Academia, Free Speech

UW Professor Triggers Free Speech Fight Over “Indigenous Land Acknowledgement”

There is a major fight unfolding over free speech and academic freedom at the University of Washington where computer science Professor Stuart Reges has been ordered to remove a statement from his syllabus. After the university encouraged faculty to add a prewritten “Indigenous land acknowledgement” statement to their syllabi, Reges decided to write his own statement. He has now been told that, while the university statement is optional, his statement is unacceptable because it questions the indigenous land claim of the Coast Salish people. Continue reading “UW Professor Triggers Free Speech Fight Over “Indigenous Land Acknowledgement”” →

Criminal law, Society, Torts

Royally Eschewed: Court Rejects Prince Andrew’s Motion to Dismiss Giuffre Lawsuit
Florida Southern District Court

Prince Andrew lost a major ruling in his litigation with Virginia Giuffre (née Roberts), who claims that the Duke of York sexually assaulted her as part of the sex trafficking crimes of the late Jeffrey Epstein. In his 46-page decision, Judge Lewis A Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York adopted an extremely narrow reading of the settlement and eschewed the defense arguments on threshold barriers to any lawsuit. Kaplan declared the “defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint or for a more definite statement is denied in all respects.” Continue reading “Royally Eschewed: Court Rejects Prince Andrew’s Motion to Dismiss Giuffre Lawsuit” →

Bizarre, Politics, Torts

The “Old Gray Lady” Versus The Masked Singer: The Times Seeks To Use Palin Music Video in Libel Trial
YouTube

We previously discussed a major ruling restoring the defamation lawsuit of Sarah Palin against the New York Times over a false claim related to the shooting of former United States Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Now, the New York Times is trying to introduce footage of Palin on “The Masked Singer.” The effort to introduce the video would seem to have no probative value and clearly is meant to ridicule Palin. Continue reading “The “Old Gray Lady” Versus The Masked Singer: The Times Seeks To Use Palin Music Video in Libel Trial” →

Constitutional Law, Politics

Democracy, Autocracy . . . or Hypocrisy? Biden Calls for Changing the Filibuster Rule

According to the Associated Press, President Joe Biden today will support changing the filibuster rule for voting rights legislation — a move widely viewed as effectively killing the rule. The report says that Biden will portray the choice starkly as one between democracy and autocracy. The AP, however, does not reference the third option of hypocrisy by failing to note that Biden vehemently opposed such moves for decades. He previously denounced killing the rule as “disastrous” for our democracy but now will declare the rule itself to be an existential threat to democracy. It is the latest example of President Biden’s embrace of “whatever it takes politics.” Continue reading “Democracy, Autocracy . . . or Hypocrisy? Biden Calls for Changing the Filibuster Rule” →

Media, Supreme Court

No, Justice Gorsuch Did Not Say Hundreds of Thousands Die From Flu Each Year

After the argument over the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandates before the Supreme Court, many on the left condemned Justice Neil Gorsuch for spreading disinformation on flu fatalities. This criticism seemed to grow after the three liberal justices on the Supreme Court were themselves criticized for false or misleading statements about Covid-19. In reality, Gorsuch was correct in his statement on flu rates despite attacks that are continuing by liberal commentators and bloggers. (For full disclosure, I testified in favor of Gorsuch’s confirmation before the Senate). Continue reading “No, Justice Gorsuch Did Not Say Hundreds of Thousands Die From Flu Each Year” →

Columns, Congress, Constitutional Law, Supreme Court

The Vaccine Mandate: The Supreme Court Considers a Trip To “Major-Questions-Land”

Below is my column in the Hill on the vaccine mandate cases before the Supreme Court. Businesses and groups are still waiting to see if the Supreme Court will issue an injunction in the OSHA case. The mandate goes into effect today. The issue is not what the decision should be on mandates but who gets to make that decision. That question takes some justices to a place that they would prefer not to go …”Major-question-land.”

Here is the column: Continue reading “The Vaccine Mandate: The Supreme Court Considers a Trip To “Major-Questions-Land”” →

Free Speech, Politics, Supreme Court

Will Justice Sotomayor Be Banned On Twitter? Don’t Bet On It.

Twitter Logo

During the oral arguments over the Biden vaccine mandates last week,  two largely disconnected views emerged from the right and left of the Supreme Court. Conservative justices hammered away at the underlying authority of the Biden Administration to issue these mandates, particularly after President Joe Biden’s own Chief of Staff admitted that the agency rules were “workarounds” of his constitutional limitations. Conversely, the liberal justices used the “equity” aspects of an injunction to raise more emotive, if not apocalyptic, arguments on the dangers of Covid-19. That led Justice Elena Sotomayor to make a claim about children with Covid that even the Washington Post called “absurdly high” and worthy of “four Pinocchios.”

Continue reading “Will Justice Sotomayor Be Banned On Twitter? Don’t Bet On It.” →

Bizarre, Criminal law

“A Hapless Car Thief”: Nevada Man Caught with Dismembered Body Claims to Have Stolen The Wrong Truck

There is a bizarre case unfolding in Las Vegas, Nevada where Eric Holland, 57, was arrested after police found a dismembered body in his truck. Holland is now arguing that it was a terrible coincidence. He stole a truck that just happened to have a dismembered body in the back. He was, in the words of his counsel, “a hapless car thief.’

