Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independentFrom , decided March 18 by the Michigan Court of Appeals (Judge Kathleen Jansen joined by Judge Amy Ronayne Krause):In 2008, the parties litigated an alleged violation of the Long Lake sTownship Ordinance by defendants. That proceeding culminated in a settlement agreement …. In 2018, plaintiff filed the instant civil action, alleging that defendants had "significantly increased the scope of the junk cars and other junk material being kept on their property" since entering into the 2008 Agreement, and that...…Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independentFrom , decided March 18 by the Michigan Court of Appeals (Judge Kathleen Jansen joined by Judge Amy Ronayne Krause):In 2008, the parties litigated an alleged violation of the Long Lake sTownship Ordinance by defendants. That proceeding culminated in a settlement agreement …. In 2018, plaintiff filed the instant civil action, alleging that defendants had "significantly increased the scope of the junk cars and other junk material being kept on their property" since entering into the 2008 Agreement, and that...WW…

In 2016, a Florida man named Douglass Mackey (using the online alias “Ricky Vaughn”) allegedly conspired to distribute a meme aimed at deceiving pro-Hillary voters. Four years later, Mackey is now being prosecuted (as to this and as to other memes) for violating 18 U.S.C. § 241, a federal law that punishes conspiracies “to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person ... in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution”—namely, the right to vote. Lying to voters in a way that keeps them from voting, the theory goes, is a crime. Is this...…In 2016, a Florida man named Douglass Mackey (using the online alias “Ricky Vaughn”) allegedly conspired to distribute a meme aimed at deceiving pro-Hillary voters. Four years later, Mackey is now being prosecuted (as to this and as to other memes) for violating 18 U.S.C. § 241, a federal law that punishes conspiracies “to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person ... in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution”—namely, the right to vote. Lying to voters in a way that keeps them from voting, the theory goes, is a crime. Is this...WW…

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independentA 5-2 decision in yesterday's ; the majority, written by Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, applies intermediate scrutiny, based on the D.C. v. Heller statement that "felon dispossession statutes are 'presumptively lawful,'" and upholds the flat ban on gun possession by all felons on the grounds that:Even in the case of those convicted of nonviolent felonies, "someone with a felony conviction on his record is more likely than a nonfelon to engage in illegal and violent gun use." Thus, even if a felon has...…Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independentA 5-2 decision in yesterday's ; the majority, written by Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, applies intermediate scrutiny, based on the D.C. v. Heller statement that "felon dispossession statutes are 'presumptively lawful,'" and upholds the flat ban on gun possession by all felons on the grounds that:Even in the case of those convicted of nonviolent felonies, "someone with a felony conviction on his record is more likely than a nonfelon to engage in illegal and violent gun use." Thus, even if a felon has...WW…

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independentIn Wednesday's (E.D. Ky.), Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove's granted a preliminary injunction that allowed religious schools to reopen in Kentucky; the governor's closure order, the court concluded, violated the Free Exercise Clause. (The order was promptly appealed, and presumably Governor Beshear will ask the Sixth Circuit to hear the case on an expedited basis.)[1.] The opinion concluded that there was sufficient evidence that the closure order burdened Danville Christian's Free Exercise Clause rights:To...…Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independentIn Wednesday's (E.D. Ky.), Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove's granted a preliminary injunction that allowed religious schools to reopen in Kentucky; the governor's closure order, the court concluded, violated the Free Exercise Clause. (The order was promptly appealed, and presumably Governor Beshear will ask the Sixth Circuit to hear the case on an expedited basis.)[1.] The opinion concluded that there was sufficient evidence that the closure order burdened Danville Christian's Free Exercise Clause rights:To...WW…

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independentFrom  by the California Attorney General's office in , a case dealing with restrictions on personalized license plates (such as exclusions of "racially degrading term[s]"):There are well-defined and narrowly-limited classes of speech, "the prevention and punishment of which have never been thought to raise any Constitutional problem." Chaplinsky v. N.H., 315 U.S. 568, 571-572 (1942) (emphasizing that certain types of speech are protected by the First Amendment). Obscenity, vulgarity, profanity, hate...…Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independentFrom  by the California Attorney General's office in , a case dealing with restrictions on personalized license plates (such as exclusions of "racially degrading term[s]"):There are well-defined and narrowly-limited classes of speech, "the prevention and punishment of which have never been thought to raise any Constitutional problem." Chaplinsky v. N.H., 315 U.S. 568, 571-572 (1942) (emphasizing that certain types of speech are protected by the First Amendment). Obscenity, vulgarity, profanity, hate...WW…

