Below is my column on Fox.com on the recent decision of students at Whitworth University to bar a speech from a survivor of Maoist China. It was an ironic but all-too-familiar scene in higher education today.
In Tinker v. Des Moines, the Supreme Court famously declared that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” That may be true but apparently they can shed their sweatshirts in Michigan. In a newly filed complaint, two middle school students are suing Tri County Area Schools after they were ordered to remove their sweatshirts featuring the anti-Biden slogan “Let’s Go, Brandon.” The lawsuit filed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) makes a compelling case that the schools acted in an unconstitutional fashion in censoring the political message. Continue reading “Michigan Students Sue After Being Forced to Remove “Let’s Go Brandon” Sweatshirts”
President Joe Biden held a curious meeting in the Oval Office where he honored Tennessee legislators for “standing up” for democracy by preventing a legislature from continuing its work. He then magnified that mixed message by refusing again to answer questions from the media and dismissing them with a joke. Continue reading “Biden Praises Tennessee Legislators For “Standing Up” for Democracy . . . By Stopping the Legislative Process”
There is an important ruling this month out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which ruled against former high school music teacher John Kluge for refusing to comply with the school’s pronoun policy for religious reasons. What is most curious about the ruling is the timing. The Seventh Circuit opinion from April 7th is particularly interesting given the oral argument in the Supreme Court in Groff v. DeJoy only 11 days after the appellate ruling. Groff could gut the underlying standard used by the Seventh Circuit in its ruling for the school district. The opinion also puts the appellate court in conflict with the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in its recent Meriweather decision. Continue reading “Seventh Circuit Upholds Termination of High School Teacher Who Objected to Pronoun Policy”
Five years ago, I wrote a column criticizing Democratic and Republican members of Congress who joined the media in gushing over an address from French President Emmanuel Macron as he called for European style censorship. Free speech has been in a virtual free fall in France for decades and Macron is a major voice in that movement. This week, the French added another outrage to Macron’s legacy by promising to prosecute three citizens who protested the President by flipping him off at an event. The use of “Le Doigt” could now land them in “La Prison.”
Below is my column in The Hill on the recent disclosure that the organizer of the infamous “Russian Disinformation” letter on the Hunter Biden laptop was prompted by then Biden campaign adviser Antony Blinken. He is, of course, now our Secretary of State and he follows a pattern of the “made men” of the Biden Administration.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Antony Blinken and the ‘Made Men’ of the Biden Administration”
Today, Res Ipsa passed the 70,000,000 mark in views on the blog. We have used these moments to give thanks for our many regular readers around the world and share our traffic data to give you an idea of the current profile of readers around the world. We do not have a running data page so these periodic postings allow our community to see the traffic profile of our blog. So let’s get at it. Continue reading “Res Ipsa Hits 70,000,000”
Teaching torts, it is easy to develop a sense of the macabre. Torts involves every possible thing that can happen to people from finding a toe in chewing tobacco (Pillars) to being killed by a flying coffin at an amusement park (Chueng). Since I was a law student, I have also noted bizarre “flying body” cases of torts. This week a former student named Ben sent a personal account of a truly bizarre run-in with an airborne cow. Fortunately, the family was unharmed in the incident. The same cannot be said for the cow.
Continue reading “Mooving Violation: Family Hit By Flying Cow in North Carolina”
Below is my column in the New York Post on the recent call for a criminal investigation of journalist Matt Taibbi for perjury by the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. It all comes down to Taibbi’s mistake in adding an “A” to “CIS” – a group involved in the expanding censorship system. The allegation is completely meritless but Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI) did show that you cannot spell authoritarianism without “A.”
Here is the column:
On Friday night, the Supreme Court ordered the abortion pill mifepristone to continue to be made available to women by mail as challenges continue to be litigated in lower courts. As I mentioned on Fox yesterday before the ruling, the Court usually restores the status quo while challenges are being heard. That is what it did again in this case. However, there are dissents from two of the most vocal critics of abortion rights: Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. In the only decision in the case, Justice Alito strongly suggests that some of his colleagues (cited by name) are engaging in rank hypocrisy in using what is known as the “shadow docket” for these purposes. Continue reading “Supreme Court Restores Full Availability of Abortion Pill in “Shadow Docket” Ruling”
As previously discussed, after Musk decided to buy Twitter, Hillary Clinton called upon European countries to force social media companies to censor Americans. The European Union quickly responded by threatening Musk and other executives. Now, Technology and Science Secretary Michelle Donelan has announced plans to jail social media executives if they fail to censor so-called “harmful” content on their websites. The government, of course, will determine what is deemed too harmful for citizens to see or hear. Continue reading “The Tower for Twitter? UK Minister Calls for Jailing Social Media Bosses Who Do Not Censor Speech”
Below is my column in Fox.com on the disclosure of a letter from counsel for an IRS whistleblower alleging political influence with the criminal investigation of Hunter Biden. There is much that we still do not know, including the credibility and evidence of the whistleblower. However, false statements to Congress are criminal acts and the allegations have to be taken seriously.
Here is the column: Continue reading ““Preferential Treatment”: IRS Whistleblower Claims Political Influence and Possible Perjury Related to the Hunter Biden Investigation”
Like many schools, Kent State University has a free speech rock that is a symbol of the right to free expression at that institution. However, some at the school appear to have a narrow view of what constitutes free speech after College Republicans painted “What Is a Woman?” on the rock. The question appears to be a reference to a documentary by conservative commentator Matt Walsh. The rock painting led to a petition declaring that “The Kent State College Republicans must be held accountable for their actions.”
We recently discussed how Wake Forest Psychology Professor S. Mason Garrison described conservatives as “guilty, anxious, and unable to handle stress well as children.” It was indicative of the overt hostility often encountered by Republicans and conservatives on our campuses today. Now, another psychology professor is under fire for a quiz that matter-of-factly explained that white men are characterized as a group for their abuse of others and lack of remorse for their violence and deceit. Like Professor Garrison, the resulting outcry reportedly led Professor Kirsten Bradbury to rescind the quiz. However, the incident reflects both the orthodoxy and hostility that now characterizes higher education. It also follows a familiar pattern when academics are called to account for such biased attacks.
Fox News has reached a settlement with Dominion Voting Systems for a reported $787 million. That was roughly half of the $1.6 billion originally sought in the defamation case, but represents a massive payout to the company which claimed to have been defamed by the network. Continue reading “Fox Reportedly Agrees to $787 Million Settlement in Dominion Defamation Lawsuit”