Academia, Free Speech

Middlebury College Under Fire For Canceling Event By Conservative Speaker

We have previously discussed the anti-free speech controversies at Middlebury College where a professor and a speaker were attacked. Now protests have erupted over another conservative speak, Ryszard Legutko, who was invited to speak on campus but then forced into a small classroom presentation. That did not satisfy students who demanded to know how such a speaker could be invited and how it would be avoided in the future. According to a recording of the meeting, the college officials apologized for allowing such a speaker and promised actions in the future to avoid such controversies.

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Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering

Judge Indicted For Allegedly Aiding Illegal Immigrant Evade Arrest by ICE

We previously discussed the controversy surrounding Judge Shelley Richmond Joseph who allegedly helped an illegal immigrant evade ICE agents in April 2018. Joseph and court officer Wesley MacGregor were charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, aiding and abetting and obstruction of a federal proceeding.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Politics

Michael Cohen Now Claims Innocence Of Charges Despite Sworn Statements

I have previously written about Michael Cohen’s long and uninterrupted history of false statements, crimes, and unethical conduct (here and here and here and here and here). What was particularly impressive is that Cohen was told by Chairman Elijah Cummings that he would immediately be referred to the Justice Department for prosecution if he lied even in the slightest degree. In the view of many, Cohen proceeded to lie and Cummings decided to do nothing. Now Cohen is contradicting the sworn statements that he made in court as part of his sentencing is saying that the charges — and presumably his own statements accepting his guilt — were lies. Cohen reportedly told actor Tom Arnold last month that he is not guilty of the crimes that he told the court that he committed.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Society

Chalk One Up For The Fourth Amendment: Court Rules Parking Enforcement Officers Are Trespassing On Tires

In a surprising decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that the little chalk mark placed on your tire by parking enforcement officers is a violation of your constitutional rights. The Sixth Circuit describes Alison Taylor as a “frequent recipient of parking tickets” who challenged the practice as a warrantless trespass by the government and won under an extension of the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400 (2012), a case barring the placement of GPS devices on cars. Whether the Supreme Court would agree with the extension (or consider this a de minimus trespass) is a good question.

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Politics, Religion

Frankin Graham To Buttigieg: Repent

Rev. Franklin Graham has declared that presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg should “repent” his “sin” of being a homosexual. Graham explained that homosexuality “something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized.” It is a bizarre and deeply insulting declaration. I have seen no evidence of Buttigieg flaunting anything. He has conducted himself as any candidate in embracing his spouse and discussing his marriage. When heterosexual candidates cite their marriage, it is not declared “flaunting.”

Not to be outdone  Pastor E.W. Jackson denounced Buttigieg’s candidacy as an effort to establish a “homocracy.”

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Bizarre, International, Society

“Man-Tax” Cafe Goes Out To Business After Just Two Years

There is a long-standing theory that discriminatory practices are eventually squeezed out of a market since they add marginal costs not carried by non-discriminatory firms. Becker’s model predicts that in a competitive setting, discriminating employers ultimately are forced out of the market by forfeiting profits. (See Becker, G. S. (1957) The Economics of Discrimination, Chicago: Chicago University Press). Of course, society should not wait for such a long-term market adjustment and most support anti-discrimination laws to end such practices. Yet, a controversial café in Melbourne Australia might have succumbed to such a marginal cost. Handsome Her, a vegan caf, became an international focus with its imposition of a “man tax” of 18 percent for any men who try to eat at the cafe. It was supposed to reflect the
gender pay gap.” That overt discrimination however appears to have created a customer gap and the cafe is now going out of business after only two years.

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Criminal law, Free Speech, Society, Torts

Brothers Sue Lawyers for Jussie Smollett For Defamation
Abel and Ola Osundairo: Instagram

Abel and Ola Osundairo, the two brothers implicated in the hoax attack on Jussie Smollett, are heading back to court. This time however they will be appearing as plaintiffs in a defamation case against Smollett’s attorneys,  Tina Glandian and Mark Geragos. It is a relatively rare case against counsel and could test the limits of legal privilege in defamation.