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independentreports:A man who tried to run for mayor in Hawthorne pleaded not guilty Tuesday in connection with an alleged voter fraud case in which thousands of fraudulent voter registration applications were allegedly submitted on behalf of homeless people, a fraud effort that prosecutors allege was being funded by the criminal gang MS-13.Carlos Antonio De Bourbon Montenegro—also known as Mark Anthony Gonsalves—is charged with 18 felony counts of voter fraud, 11 felony counts of procuring a false or forged...…Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independentreports:A man who tried to run for mayor in Hawthorne pleaded not guilty Tuesday in connection with an alleged voter fraud case in which thousands of fraudulent voter registration applications were allegedly submitted on behalf of homeless people, a fraud effort that prosecutors allege was being funded by the criminal gang MS-13.Carlos Antonio De Bourbon Montenegro—also known as Mark Anthony Gonsalves—is charged with 18 felony counts of voter fraud, 11 felony counts of procuring a false or forged...WW…

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independentRichard Stengel, the Biden transition team "" for the U.S. Agency for Global Media (the agency that's in charge of the Voice of America and similar outlets), had last year in the Washington Post ( was the first to note this, I think, several days ago). An excerpt:Even the most sophisticated Arab diplomats that I dealt with did not understand why the First Amendment allows someone to burn a Koran. Why, they asked me, would you ever want to protect that?It's a fair question. Yes, the First Amendment protects...…Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independentRichard Stengel, the Biden transition team "" for the U.S. Agency for Global Media (the agency that's in charge of the Voice of America and similar outlets), had last year in the Washington Post ( was the first to note this, I think, several days ago). An excerpt:Even the most sophisticated Arab diplomats that I dealt with did not understand why the First Amendment allows someone to burn a Koran. Why, they asked me, would you ever want to protect that?It's a fair question. Yes, the First Amendment protects...WW…

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent In today's , Fifth Circuit Judge Edith H. Jones, joined by Judge Carolyn Dineen King (with Judge Gregg Costa concurring in the judgment), held that Speech First had standing to challenge various University of Texas speech codes, on behalf of its members:The chilling effect of allegedly vague [campus speech] regulations, coupled with a range of potential penalties for violating the regulations, … [is] sufficient "injury" to ensure that Speech First "has a 'personal stake in the outcome of the controversy.'"...…Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent In today's , Fifth Circuit Judge Edith H. Jones, joined by Judge Carolyn Dineen King (with Judge Gregg Costa concurring in the judgment), held that Speech First had standing to challenge various University of Texas speech codes, on behalf of its members:The chilling effect of allegedly vague [campus speech] regulations, coupled with a range of potential penalties for violating the regulations, … [is] sufficient "injury" to ensure that Speech First "has a 'personal stake in the outcome of the controversy.'"...WW…

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independentFrom Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr.'s opinion yesterday in :James and Gail Blais hope to foster, and eventually adopt, their great-granddaughter, H.V. After H.V. was born [in September 2019], concerns about her welfare arose. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare ("IDHW") ultimately removed H.V. from her birth parents' care and later reached out to the Blaises about possibly fostering or adopting her. The Blaises expressed an interest in caring for H.V., so IDHW asked the Washington Department of...…Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independentFrom Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr.'s opinion yesterday in :James and Gail Blais hope to foster, and eventually adopt, their great-granddaughter, H.V. After H.V. was born [in September 2019], concerns about her welfare arose. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare ("IDHW") ultimately removed H.V. from her birth parents' care and later reached out to the Blaises about possibly fostering or adopting her. The Blaises expressed an interest in caring for H.V., so IDHW asked the Washington Department of...WW…

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independentFrom the Florida Supreme Court today, signed by Chief Justice Canady and Justices Polston, Lawson, Muñiz, Couriel & Grosshans,The Business Law Section of The Florida Bar recently adopted a policy regulating the composition of faculty at section-sponsored continuing legal education programs. Subject to certain exceptions, the policy imposes quotas requiring a minimum number of "diverse" faculty, depending on the number of faculty teaching the course.The policy defines diversity in terms of membership in...…Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independentFrom the Florida Supreme Court today, signed by Chief Justice Canady and Justices Polston, Lawson, Muñiz, Couriel & Grosshans,The Business Law Section of The Florida Bar recently adopted a policy regulating the composition of faculty at section-sponsored continuing legal education programs. Subject to certain exceptions, the policy imposes quotas requiring a minimum number of "diverse" faculty, depending on the number of faculty teaching the course.The policy defines diversity in terms of membership in...WW…