journalist"

Eugene Volokh | 1.21.2022 5:23 PM I quote the DoJ press release; you can also read the Indictment here (starting at p. 5); the last name Lnu, of...

Federal Disability Law Doesn't Require School Districts to Mandate Masks

Eugene Volokh | 1.21.2022 5:33 PM So holds today's opinion by Judge William S. Stickman IV (W.D. Pa.) in Doe 1 v. Upper Saint Clair School Dist. :...

Remy: You Need to Calm Down (Taylor Swift Parody)

Remy Remy | 1.21.2022 12:00 PM City Hall doesn't want Remy to build on that blank space. Parody written and performed by Remy; video produced by...

Profs Get Preliminary Injunction against University of Florida

Academic Freedom Keith E. Whittington | 1.21.2022 5:29 PM The professors who were blocked by the University of Florida from offering expert...

Praying on the 50-Yard Line

Mark Movsesian | 1.21.2022 4:48 PM Last week, the Supreme Court granted cert in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District , the case of the high school...

Flint Public Schools Extend Remote Learning Indefinitely

Coronavirus Corey Walker | 1.21.2022 4:45 PM Public schools in Flint, Michigan, will stick with remote learning indefinitely, Flint Community...

9th Circuit Panel Says Pandemic-Inspired Shutdowns of Gun Stores Were Unconstitutional

Second Amendment Jacob Sullum | 1.21.2022 5:05 PM For 48 days in the spring of 2020, Ventura County, California, effectively prohibited the...

If You Want To Fight Monopolies, Fight Occupational Licensing

Antitrust Jennifer Huddleston | 1.21.2022 4:25 PM After a cascade of school shutdowns, supply chain issues, and soaring inflation, COVID-19 is...

SCOTUS Grants Cert To Narrow, But Not Overrule McGirt

Josh Blackman | 1.21.2022 4:40 PM In August, Oklahoma asked Justice Barrett to overrule McGirt. Well, not exactly. To be precise, the petition...

Will the En Banc 9th Circuit Extend the Second Amendment's Losing Streak to 51 Cases?

Josh Blackman | 1.21.2022 6:21 PM Heller was decided in 2008. Two years later, McDonald incorporated the Second Amendment. In the past thirteen...

Bad Politicians Think Elections Are Illegitimate if They Don't Like the Winner

Election 2022 J.D. Tuccille | 1.21.2022 7:00 AM President Joe Biden probably met the low bar set for his rare press conference this week by not...

Non-Judge Judges, "Pussy Hat[s]," and Falling Trees

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | 1.20.2022 3:36 PM From In re Inquiry Concerning Hon. Sarah Eckhardt , decided last week by a Texas Special Court of...

NPR Issues A "Clarification," Not A "Correction" on #Maskgate

Josh Blackman | 1.21.2022 12:16 AM I am sick of #Maskgate. You are sick of #Maskgate. The Justices are sick of #Maskgate. Alas, there is more #...

Accepting Sub Teacher Job at School Where Your Ex Teaches Isn't "Stalking"

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | 1.20.2022 9:45 AM From yesterday's Florida Court of Appeal decision in Ahern v. Leon , in an opinion by Judge Alan...

Washington S. Ct. Upholds $18M Fine for Violating Campaign Disclosure Rules

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | 1.20.2022 12:00 PM From Chief Justice Steven Gonzalez's majority opinion in State v. Grocery Manufacturers Ass'n :...

The Right to Defy Criminal Demands: Negligence and the Robber's Explicit Demands

Defying Criminal Demands Eugene Volokh | 1.20.2022 8:53 AM I've just finished up a rough draft of my The Right to Defy Criminal Demands article, and...

It's Time for Kids Liberation Day

Coronavirus Matt Welch | 1.20.2022 10:35 AM Wednesday was a wonderful day for COVID-19 news in New York City. Cases went down by 10 percent on...