 

Continue reading ““A Hapless Car Thief”: Nevada Man Caught with Dismembered Body Claims to Have Stolen The Wrong Truck” →

Criminal law

Rittenhouse Friend Reaches Plea Deal For Fine With Prosecutors

Dominick David Black, the friend who bought Kyle Rittenhouse an assault-style rifle when he was only 17, has been facing two felonies in Wisconsin. The hefty charges were clearly meant to force his cooperation in the prosecution of his friend. With Rittenhouse now acquitted, the prosecutors have thrown in the towel and agreed to a fine of $2000 in exchange for dropping the two counts. He pleaded no contest to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a non-criminal citation.

Continue reading “Rittenhouse Friend Reaches Plea Deal For Fine With Prosecutors” →

Constitutional Law, Politics

Democratic Governor Calls For Criminalizing “Lying” About Election Results

For years, I have lamented how the Democratic party has embraced censorship and the criminalization of speech. I come from a liberal Democratic family in Chicago and the Democratic Party once championed free speech as the defining value of the party. Democratic politicians now lead calls for censorship to silence their opponents and corporate regulations to protect citizens from dangerous choices in reading material. The same concerns were raised this week after Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called for the criminalization of “lies” about election results. Inslee wants to convict people who raise election challenges or allegations. Such a law would threaten political speech and create a chilling effect for those who want to raise such concerns in contested elections.

 

Continue reading “Democratic Governor Calls For Criminalizing “Lying” About Election Results” →

Bizarre, Politics, Society

The Eight Degrees of Ignorance and Stupidity

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Our host on numerous occasions makes a strong case in labeling today’s zeitgeist as “The Age of Rage”. It would certainly seem to be so if one focuses on what stereotypically comes out of the news media and political figures we lend our ears to. Yet I would go a step further and suggest the root cause of some of this rage is composed of two elements: power-lust and simple human stupidity.

I believe many people fail to recognize how intertwined is the lust for power and the enabling forces of stupidity. Stupidity can be manipulated to achieve that power. It is said that money is the blood of the powerful. Yet, why spend money when too many can be so easily controlled or recruited for free simply by instead appealing to ignorant or stupid individuals.

Both sadly and obviously however, ignorance and stupidity is not limited to the news or politics, it is manifest in human society generally. The trick is to recognize and extricate it from our lives whenever possible. So in a mostly cynical and possibly comical study of the problem, I propose there are levels and flavors of both ignorance and stupidity and to apply such a study is a first step toward minimizing its damaging potential.

Continue reading “The Eight Degrees of Ignorance and Stupidity” →

Criminal law

Midwest Mugshots: Police Records in Nebraska Yield Arresting Images of 19th Century Criminals

As many of you know, I have a certain fascination with early mugshots, particularly those from the Victorian period. These photos give an insight into life in the 19th Century with striking and often haunting realism. I recently stumbled across a cache of American mugshots from the Nebraska State Historical Society. I wanted to share a few. This picture is Goldie Williams who was arrested for vagrancy on Jan. 29, 1898. Continue reading “Midwest Mugshots: Police Records in Nebraska Yield Arresting Images of 19th Century Criminals” →

Columns, Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Media, Politics

“Preserve the Narrative”: The Public Rejects the “Insurrection” Claim in New Polling

In the day long events commemorating January 6th, Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a telling statement to her fellow members and the public at large. Pelosi declared “It is essential that we preserve the narrative of January 6th.” Part of that narrative is that this was not a riot but an “insurrection,” an actual “rebellion” against our country. Pelosi’s concern over the viability of that narrative is well-based as shown by a recent CBS News poll. The majority of the public does not believe that this was an “insurrection” despite the mantra-like repetition of members of Congress and the media. The public saw that terrible day unfold a year ago and saw it for what it was: a protest that became a riot. (For full disclosure, I previously worked as a legal analyst for CBS News). Continue reading ““Preserve the Narrative”: The Public Rejects the “Insurrection” Claim in New Polling” →

Columns, Criminal law

Maxwell May Get A Second Trial, But What About the Rest of Epstein’s “Significant Others”?

Below is my column in USA Today on the lingering questions in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. These questions are likely to grow if the court overturns the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell due to what appears to be exceptionally serious allegations of juror misconduct.  Maxwell could end up with a second trial while various powerful men appear to have escaped any serious investigation, let alone a trial, on their alleged roles in such abuse.

Here is the column: Continue reading “Maxwell May Get A Second Trial, But What About the Rest of Epstein’s “Significant Others”?” →

Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Media, Politics

What Ever Happened to the Prosecution of Donald Trump for Incitement?

This is the one year anniversary of the disgraceful rioting in the Capitol building. The scenes of that day are seared in the memory of many of us. I publicly condemned Trump’s speech while it was being given and I called for a bipartisan vote of censure over his responsibility in the riots. However, I have long maintained that there was no evidence to support a criminal charge against Trump for incitement. Yet, a year ago, various legal experts declared that Trump should be charged based on his speech and his delay in calling for protesters to leave Capitol Hill. District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine announced that he was considering arresting Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks and charging him with incitement.  So, a year later, what ever happened to the prosecution of Donald Trump?

Continue reading “What Ever Happened to the Prosecution of Donald Trump for Incitement?” →