Supreme Court
Wall Street Journal: When Judge Jackson Ruled Against the IRS
By Leslie Lenkowsky
It’s safe to assume that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson—who was appointed to the federal bench by President Obama and has been lauded by progressives—wasn’t personally a fan of the tea-party movement. But while on the bench, she defended a pro-Israel group that was seeking tax exemption against the sort of extra scrutiny the Internal Revenue Service brought to bear on many organizations associated with the tea party during the Obama administration.
Reuters: Supreme Court won’t take up free-speech challenges to mandatory bar dues
By Daniel Wiessner
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to revisit its 30-year-old precedent upholding state requirements that lawyers join state bar associations and pay dues, rejecting challenges by lawyers in Texas and Oklahoma…
The lawyers claimed that like fees many government workers paid prior to Janus to cover the costs of collective bargaining, compulsory bar dues improperly subsidize bar associations’ political speech and violate lawyers’ free-speech rights.
The Courts
Knight Institute: National Institutes of Health Violating First Amendment by Suppressing Animal Advocacy on Agency’s Social Media Accounts, Animal Rights Groups Say
The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) asked a federal court today to stop the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from censoring comments critical of animal testing from its Facebook and Instagram accounts. The NIH has conceded that it blocks keywords associated with animal advocacy from appearing in comments on its Facebook page and Instagram account. Today’s motion argues that this practice is unconstitutional and asks the court to decide the case in favor of PETA and the individual advocates who brought the case.
The Media
Jonathan Turley: “We Have a Great Story to Tell”: NBC’s Todd Interviews Clinton Without Asking About FEC Fine on Steele Dossier
The media recently has been rushing to admit that the Hunter Biden laptop story is legitimate before any indictment comes down in Delaware. With that amazing flip (after almost two years), some are admitting like Washington Post there is a “reckoning” for the media in the burying of the story before Biden’s election. That moment of reflection, however, has not stopped media from continuing to bury other stories. That was evident this Sunday on NBC when some of us noted that Chuck Todd interviewed Hillary Clinton but decided not to ask her about the Federal Election Commission (FEC) recently fining her campaign for concealing the funding of the Steele Dossier. Todd did not consider that relevant when asking Clinton about how the Democrats should approach the next election. Instead, Clinton was able to explain how Democrats “have a great story to tell” without telling the story of the last election (including the recent FEC fine)…
The problem for Todd is that he and NBC relentlessly pushed the dossier and the Russian collusion claims that were later debunked.
Free Expression
Washington Post: The free-speech choice I faced as a professor and father of a trans son
By Adam Briggle
[T]he University of North Texas, where I teach, hosted a talk by Jeff Younger, a candidate for the Texas House of Representatives. Younger is a prime advocate of the “trans health care is child abuse” myth — the “tip of the spear,” as he describes himself…
I decided to attend Younger’s talk…
On campus, police were everywhere…
When Younger walked in, the boos began. Then the table-banging. Then the chant “F— these fascists!” Then the foot-stomping. This was clearly what Younger wanted. His minions had their cameras rolling, ready to flood social media with this assault on free speech…
After several minutes, I walked to the front of the room. I asked Younger if I could borrow the microphone. The students quieted down. I was profoundly sad about the investigation, this spectacle and this dark chapter in our history. I found myself saying, through tears, that I believed they should let Younger speak. After all, we are at a university, and the free expression of ideas is our lifeblood. I also warned them that they were giving Younger fodder for his culture war campaign.
The students listened, but they disagreed. They resumed chanting. I relinquished the microphone and slunk to the back of the room. Soon, things got too tense, and the police escorted Younger off campus.
Reason: Republicans Taking Aim at Disney Is a Reminder That Both Parties Are Hostile to Free Speech
By Ira Stoll
Republicans are taking aim at Disney over the media company’s opposition to a new Florida law that critics call the “don’t say gay” legislation…
It’s ironic to hear the complaints from Republicans about politically active corporations, because for most of the past decade-plus, those complaining the loudest about corporate participation in politics have been Democrats, or Democrat-leaning independent socialists, complaining about gun manufacturers, oil companies, and health insurance companies.
Online Speech Platforms
Washington Post: Elon Musk is now the largest Twitter shareholder, setting up a showdown
By Elizabeth Dwoskin, Faiz Siddiqui and Taylor Telford
Elon Musk became the largest shareholder of Twitter on Monday, setting the platform up for a potential political showdown over its efforts to limit harmful content, efforts the firebrand Tesla chief executive has indicated that he sees hastening a turn toward censorship.
His surprise investment, which comes days after questioning the company’s commitment to free speech and suggesting he might start his own social platform, sent Twitter stock soaring. While it was not immediately clear what role Musk plans to play, analysts speculated he may try for an activist restructuring that could change the way Twitter polices its platform as well as who it banishes.
Some inside Twitter worry Musk may push Twitter in a libertarian direction, away from blocking or restricting accounts that cause social harm, according to people familiar with internal conversations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive matters.
The States
Orange County Breeze: California Disclosure Clarity Act clears first committee
Senate Bill 1360, California’s Disclosure Clarity Act, jointly authored by Senators Thomas J. Umberg (D-Santa Ana), and Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), cleared its first legislative hurdle this morning.
SB 1360 will give California the first law in the nation to require online image and banner ads to clearly and prominently show their top funder on the ad itself. It will also require formatting changes to make television and video ad disclosures more readable and stop committees from purposefully using extremely long committee names to make it difficult for voters to read the top three funders in the five seconds the disclosure is on the screen.
Wall Street Journal: Oberlin College Loses Its Appeal
By Thomas M. Boyd
A unanimous three-judge panel of the Ohio Court of Appeals handed down a long-awaited decision Thursday in the case of Gibson’s Bakery v. Oberlin College. The court dismissed all of Oberlin’s appellate claims and confirmed the jury’s finding that the college, a small private liberal arts institution in rural Ohio, was liable for libel, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and intentional interference with a business relationship. It then upheld the lower court’s award to Gibson’s Bakery of $25 million in damages and $6.2 million in attorney’s fees. (The trial judge had reduced the jury’s original award of $11.1 million in compensatory damages, $33.2 million in punitive damages.)
Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): Nevada S. Ct. Rejects Libel Plaintiff’s Attempt to Dismiss a Case While an Anti-SLAPP Motion is Pending
By Eugene Volokh
From Willick v. Sanson, decided Thursday by the Nevada Supreme Court.
