A federal judge ruled today that a ban on drag shows at a Texas public university can remain in effect while a lawsuit challenging it proceeds, writing that drag performances are not categorically protected under the First Amendment. U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas Matthew Kacsmaryk, an appointee of former President Donald […]
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham made quite a splash with her September 8 “public health emergency order,” which purported to suspend the right to bear arms in Albuquerque and surrounding Bernalillo County. But the reaction may have been different from the one she anticipated: Instead of lauding her courage in taking a bold step […]
When New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued “a public health emergency order” that purportedly suspended the right to bear arms in Albuquerque and surrounding Bernalillo County last week, her justification was seemingly straightforward. “I have emergency powers,” she told The New York Times. “Gun violence is an epidemic. Therefore, it’s an emergency.” Grisham’s stunt was widely […]
Last year, Delaware police prevented 54-year-old Jonathan Guessford from holding a sign warning drivers about a speed trap and wrongfully cited him for “improper hand signal” after he flipped off the officers who seized and tore up his sign. Police have now agreed to pay Guessford $50,000 as part of a settlement reached in a […]
A panel of federal appellate judges unanimously ruled Thursday that Detroit’s practice of seizing people’s cars for months at a time before giving them a chance to contest the seizure violates vehicle owners’ 14th Amendment right to due process. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, agreeing with a lower U.S. district court, […]
The case of 12-year-old Jaiden Rodriguez is not quite closed. While the Vanguard School’s board of directors has declared that he may sport a “don’t tread on me” patch on his backpack, a closer look at the school district’s policies suggests that administrators are still inclined to tread all over Rodriguez’s free speech rights. That’s […]
George Pagan III on Unsplash ‘> One decision deals with porn, the other with social media platforms more broadly. Federal judges issued preliminary wins to free speech, sex workers, social media, and civil liberties and blows to censorship, nanny statism, and overreaching Arkansas and Texas authorities yesterday. Both rulings involve recently passed age verification laws—one […]
The town of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, has shut down one of its playgrounds due to an extremely serious issue: a mouse on the property. (Eek!) WTMJ-TVÂ reports that the Imagination Station Playground was closed until further notice as the city dealt with this crisis. The municipality explained its vexing problem in a Facebook post. “The environment around […]
Jaiden is a 12-year-old boy who attends the Vanguard School in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is the subject of a video that went viral on social media; it shows the boy and his mother confronting a school administrator who asserts that the Gadsden flag patch on his backpack violates district policy. “The reason that we […]
Alabama wants to execute a man so badly that they’re likely to become the first state in the nation to kill someone by nitrogen hypoxia. Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, who was sentenced to death for a 1988 murder-for-hire killing, has already survived one execution attempt from the state. Last November, he won a court case […]