I decided to take up the court’s open invitation to file amicus briefs in this case (follow the link if you want more facts); the Rutherford Institute has also apparently decided to do the same. Since the filing date has been extended by several days, I thought I’d post a fairly early draft of the […]
Archive | Freedom of Speech
Minnesota Prosecutors Decline to Charge Man for Posting Anti-Islam Cartoons Outside Mosque, Somali-Owned Store, and Other Places
The St. Cloud Times reports, and includes the letters from the prosecutors, one from the Stearns County and the other from Benton County. (Too bad more news outlets don’t include or point to the original documents this way.) Minnesota Public Radio has more factual details, noting that the “cartoons [were] posted on a couple of […]
Bruce Bawer on the Muhammad Cartoon Attack
By Kenneth Anderson on January 6, 2010 10:30 am in "Hate Speech", Freedom of Speech, International Law, Mohammed Cartoons
Follow up to Eugene’s post on the Muhammad Cartoon attack … see Bruce Bawer’s article in City Journal, “While Europe Sneered.” And although I received a comp copy of the Voltaire Project printing of the cartoons, I have ordered a paid copy and have requested that my school’s library order the book. Please consider doing […]
Why is it More Wrong to Attack a Person’s Religion than their Secular Moral or Political Views?
By Ilya Somin on January 2, 2010 4:28 pm in Atheism, Freedom of Speech, Religion, Religion and the Law, Religious Freedom
Ireland has recently enacted a law banning “blasphemy,” which has in turn attracted plenty of justified criticism: Secular campaigners in the Irish Republic defied a strict new blasphemy law which came into force today by publishing a series of anti-religious quotations online and promising to fight the legislation in court. The new law, which was […]
Federal Judge Preliminarily Enjoins Certain Restrictions on Sex Offenders Who Have Finished Their Sentences
The case is Doe v. Nebraska, decided yesterday. Here’s the court’s summary: Plaintiffs attack amendments to Nebraska’s Sex Offender Registration Act that become effective January 1, 2010. With exceptions noted below, I decide that a preliminary injunction is unwarranted. By and large, Nebraska has only done what Congress (and the Attorney General of the United […]
Court Temporarily Blocks Increased Fees for Lobbying in Illinois, Partly Based on the Exemption for Certain Kinds of Religious Groups
By Eugene Volokh on December 29, 2009 1:36 am in Freedom of Speech, Religion and the Law, Religious Freedom
The ACLU of Illinois — the lead plaintiff — summarizes the issue thus: Illinois recently raised the registration fee for lobbyists from $350 to $1,000, for each person who lobbies, and for each organization that employs such a person. Thus, for a non-profit organization that employs one lobbyist, the registration fee has jumped from $700 […]
New Jersey Legislature’s Italian American Caucus Argues That the Making of Jersey Shore May Violate Hostile Work Environment Harassment Law?
That’s what this letter from the Caucus appears to say. In part, the letter just condemns the show; I can’t speak to that, since I haven’t watched the show. But the letter also argues that the use of the terms “is a breach of Viacom’s Global Business Practices Statement requiring a harassment-free workplace environment,” and […]
“Honor Killings” by Muslim Men in the U.S.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that “Police say that at least six Muslim men have been arrested in the US in the past two years for crimes that suggest honor killings.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t point to the specific incidents, nor tell us the number of honor killings (the number of arrestees may not match the […]
More on Christian Legal Society v. Martinez
By Eugene Volokh on December 21, 2009 10:28 am in Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities, Religion and the Law, Religious Freedom
David French, with whom I’ve been having a very enjoyable discussion about this case, posts further on the subject: I want to focus my response on one item [from Volokh’s previous post] — a point that I believe to be absolutely critical not just to the legal analysis but also the equities of the case. […]
Congressman Seeks to Send Critic to Jail
The Orlando Sentinel reports that Rep. Alan Grayson is unhappy with a critic who created a website, mycongressmanisnuts.com, mocking Rep. Grayson’s congressmanwithguts.com website and seeking donations against him. Indeed, Rep. Grayson is so upset that he’s filed a complaint with the Department of Justice requesting “investigation and prosecution” of the website’s creator, Angie Langley. According […]
Group Libel
An interesting and correct decision from the Tennessee Court of Appeals, in Steele v. Ritz (decided yesterday): [A]n adult cabaret and three female employees of adult entertainment businesses and cabarets in Shelby County filed suit against Shelby County Commissioner Michael Ritz …. The plaintiffs alleged that Commissioner Ritz was quoted as stating that “almost without […]
NYT on CRS Dismissal of Col. Davis
Today’s NYT editorializes against the Congressional Research Service’s decision to dismiss Col. Morris Davis because of his public writings on proposed civil trials of detainees. It begins: Morris Davis, a retired Air Force colonel who was chief military prosecutor at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, showed courage and respect for democratic principles when he resigned rather than […]
“This Court Is Perplexed by the Overreaching Injunctive Relief Sought by Plaintiffs”
From Hopscotch Adoptions, Inc. v. Kachadurian (E.D. Cal. Dec. 7): On an expedited, ex parte basis, plaintiffs Hopscotch Adoptions, Inc. … and Robin Sizemore … seek: … a temporary restraining order to prohibit defendant Venessa Kachadurian’s … internet and related comments on Hopscotch and Ms. Sizemore …. Hopscotch is an accredited intercountry adoption agency and […]
Discrimination Against Nazis in Public Accommodations
By Eugene Volokh on December 16, 2009 5:52 pm in Freedom of Speech, Religious Freedom, Same-Sex Marriage
A commenter suggested that a hypothetical involving a photographer who refuses to photograph a pro-Nazi ceremony was an “absurd example,” apparently because of the absence of statutes that make it illegal to discriminate against Nazis. Most jurisdictions don’t ban discrimination based on political affiliation, but some do. The D.C. antidiscrimination law to which I linked […]
The First Amendment and the Race Discrimination Bogeyman
By Eugene Volokh on December 16, 2009 5:23 pm in Freedom of Speech, Religious Freedom, Same-Sex Marriage
In the most recent discussion of Elane Photography v. Willock, a commenter asked: “Imagine if instead of a gay couple it was an interracial couple. Would you still support Huguenin’s refusal to photograph the wedding? Or what if the couple were parapalegics and she had an ‘aesthetic aversion’ to photographing the disabled?” The question (at […]