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Congress, Justice, Lawyering, Politics

Holder: Barr Needs To Learn That He Is “The People’s Lawyer, Not The President’s Lawyer”

Attorney General William Barr has faced considerable criticism over his press conference before the release of the Special Counsel report. Many have objected that his account seemed designed as a prebuttal to the report to support Trump. While I disagree with the extent of the criticism, I can see why there are such objections. Yet, the one person who one would not expect to hear from would be former Attorney General Eric Holder who was viewed as a highly political and intensely loyal member of the President Barack Obama’s cabinet. That reputation was highlighted when Holder proclaimed that he was “I’m still the president’s wingman.” Yet, Holder went public this week to remind Barr that he is “the people’s lawyer, not the president’s lawyer.”

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Bizarre, Free Speech, Media, Politics

Trump: New York Times Is “The Enemy of the People” and Should “Beg His Forgiveness”

President Donald Trump is again on Twitter attacking the media and frankly sounding strikingly authoritarian. On Tuesday, Trump said that the New York Times should “get down on their knees & beg for forgiveness” for its coverage of his presidency and again called the newspaper “the enemy of the people.” It is easy to dismiss such comments as Trump’s signature mantra but it is far more serious for a president to use such rhetoric to denounce journalists. As someone who has strongly criticized some coverage for biased reporting over the last two years, it is difficult to maintain a neutral viewpoint when the President is engaging in such hyperbolic and reckless comments. The President is justified in objecting to some of the coverage of the media, but he destroys any credibility in that position when he is tweeting diatribes of this kind.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Politics

Democratic Leadership: Trump Should Be Impeached But . . .

Rep. Adam Schiff, the head of the House Intelligence Committee, maintained the curious line of the Democratic leadership this weekend in declaring Trump’s conduct as more serious than Nixon but trying to dampen demands for impeachment. I have written for the last year that the calls for impeachment leading to the midterm elections as a transparent bait-and-switch in the making. As made clear by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, impeachment is not on their “agenda.” Indeed, it is doubtful that the leadership ever wanted to impeach Trump. However, they must look like they want to impeach so Schiff and others are just blaming the expected opposition by Republicans as relieving them of the need to impeach. It doesn’t. While I think this would be a difficult impeachment case given the mixed and incomplete findings of Robert Mueller, that has nothing to do with Schiff and others fulfilling their oaths if they believe impeachable conduct has occurred. Nixon was certain to be impeached when he resigned and Schiff is saying that Trump’s conduct is “far worse.”

The line was apparent last night when Speaker Nancy Pelosi fought back members demanding impeachment proceedings and insisted that they would just continue to investigate out of fear of possible political backlash.

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Politics

Poll: 57 Percent Disapprove Of Trump

The Morning Consult/Politico weekly tracking poll shows a drop in popularity for President Donald Trump to 39 percent. That is not however a massive decline given the harsh content of the Special Counsel Report. Half of those polls still opposed impeachment. What is more notable, in my view, is that 57 percent of those polled now disapprove of Trump’s presidency. That is a daunting figure for someone entering the campaign season.

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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International

France Launches Investigation Into Protesters Insulting Police

We have previously discussed the alarming rollback on free speech rights in the West, particularly in France (here and here and here and here and here and here and here). Much of this trend is tied to the expansion of hate speech and non-discrimination laws. We have seen comedians targeted with such court orders under this expanding and worrisome trend. (here and here). The insatiable appetite for speech criminalization and regulation was apparent this week. The government continues to struggle to deal with the “yellow vest” protests in Paris, but it has now opened a criminal investigation into protesters who yelled that police should commit suicide. Despite being treated as clearly protected political speech in the United States, such protest chants will be charged as crimes in France where free speech is being eradicated under a variety of speech codes and criminal provisions.

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Columns, Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law

Mueller’s Mess On Intent Leaves Democrats In A Muddle On Impeachment

Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on a missing element in the Mueller report not just for obstruction but impeachment: intent. As I discuss, I am still baffled by the logic of Mueller in not reaching a conclusion on obstruction. It simply makes no sense given his actions on collusion and the ultimate rendering of a decision by Main Justice on obstruction. While the Justice Department (wrongly) maintains that a sitting president cannot be indicted, there is no bar on finding probable cause to believe that a president has committed a crime.

Here is the column:

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Uncategorized

Turley Speaks Today At The National Constitution Center

Today, I am in Philadelphia to debate National Review editor Rich Lowry on President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration to build the wall on the Southern border. I have previously testified and written on the subject. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, will moderate the debate to be held 6:30 – 7:30 p.m at the National Constitution Center.

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