Columns, Free Speech

The Smiling Face of Censorship: Welcome to Zuckerberg’s Vision of Internet “Kindness”

Meta CEO Zuckerberg is continuing to market his new text-based app Threads with the pitch that he is “definitely focusing on kindness and making this a friendly place.”  This has been picked up by an eager media as a “Twitter killer” where “Friendly Threads Collides with an Unfriendly Internet.” However, what is not discussed is what makes Threads “friendly.” Zuckerberg appears to be promising the friendly confines of a censored site. Likewise, Instagram head Adam Mosseri says that politics and hard news are not worth the “incremental engagement or revenue.” It is all part of Threads’s promise for a “sane” and “kind” alternative to Twitter where greater free speech is now allowed to run rampant. It is precisely what Facebook tried to sell years ago in a pro-censorship commercial campaign.

Below is my column in the Hill on achieving “kindness” through corporate censorship: Continue reading “The Smiling Face of Censorship: Welcome to Zuckerberg’s Vision of Internet “Kindness”” →

International

“Domestic Abuse is a Severe Crime”: British Parents Could Be Prosecuted for Refusing to Pay for Transgender Treatments

As the debate rages in the United States over parental notification and authority in cases involving transgender children, the United Kingdom is embroiled in a controversy over a law that would not only limit parental authority in such cases but affirmatively require parents to pay for such transitioning.  Under the interpretation put forward by police, parents who refuse to use the alternative pronouns for their children or refuse to pay for their transitioning could be criminally prosecuted. Continue reading ““Domestic Abuse is a Severe Crime”: British Parents Could Be Prosecuted for Refusing to Pay for Transgender Treatments” →

Academia, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Supreme Court

Fourth Circuit Rules Against North Carolina State Professor Who Spoke Out Against Diversity Policies

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has delivered a body blow to free speech as well as academic freedom in a ruling against a statistics professor at North Carolina State University.  Professor Stephen Porter objected to what he considered the lower standards used by his school to hire minority faculty. The school declared such views as insufficiently “collegial” and retaliated against him. Now a divided panel has ruled that such views are not protected by the First Amendment — potentially opening up even greater retaliation against conservative, libertarian, and dissenting faculty. Rather than punish them for failing to echo the views of the schools, they can now be fired for their lack of collegiality in speaking against such policies and hires. Continue reading “Fourth Circuit Rules Against North Carolina State Professor Who Spoke Out Against Diversity Policies” →

Constitutional Law, Lawyering, Supreme Court

Crunching the Numbers: Does Justice Jackson’s Dissent on Affirmative Action Add Up?

The last week’s historic decisions from the Supreme Court led to an array of factual objections from critics. In Justice Neil Gorsuch’s major free speech ruling in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, a man who believes that he is “Stewart” referenced in the case (as asking for a website for a same sex marriage) never made such a contact with the company. In Justice Sotomayor’s dissent to that case, the justice falsely claims that the Pulse mass shooting (“the second-deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history”) was an intended anti-LGBT attack. (The shooter apparently was unaware of what type of nightclub it was). Those mistakes, however, had little impact on the reasoning. That is not the case with a mathematical challenge raised to the dissent of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in the North Carolina affirmative action case. Continue reading “Crunching the Numbers: Does Justice Jackson’s Dissent on Affirmative Action Add Up?” →

Columns, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media

CNN Host: We Should Yield to Government Censorship Demands

As a long-standing free speech advocate, the last few years have been alarming and, frankly, depressing. The censorship efforts of the government are, unfortunately, not new.  However, what is new is the support of the media and the Democratic Party in such censorship. That was on display on various channels after the recent opinion finding that the Biden Administration had violated the First Amendment in “the most massive attack against free speech in United States history.” However, the New York Times immediately warned that the outbreak of free speech could “curtail efforts to combat disinformation.” Yet, no one expressed more simply and chillingly than CNN Chief White House Correspondent Phil Mattingly who stated that it “makes sense” for tech companies to go along with government censorship demands. Continue reading “CNN Host: We Should Yield to Government Censorship Demands” →

Columns, Constitutional Law, Politics

Biden’s ‘Orwellian Ministry of Truth’: Court Finds a ‘Massive Attack’ on Free Speech in Government Censorship Efforts

Below is my column in the Messenger on the recent opinion finding that the Biden Administration is violating the First Amendment through a massive censorship operation. In response, many politicians and pundits are simply repeating the definition of censorship as its defense: we are banning views because they need to be banned. Every authoritarian government in history has justified censoring citizens because their views are harmful or false. Others are only focusing on the injunctive relief rather than the court’s finding that these states are substantially likely to prevail on the merits in showing that the government uses social media companies as surrogates for censorship.

Here is the column: Continue reading “Biden’s ‘Orwellian Ministry of Truth’: Court Finds a ‘Massive Attack’ on Free Speech in Government Censorship Efforts” →

Columns, Society

Squatter Nation: How Cities Are Allowing an Epidemic of Home Invasion to Rage Across the Country

Below is my column in USA Today on the growing “squatting” trend across the country. The crime has been raging in Europe for many years and it is now becoming something of an epidemic in the United States. It is not legally difficult to combat, but it has proven politically challenging in many cities. The result for homeowners has been a nightmare with little deterrence or assistance from government officials.