Today in Supreme Court History: January 20, 1953

Today in Supreme Court History Josh Blackman | 1.20.2022 7:00 AM 1/20/1953: President Eisenhower takes the inaugural oath on January 20. He would...

Biden Takes Credit for Things He Shouldn't at Marathon Wednesday Press Conference

Reason Roundup Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 1.20.2022 9:32 AM Dubious claims from President Joe Biden's press conference. In a televised press...

Academic Freedom Alliance Letter to the University of Pennsylvania

Academic Freedom Keith E. Whittington | 1.20.2022 8:30 AM In December 2021, University of Pennsylvania Law Professor Amy Wax appeared on Glenn...

One Year Into His Presidency, Joe Biden's Immigration Policy Hasn't Made Anyone Happy

Immigration Fiona Harrigan | 1.20.2022 12:05 PM President Joe Biden took office one year ago today promising that his administration would undo the...

How Many Supreme Court Justices Must Deny NPR's Reporting Before Media Outlets Believe Them?

Media Criticism Robby Soave | 1.20.2022 11:45 AM Want to hear some gossip? Lately, rumors have been flying, especially rumors concerning a...

Were Biden's Election Legitimacy Remarks Dangerous or Just Stupid?

Joe Biden Eric Boehm | 1.20.2022 1:45 PM In the middle of a nearly two-hour, nearly 18,000-word press conference on Wednesday evening, President...

Maggy Krell Repackages Her Bogus Backpage Prosecution Into a Book

Backpage Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 1.20.2022 2:55 PM Former California prosecutor Maggy Krell has been taking an undeserved victory lap over the...

Senate Antitrust Bill Will Make the Internet Worse

Antitrust Joe Lancaster | 1.20.2022 1:30 PM Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee is set to consider the American Innovation and Choice Online Act...

Bipartisan 'Innovation and Choice Online Act' Would Harm Innovation and Choice

Antitrust Joe Lancaster | 1.20.2022 1:32 PM Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee is set to consider the American Innovation and Choice Online Act...

Thursday Open Thread

Florida's COVID Policies Defied the Media's Narrative

Coronavirus John Stossel | 1.20.2022 7:00 AM Omicron spreads. The media say, "Governments must act!" Many have, bringing back mask mandates and...

Why Did Chief Justice Roberts Not Dissent In WWH Mandamus Case?

Josh Blackman | 1.21.2022 1:15 AM On Thursday evening, the Supreme Court denied WWH's request for a writ of mandamus. Now, the case goes to the...

Shutdown of Gun Stores During Early COVID Months Violated Second Amendment

Guns Eugene Volokh | 1.20.2022 4:16 PM So holds a Ninth Circuit panel—with the authoring judge penning a hypothetical dissent, to illustrate his...

The Sedition Indictment Against 11 Oath Keepers Describes a Plot That Was Pitifully Inept and Ineffectual

Capitol Riot Jacob Sullum | 1.20.2022 5:15 PM Eduardo Nicolas Alvear Gonzalez, the dude in American flag pants who was famously recorded smoking...

Starbucks Rescinds Employee COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate 

Coronavirus Corey Walker | 1.20.2022 4:55 PM Starbucks will no longer require its employees get a COVID-19 vaccine. Chief Operating Officer John...

Brickbat: Flaky Behavior

Brickbats Charles Oliver | 1.20.2022 4:00 AM Mexican officials seized 380,000 boxes of Kellogg's cereal, claiming that images on the boxes violated...

Seattle and Detroit Move Toward Decriminalizing Psychedelics

Drugs Jacob Sullum | From the February 2022 issue Two major cities, Seattle and Detroit, this fall approved measures aimed at protecting consumers...

How Much Would You Pay To Escape Australia's COVID 'Ring of Steel'?

Lockdowns Christian Britschgi | 1.19.2022 4:05 PM We all know freedom isn't free, but its actual price has long been a mystery. That's no longer...

