Former President Barack Obama continued the Democratic campaign theme this week in arguing that democracy is in danger if Republicans prevail in the midterm elections. I have a new column out this weekend addressing the over-the-top rhetoric coming from Democratic politicians and pundits. However, the former president’s speech was revealing as he cited the very arguments made by Democrats . . . as attacks on democracy. Obama did not go as far as some but he also seemed to channel the dire warnings of the imminent collapse of our democracy if the Republicans should prevail in the elections.
A panel on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit seemed to be channeling the lyrics of the musical Hamilton in noting that “Everything is legal in New Jersey.” The panel ruled against a transgender woman who brought a discrimination claim against a beauty pageant that allowed only “natural-born females” to compete. In a prior 2016 column, I discussed the racially discriminatory consideration of only “non-Whites” for the cast of the much-celebrated production. The majority opinion written by Judge Lawrence VanDyke noted the policy in upholding a policy that excluded trans women from the Miss United States of America pageant in Oregon. Continue reading “Ninth Circuit Rules Against Transgender Woman in Beauty Pageant Competition . . . Citing the Musical Hamilton”
I have a column out this morning on the widespread claim by media and political figures that democracy may be lost if the GOP prevails in the midterm elections. The over-the-top rhetoric was recently captured in the unhinged claim of historian Michael Beschloss on MSNBC that a Republican win could lead not only to the end of history books and democracy but lead to the killing of our children. MSNBC later followed up with an interview with actor and Director Rob Reiner who seemed to struggle to outdo Beschloss in the apocalyptic predictions. Continue reading “Rob Reiner: Republicans Will Kill for Power and This may be our Last Election”
Elon Musk has not actually changed the “content moderation” policies at Twitter yet, but President Joe Biden went on a virtual rave on Friday over the prospect of free speech breaking out on a single social media site. As a type of censor-in-chief, Biden has led calls for censorship on social media, which have been largely heeded by companies like Facebook and Twitter. Now Biden is accusing Twitter of “spewing lies all across the world” by seeking to reduce one of the largest censorship systems in history. The President lamented that the influence of the media will be “de minimus.” He is a bit late on that front. Continue reading ““How Do People Know the Truth?”: Biden Unleashes Tirade Over Musk Restoring Free Speech Protections on Twitter”
Professor Sundiata Cha-Jua, a prominent history and African-American studies professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is under fire after using racist slurs to describe Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker. While the racist attack has drawn criticism on conservative sites, there has been no opposing statement or protest at the university. The media has also been largely quiet. The contrast to past controversies involving conservative faculty members again raises the concern over a double standard applied by colleges and universities as well as the media. Thus far, the response to the use of racist slurs or tropes against Republicans has been the familiar sound of crickets. Continue reading “Crickets: Illinois Professor Publishes Racist Attacks Against Herschel Walker With No Outcry from the Faculty or Media” 
It is a little early to do our Christmas torts column, but this scene out of London is worth sharing: people had to flee giant rolling baubles that broke free of a decoration. The two giant baubles then rolled menacingly through a part of London.
Continue reading “Christmas Baubles Wreak Havoc in the Streets of London”
Last night, President Joe Biden returned to his earlier claim that his political opponents are fascists seeking to establish authoritarianism in the United States. While the hellish red background is gone from his controversial Philadelphia address, the message remains: a vote for the GOP is a vote for tyranny. Despite polls showing citizens view the President as inciting political unrest and potential violence with such attacks, the theme was quickly picked up and magnified in the media. Presidential historian Michael Beschloss actually suggested on MSNBC that we could be just days away from an authoritarian hellscape if the GOP prevails in midterm elections — raising the specter of our children being taken away and killed. Continue reading “MSNBC Meltdown: “Our Children will be Arrested and Conceivably Killed” if the GOP Wins Midterm Elections”
Below is my column this week on the campaign to block the publication of a book by Justice Amy Coney Barrett. It is all a part of movement of censorship and speech intolerance that has swept across our campuses and news rooms. What is most striking is how these editors and publishers are insisting that they are supporting free speech by silencing others.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Censoring in the Name of Free Speech: Publishers and Editors Call for Banning Barrett Book”
We have been discussing how Democratic leaders like Hillary Clinton called on foreign countries to pass censorship laws to prevent Elon Musk from restoring free speech protections on Twitter. The EU has responded aggressively to warn Musk not to allow greater free speech or face crippling fines and even potential criminal enforcement. After years of using censorship-by-surrogates in social media companies, Democratic leaders seem to have rediscovered good old-fashioned state censorship. Continue reading “EU Warns Musk Not to Restore Free Speech Protections After Calls from Clinton and Other Democratic Leaders”
As a regular MSNBC pundit is calling for Elon Musk to be stripped of his citizenship for trying to reintroduce free speech protections to Twitter, the new owner is outraging blue checkers by suggesting a monthly charge for verified users. Figures like CNBC’s Jim Cramer declared: “I’m not paying them anything. They should pay me.” Some of us would be willing to pay an added monthly fee to support a true free speech alternative on social media if Musk keeps his word. Continue reading “Blue Checkers Revolt Over Musk’s Threatened Monthly Charge: A Modest Proposal from the Unwashed and Unverified”
Dominic Salazar, 31, had a Halloween to remember (or not) after he was arrested for drunken disorderly conduct, domestic battery, and other charges. That was unfortunately not particularly notable given the common crimes and torts that marks All Hallow’s Eve. It was Salazar’s outfit that could make this a particularly challenging defense case.
Despite the rain, we are all set for Halloween again this year with the house covered with ghouls, skeletons, witches and ghosts. It takes about a week to get everything up but we get a massive crowd of kids each year (The fact that we give out large candy does not hurt for marketing).
There was an interesting torts question raised last week over an abortion rights video ad shared by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, and others. The video was made to support Proposition 1, a pro-choice amendment to the California State Constitution. Macy Petty is a pro-life activist who was falsely portrayed as crying outside of the Supreme Court after its overturning of Roe v. Wade this year. The video ad was reportedly paid for by the California Democratic Party.
Below is my column in the Hill on today’s argument in the two college affirmative action cases in Students for Fair Admissions v. President & Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina.
Here is the column: Continue reading ““Bakke to the Future”: Supreme Court Reconsiders Affirmative Action with a Conservative Majority”
Here is my annual list of Halloween torts and crimes. Halloween of course remains a holiday seemingly designed for personal injury lawyers around the world and this year’s additions show why. Halloween has everything for a torts-filled holiday: battery, trespass, defamation, nuisance, product liability and more. Particularly with the recent tragedy in South Korea, our annual listing is not intended to belittle or ignore the serious losses that can occur on this and other holidays. However, my students and I often discuss the remarkably wide range of torts that comes with All Hallow’s Eve.
So, with no further ado, here is this year’s updated list of actual cases related to Halloween. Continue reading “Spooky Torts: The 2022 List of Litigation Horrors”