Academia, Constitutional Law, Media

Boston University Professor: Second Amendment is Based on “Freedom to Enslave”

As we wait for the release of the most significant Second Amendment case in over a decade from the Supreme Court (as early as tomorrow), CBS featured Ibram X. Kendi on Face the Nation on gun rights. Host Margaret Brennan discussed with the Boston University professor how “freedom to enslave” was linked to the “freedom to have guns.” There was no push back on that controversial claim or the underlying suggestion that gun ownership is largely a white impulse or practice. Continue reading “Boston University Professor: Second Amendment is Based on “Freedom to Enslave”” →

Uncategorized

Constitutional Crisis: My Dog Hates James Madison

I have often balked at declarations that we are facing a “constitutional crisis,” a term thrown around by politicians as a type of exclamation point for a political cause or claim. The Constitution was built for bad times, not good times. It often borders on constitutional defamation to claim a constitutional crisis. Until today… Continue reading “Constitutional Crisis: My Dog Hates James Madison” →

Free Speech, Politics

Facebook Blocks Greitens’ “Hunting RINOS” Ad

Eric Greitens, the former governor of Missouri, is under fire this week for his ad featuring himself, a former Navy Seal, storming a house looking for “RINOs” (or Republicans In Name Only). The ad, in my view, was inflammatory and irresponsible. At a time of rising politically-motivated violence, this type of ad, even if meant in jest, is reckless. However, Greitens has now been blocked on the ad by Facebook and tagged by Twitter, a continuation of robust censorship and “content modification” policies at these companies. This is news and there is a worthy discussion on the use of such imagery. However, we have seen how such censorship leads to ridiculous outcomes like YouTube censoring the Jan. 6th Committee because it had video clips of former President Donald Trump. Greitens has lashed out at the companies. Continue reading “Facebook Blocks Greitens’ “Hunting RINOS” Ad” →

Academia, Free Speech, Politics

Speechphobia: University of North Texas Students Seek to Ban “Transphobic” Group

As Hillary Clinton advises Democrats to move away from the discussion of trans rights, one student government is taking a different approach in seeking to ban others from speaking against such rights. The students are pushing for a ban on any “transphobic” clubs from campus. The student government at the University of North Texas became the latest student body to seek to curtail free speech rights of other students by declaring opposing views to be harmful. It is a new example of the growing “speechphobic” movement on our campuses. Continue reading “Speechphobia: University of North Texas Students Seek to Ban “Transphobic” Group” →

Columns, Criminal law, Media, Politics

Biden’s Red Queen Justice: Long After the Sentence, the Biden Administration is About to Render a Verdict on the Border Agents

Below is a slightly augmented version of my Hill column on the report that the Biden Administration will go forward with administrative punishment for border agents who were falsely accused of “whipping” Haitian migrants in Texas.

Here is the column: Continue reading “Biden’s Red Queen Justice: Long After the Sentence, the Biden Administration is About to Render a Verdict on the Border Agents” →

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech

Chico State University Employee Pleads Guilty of Hate Crime in Potential Violent Speech Case

 

There is an interesting case out of Chico State University in California on the criminalization of violent speech. Custodian Kerry Thao pleaded “no contest” last week to hate crimes after he advocated Asians “kill whites and blacks.” What was striking was the reports that the police fully investigated his past contacts and actions and found “no evidence that showed there could be any further threat to the public.” The question is why Thao pleaded guilty if that was the case since his views, while hateful and disturbing, would be arguably protected by the First Amendment. Indeed, professors have been making analogous statements for years without investigation, let alone criminal charges.

Continue reading “Chico State University Employee Pleads Guilty of Hate Crime in Potential Violent Speech Case” →

Free Speech, Media, Politics

He Who Must Not Be Heard: YouTube Censors Jan. 6th Committee for Including Video Clip of President Donald Trump

We have previously discussed the increasing censorship at YouTube where conservative and dissenting viewpoints are now increasingly blocked, including U.S. senators and physicians with opposing views of Covid.  It has also banned videotapes of former President Don Trump. Other social media companies have banned others from posting the voice of Trump. The problem with censorship is that it becomes an insatiable appetite. As you censor opposing views, it demands more and more censorship. It becomes increasingly ridiculous as was the case this week. According to a New York Post report YouTube censored the Democratic-controlled Select Committee for a video that included a clip of Trump. It was being posted to implicate Trump in the January 6th riot but YouTube has continued to blindly follow its “he-who-must-not-be-heard” policy.

Continue reading “He Who Must Not Be Heard: YouTube Censors Jan. 6th Committee for Including Video Clip of President Donald Trump” →

Bizarre, Free Speech, Science, Society

Phallus Saxa Loquuntur: Ancient Roman Insult Excavated In Northumberland
(C) The Vindolanda Charitable Trust

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

An archeological excavation at Vindolanda in Northumberland revealed again the notion that once an insult or offense is written into the public forum it can never be successfully retracted, often coming back to haunt despite efforts to bury the story.