The Academic Freedom Podcast #10 on the University of Florida

Academic Freedom Keith E. Whittington | 1.19.2022 3:47 PM A new episode of The Academic Freedom Podcast from the Academic Freedom Alliance is now...

Delaware Supreme Court Rejects Carter Page's Lawsuit Against Yahoo!, HuffPost & Michael Isikoff

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | 1.19.2022 5:28 PM From today's majority opinion by Chief Justice Collins Seitz in Page v. Oath: Dr. Carter Page, a...

SCOTUS GDRs Trump v. Thompson: Grant, Dictumize, and Retreat

Josh Blackman | 1.19.2022 9:02 PM Last year, the January 6 committee requested certain documents from the Archivist of the United States....

Supreme Court Refuses to Block Release of Trump January 6 Documents to Congress

Ilya Somin | 1.19.2022 8:39 PM Today the Supreme Court rejected former President Donald Trump's request to issue an injunction blocking release of...

Lawyer Lin Wood Was Wrongly Faulted by Delaware Trial Court

Eugene Volokh | 1.19.2022 5:40 PM Among other things, the court reasoned, "though the court said that its decision was not influenced by its...

No Pseudonymous Quashing of House of Representatives Subpoena to Verizon

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | 1.19.2022 8:54 PM From Chief Judge Beryl Howell's opinion in Plaintiff v. Verizon Communications, Inc. , just decided...

License Plates, Flagpoles, and Editorial Discretion

First Amendment Stephen E. Sachs | 1.19.2022 4:57 PM Reading the oral arguments in Shurtleff v. Boston raised a concern that I've had for a long...

Academic Freedom and the Mission of the University

Academic Freedom Keith E. Whittington | 1.19.2022 4:02 PM In November 2021, I was a commentator in response to the 26th Annual Frankel Lecture at...

How Progressives Ruined San Francisco: Michael Shellenberger

California Zach Weissmueller | 1.19.2022 3:50 PM "It's time that the reign of criminals who are destroying our city…come[s] to an end,"" said San...

Harvard Students Who Get COVID Will No Longer Be Put in Isolation Housing 

Coronavirus Corey Walker | 1.19.2022 4:55 PM Students who test positive for COVID-19 will be required to self-isolate in their own dorms but not be...

No Pseudonymity in Yale Law School DinnerPartyGate Lawsuit

Free Speech Eugene Volokh | 1.19.2022 3:41 PM From yesterday's decision by Judge Sarah Merriam in Doe v. Gerken (D. Conn.) (now Stubbs v. Gerken ):...

Biden: Year One

Biden Administration Natalie Dowzicky | 1.19.2022 4:40 PM Very nearly a year ago, President Joe Biden vowed to "restore the soul" of America. On "...

Citizens United Déjà Vu for Malcolm Stewart?

Josh Blackman | 1.19.2022 11:53 PM On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in  FEC v. Ted Cruz for Senate. This case presented a...

Amy Wax and the Problem of Right-Wing Double Standards on Immigration

Immigration Ilya Somin | 1.19.2022 5:07 PM   University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy Wax faces investigation and possible sanctions from her...

The CDC Is Finally Acknowledging That N95 Respirators Work Better Than Cloth Masks

CDC Jacob Sullum | 1.19.2022 3:35 PM The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), whose previous advice about face coverings as a...

Bob Corn-Revere: How Today's Censors Hide Behind Science and Psychology

Censorship Nick Gillespie | 1.19.2022 5:40 PM The history of censorship in the United States is a long and ugly one—and far from over. It's also...

Released Video Footage Shows Disastrous U.S. Drone Strike That Killed Kabul Family

Drones Scott Shackford | 1.19.2022 5:10 PM Drone footage of an American military strike in Kabul in August that killed 10 civilians (seven of whom...

Elon Musk, Artificial Wombs, and the Impending Shortage of Mars Colonists

Artificial womb Ronald Bailey | 1.19.2022 5:25 PM Hysterical headlines are proliferating over a Twitter exchange between Tesla CEO Elon Musk,...