Concerns about free speech undermining the equality and dignity of women helped usher in the now-fashionable equation between speech and violence, says famed civil liberties lawyer Nadine Strossen. Feminists have gone from arguing “that there is a causal connection” between discriminatory expression (a category in which many would include pornography) and violence to “denying that […]
When Nadine Strossen’s book Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for Women’s Rights was first published in 1995, America was in the grips of a major cultural schism over erotic expression. Conservatives and an influential cadre of feminists had teamed up to promote porn censorship, with some success. The radfem contingent claimed the […]
As Eugene mentioned yesterday, the Missouri Higher Education Loan Association (MOHELA), has threatened to bring a lawsuit for libel. but New York Times v. Sullivan, among other cases, say the constitution forbids libel suits brought by the government. The Washington Post ran a story about this, and asked me (and Sam Bray) for a comment […]
The FBI spends “every day, all day long” interrogating people over their Facebook posts. At least, that’s what agents told Stillwater, Oklahoma, resident Rolla Abdeljawad when they showed up at her house to ask her about her social media activity. Three FBI agents came to Abdeljawad’s house and said that they had been given “screenshots” […]
Happy Tuesday and welcome to another edition of Rent Free, where this week’s stories include: New York City refreshes its housing emergency declaration, and with it, its system of rent stabilization. Congress’ resident socialists, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.), have reintroduced their Green New Deal for Public Housing bill. California’s “builder’s […]
Extradition decisions: Yesterday, Britain’s High Court ruled that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange—who stands accused of violating the Espionage Act due to his 2010 decision to publish classified documents leaked by whistleblower Chelsea Manning that revealed disturbing U.S. military actions—cannot be extradited to the United States until greater assurances are provided about how he will be […]
(Rafael Henrique | Dreamstime.com) Columbia law Prof. Philip Hamburger has put up a detailed post responding to my earlier argument that courts should focus on coercion in Murthy v. Missouri, the case where two state governments and other plaintiffs argue that various federal agencies violated the First Amendment by pressuring social media platforms into barring […]
On Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill enacting sweeping restrictions on minors’ access to social media in the state. This comes just weeks after DeSantis vetoed a different age-verification bill, citing concerns that the first bill was too broad. But the latest bill approved by DeSantis still places draconian limits on young […]
Sylvia Gonzalez, a former Castle Hills, Texas, city council member, plausibly alleges that she was driven from public life by a trumped-up, politically motivated arrest aimed at punishing her for engaging in advocacy protected by the First Amendment. On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court considered what sort of “objective evidence” she needs to prove that […]
Federal prosecutors are pursuing a deal to allow WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to avoid espionage charges and instead plead guilty to the misdemeanor of mishandling classified data. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the talks between U.S. authorities and Assange’s lawyers on Wednesday. The independent outlet Consortium News then confirmed that it had learned […]