This is a familiar principle in modern defamation law: Some words, however pejorative, are treated as too general to be the sorts of factual allegations that can count as defamation. I just came across the same principle in Marshall v. Addison (Md. Provincial Ct. 1773), and thought it formed a good illustration of how long […]
From the N.H. Supreme Court Thursday in D.V. v. R.G. (see also the newspaper coverage of the initial controversy; court records reflect that the parties are Valente v. Garcia): The plaintiff owns a business near an apartment building in Manchester where the defendant lives. In June 2024, the defendant let her cat outside. The cat […]
In a case that went to trial in Boston this week, the Trump administration argues that its policy of arresting, detaining, and deporting international students for expressing anti-Israel opinions “does not exist.” The government’s lawyers also maintain that the supposedly nonexistent policy is perfectly consistent with the First Amendment—a less laughable argument that nevertheless is […]
From Judge Royce Lamberth (D.D.C.) today in Widakuswara & Abramowitz v. Lake: On April 22, 2025, upon finding that the defendants likely violated several provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), this Court ordered the defendants to “restore VOA programming such that USAGM fulfills its statutory mandate that VOA ‘serve as a consistently reliable and […]
From yesterday’s opinion by Judge Michael Nachmanoff (E.D Va.) in Apelbaum v. Bloom: Yaacov Apelbaum is the founder of XRVision, Ltd., a cybersecurity and analytics company. Plaintiffs Apelbaum and XRVision … attracted media attention in 2020 for their role in examining Hunter Biden’s laptop computer, purportedly “analyz[ing] the contents” of a copy of the hard […]
From Abdullah v. Trump, decided in March by Judge Emmet Sullivan (D.D.C.), and reaffirmed Sunday (with a comment that “in the nearly four months since the Court gave Mr. Abdullah that opportunity, he has not sought to redact any information”): On December 31, 2024, this Court denied two motions filed by Mr. Abdullah seeking his […]
Twelve years after facilitating the largest national security leak in American history, Edward Snowden remains exiled in Russia, unable to set foot on U.S. soil without losing his freedom. A bipartisan consensus denouncing Snowden as a criminal traitor quickly formed in Washington, D.C., following the revelation of his identity in 2013: “I don’t think Mr. […]
Here’s a summary of the underlying legal issue, as reported in Jackson v. Wright, decided in 2022 by Judge Amos Mazzant (E.D. Tex.): This case stems from the suppression of academic scholarship at the University of North Texas …. Plaintiff Dr. Timothy Jackson is a professor and scholar of music theory at UNT. He has […]
From yesterday’s decision in Siegel v. Aziz (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div.) (by Judges Ronald Susswein and Lisa Perez-Friscia): Defendant was elected and sworn in as a member on the Westfield Board of Education in January 2021. Her term ended in April 2024. Defendant is also a law professor at Rutgers Law School and her […]
In Turkey, four staff members of the satirical magazine LeMan were arrested on charges of inciting “public hatred and enmity” after publishing a cartoon that authorities claim depicted Muhammad, the founder of Islam. The cartoon, which LeM Read More Article from Reason.com Reason MagazineThe Reason Magazine website is a go-to destination for libertarians seeking cogent […]