The subject of this Roman insult, Secundinus, must have been so infamous of a cad to have invited such scorn from a nemesis; the latter resolved to carve into rock the insult “SECVNDINVS CACOR” along with a very prominent phallus.

Continue reading “Phallus Saxa Loquuntur: Ancient Roman Insult Excavated In Northumberland” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Supreme Court

Democratic Member Calls for Justice Thomas to Resign Over Wife’s Activism

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) has joined the call for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to resign due to the communications of his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, with lawyer John Eastman supporting the certification challenge. It is still unclear what that email contains, but Ginni Thomas was a vocal supporter for former President Donald Trump in both public and private. Pascrell called Thomas “a corrupt jurist” and said that he could not be considered “neutral” given the fact that his wife is a political activist. Pascrell’s demand comes after Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse called for an investigation into the matter. The demand is entirely without legal or ethical merit absent new evidence that Justice Thomas himself engaged in political advocacy while ruling on related cases. Continue reading “Democratic Member Calls for Justice Thomas to Resign Over Wife’s Activism” →

Bizarre

Weekend Photos: Teapot Dome Gas Station

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

On yet another road trip we happened along this strange form of filling station–a tribute of sorts to the Teapot Dome Scandal. It has been one hundred years since the ensuing investigation, which greatly embarrassed the Harding Administration and later sent Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall to prison on corruption charges.  In a twist, in 1985 the Department of the Interior added the station to the National Register of Historic Places.

Continue reading “Weekend Photos: Teapot Dome Gas Station” →

Bizarre, Criminal law

The Late Show with the Capitol Police: Crew of Comedian Stephen Colbert Arrested in Capitol

Last night, Fox News broke the story that the U.S. Capitol Police arrested a group of staffers with CBS’s “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and charged them with unlawful entry. The crew was reportedly shooting a skit dealing with Jan. 6th but ended up with the same charge that has been levied against the vast majority of those arrested after the riot. Fox is reporting that the crew was told to leave but regained entry through a staff member of Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D., Mass). They also interviewed House Intelligence Chair and Jan. 6th Committee member Adam Schiff (D., Cal.). The arrests could put Speaker Nancy Pelosi in an awkward position. Continue reading “The Late Show with the Capitol Police: Crew of Comedian Stephen Colbert Arrested in Capitol” →

Media, Politics, Supreme Court

Sen. Whitehouse Calls for Investigation of Ginni Thomas

In Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, Cecily observes “I have never met any really wicked person before… I am so afraid he will look just like every one else.” The quote came to mind this week after Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) demanded an investigation of Ginni Thomas. Whitehouse insists that there is a “big investigative gap” in pursuing the leaker of the draft Supreme Court opinion in the pending abortion case, but not the wife of Clarence Thomas. Ginni Thomas supported the challenge to the certification of the 2020 election. Continue reading “Sen. Whitehouse Calls for Investigation of Ginni Thomas” →

Academia, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Politics

“Without any Doubt, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, Beyond any Doubt”: Tribe Declares Trump Committed Attempted Murder

In past columns, we have discussed how Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe seems intent upon running through the entire criminal code in declaring clear evidence of every federal crime by former President Donald Trump and/or his family. Just for the purposes of keeping score, Tribe declared evidence supporting criminal charges of witness tampering, obstruction of justice, criminal election violations, Logan Act violations, extortion, espionage, and treason by Trump or his family.  He has now added attempted murder in an interview on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.” In addition to declaring former President Donald Trump clearly guilty of the attempt to murder Vice President Mike Pence on January 6, 2021, Tribe is again assuring viewers that “without any doubt, beyond a reasonable doubt, beyond any doubt, and the crimes are obvious.” I guess there is no doubt. There is also no compelling legal basis for the claim. Nevertheless, Tribe is promising more if needed: “There are other crimes that have been proven. Those are plenty to start with.”

Continue reading ““Without any Doubt, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, Beyond any Doubt”: Tribe Declares Trump Committed Attempted Murder” →

Columns, Politics

Flagging Free Speech: A Coach Runs Afoul of the NFL with a Different View of Jan. 6

Below is my column on the recent fining and apology of Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio for expressing a dissenting view of the Jan. 6th riot. There has been little support for the exercise of free speech by Del Rio, even from those who support the free speech of athletes protesting during actual games. Instead, there was the useful demands for him to be fired for uttering an opposing view of what occurred on January 6th.

Here is the column:

Continue reading “Flagging Free Speech: A Coach Runs Afoul of the NFL with a Different View of Jan. 6” →