Here is the column: Continue reading “Squatter Nation: How Cities Are Allowing an Epidemic of Home Invasion to Rage Across the Country” →

Uncategorized

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!

Happy Independence Day!

The Fourth is one of my favorite holidays as an opportunity for all of us to celebrate our common article of faith in the independence of a nation committed to freedom and individual rights.  This country remains the greatest hope for freedom in the world and these protests reaffirm those rights.  We celebrate the ideals of the people we strive to be — and the millions who came before us. With the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, the Framers placed themselves and their families at the greatest peril for the principles of self determination and democratic rule. The American Republic was always meant to be a work in progress.  Yet, our Constitution created the most successful and stable constitutional system in the history of the world. Continue reading “HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!” →

Columns, Constitutional Law, Politics

Constitutional Cruelty: Democrats now Oppose a Democratic Process on Student Loans

Below is my column in the Hill on the curious position of Democratic members of Congress opposing the use of the democratic process to address the college loan forgiveness plan. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez bizarrely condemned the Supreme Court for usurping congressional authority by supporting congressional authority in the student loan case. She renewed her calls for retaliation through subpoenas, court packing, and even impeachment. She previously said that she did not understand why we needed a Supreme Court. Like Sen. Chuck Schumer, she was outraged that the Court would require a president to go to Congress before giving away roughly half a trillion dollars in loan forgiveness.

Here is the column: Continue reading “Constitutional Cruelty: Democrats now Oppose a Democratic Process on Student Loans” →

Academia, Constitutional Law, Supreme Court

The Affirmative Aftermath: Schools Now Insist that Race had a Major Impact in Admissions

There is an interesting debate unfolding around the country in the aftermath of the Supreme Court barring the use of race in college admissions. For decades, colleges and universities have sought to downplay the weight given to race in court while insisting that it was one of a number of factors used in maintaining diversity. Now, however, schools are insisting that, without considering race, minority admissions will plummet. Continue reading “The Affirmative Aftermath: Schools Now Insist that Race had a Major Impact in Admissions” →

Academia, Congress, Constitutional Law, Politics

“The Hypocrisy is Stunning”: Biden’s Displays Stunning Denial Psychosis Over Student Loans

“The hypocrisy is stunning.” Those words from President Joe Biden after his student loan forgiveness program was found unconstitutional were . . . well . . . stunning. Indeed, they may stand as the greatest example of transference in history. Continue reading ““The Hypocrisy is Stunning”: Biden’s Displays Stunning Denial Psychosis Over Student Loans” →

Columns, Constitutional Law, Politics

Biden’s “Normal”: The President’s Constitutional Takes are Becoming More Unhinged from History

The decision of the Supreme Court to end the use of race in college admissions was not unexpected. Indeed, the rulings in cases involving Harvard and the University of North Carolina ended decades of muddled 5-4 decisions. Yet, President Joe Biden seemed to go into full attack mode and actually claimed that the Court gutted the constitutional guarantee that “all men and women are created equal.” In declaring that this Court was not “normal,” Biden further insisted that these admissions decisions and the Dobbs abortion decision reversed the gains that “we fought a war over in 1860” to secure.

Continue reading “Biden’s “Normal”: The President’s Constitutional Takes are Becoming More Unhinged from History” →

Columns, Criminal law, Politics

The Cost of Bravado: Why Trump Defense to the Audiotape Could Come at a Cost

Below is my column in the Messenger on former President Donald Trump revealing his defense to the damaging audiotape cited in the federal indictment.  The defense could come at a cost at trial, but it is a calculated risk for the court of public opinion.

Here is the column: Continue reading “The Cost of Bravado: Why Trump Defense to the Audiotape Could Come at a Cost” →

Columns, Media, Politics

The Beltway Goats: Why Hunter is Right “The Bidens are the Best” When It Comes to Influence Peddling

Below is my column on Fox.com on the most recent WhatsApp message from Hunter Biden to foreign contacts. It is an insight into the shady world of influence peddling and the Biden family.

Here is the column: Continue reading “The Beltway Goats: Why Hunter is Right “The Bidens are the Best” When It Comes to Influence Peddling” →

Columns, Constitutional Law, Supreme Court

The Coup that Never Was: The Supreme Court Rebuffs “Power Grab” Theory

Below is my column in the Hill on the ruling this week in Moore v. Harper — and the coup that never happened. After months of dire predictions of a coup in the making, the Court overwhelmingly rejected the underlying “independent state legislature,” as some of us predicted. There was little discussion of the prior hysteria or attacks on the integrity of the conservative justices. Political and media pundits will simply move on to the next jump scare item on the docket.

Here is the column:

Continue reading “The Coup that Never Was: The Supreme Court Rebuffs “Power Grab” Theory” →