The Farmington Public School District in Michigan is under fire this week for a direct call for students to join a Black Lives Matter political protest and declaring that calling America “the land of opportunity” is a microaggression. Continue reading “Michigan School District Under Fire For “Equity Challenge” That Includes Joining BLM Protests”
Cook County special prosecutor Dan Webb has issued his report on the Jussie Smollett scandal with scathing findings of misconduct by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. The findings include a determination that Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx lied to the public about her communications and role in the scandal. Despite the highly improper handling of the case (including the dropping of the original charges against Smollett), Chicago voters still reelected Foxx who has an appalling record in office. For a native Chicagoan, it is an all-too-familiar pattern of corrupt or incompetent elected officials continuing in office. The question, however, is whether Foxx will face any bar action for allegedly lying to the public about the handling of the case.
We recently discussed the struggle at all-women schools like Hollins University in stopping the use of gender as a defining characteristic. Mount Holyoke previously ordered faculty to stop referring to students as “women.” It is a difficult transition for schools that remain gender exclusive in avoiding gender references. Now, Boston’s all-girls Winsor School, has adopted a diversity/equity/inclusion (DEI) plan to drop references to gender such as “she, her, hers’’ and “your daughter.” Continue reading “Boston All-Girls School Bans References to Girls”
Madeleine Turley*
Guest columnist
For most teenagers, jacking up your car is usually a matter of adding a huge stereo system or an over-sized pair of fuzzy dice. For Dillon Prestidge, it involved an eleven-foot Christmas tree and enough lights to recreate the aurora borealis. The curious sight of Prestidge’s tree-laden truck has thrilled and confused many in McLean, Virginia. However, it was first and foremost intended for an audience of one: his 80-year-old grandmother who he wanted to cheer up in this pandemic-driven holiday. Continue reading “A Boy, A Grandma, and a Really Big Tree: A Christmas Story”
In the Age of Rage, no institution or process appears inviolate. When the majority of the Supreme Court shifted right, liberal academics and members demanded court packing — a practice long denounced as anathema to the rule of law. When the Supreme Court commission voiced concerns over court packing, it was denounced by liberal groups and two of the few conservative members resigned during the outcry. Academics have been called to “redo” the First Amendment after it became an impediment to social justice efforts. It is not surprising, therefore, that some of the same activists are now calling for the sacking of Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough. Her offense? She rendered a non-partisan judgment that Democrats could not push through the sweeping immigration reform package as part of the budget reconciliation process. Like the Supreme Court, the Parliamentarian was now an impediment to politics so she or her authority (or both) will have to go. Democratic members and staff are repeating the same menacing mantra that is now familiar in Washington of politics “by any means necessary.“
Continue reading “From Packing to Sacking, Democrats Pledge Politics “By Any Means Necessary””
We have been discussing the growing attack on free speech in this country, including a widespread movement in academia to curtail free speech rights. Indeed, this movement largely began on college campuses and spread to social media, politics, and journalism. It is now an article of faith for the left to demand censorship or the regulation of speech in the name of social justice. University of Miami’s Mary Anne Franks has a simple solution, and The Boston Globe wants people to consider it: just gut the First and Second Amendments. That’s right, the problem with the Bill of Rights, according to Franks, is that it is too “aggressively individualistic” so the solution is to “redo” the work of the Framers to be more woke compliant. All of those pesky constitutional rulings in favor of free speech rights will then fall away and society can move on with social justice unimpeded by constitutional niceties. Continue reading ““Aggressively Individualistic”: Miami Law Professor Proposes a “Redo” of the First and Second Amendments” 
The University of Southern California is under fire this week after a student tweeted that she wants “to kill every motherf–king zionist” as well as other postings denounced as anti-Semitic. The student, Yasmeen Mashayekh, is listed as a diversity and inclusion (DEI) senator for the University of Southern California Viterbi Graduate Student Association. The school has refused to take action against Mashayekh, but other students have objected that the school would not have been so circumspect if Mashayekh said that she wanted to kill others like BLM supporters.
Continue reading “USC Under Fire Over Student’s Anti-Zionist Threats on Social Media”
Below is my column in The Hill on New York’s latest gun control measure — and the latest challenge to a New York law. What is most striking in reviewing the line of gun cases coming out of New York is that the Empire State has done more for gun rights than any “pro-gun” state. Indeed, if you look at the cases expanding gun rights, New York is the greater enabler of Second Amendment expansion of any state. The reason is that these legislative measures are propelled by political rather than legal judgment. For gun owners, New York is proof of what “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” The gun nuisance law is the latest in a long line of mistakes by New York.
Here is the column: Continue reading “New York’s Circular Firing Squad: Gun Groups Sue Over Latest Legislative Misfire”
Former Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann has reached another settlement with a major news organization over the widespread false reporting of his encounter with a Native American activist in front of the Lincoln Memorial on January 18, 2019. Sandmann previously settled with the Washington Post and CNN. He has now settled his $275 million defamation lawsuit against NBC. Unfortunately, such damages have become the cost of doing business for many in the media in the age of advocacy journalism where the narrative is more important than the news. Having a MAGA-hatted, racist, pro-life high school student abusing an elderly Native American was a fact too good to check — even when it required as little as watching the unedited videotapes. Continue reading ““Our Pride is Showing”: NBC Settles With Nicholas Sandmann”
Below is my column in The Hill on the recent bills proposed in Florida and California on immigration and guns. The bills are the latest examples of “gotcha legislation,” though the Florida bill could raise some interesting legal questions if Gov. Ron DeSantis moves forward with his plan on relocating undocumented persons to Delaware.
Here is the column: Continue reading “The Rise of Gotcha Legislation: Newsom and DeSantis are Legislating Soundbites and Voters are Loving it.”
This week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) finally buried her former persona as a law professor. In a transition that began in 2011, Warren has struggled with the demands of politics that often pit her against core legal principles.
The bane of the existence of defense lawyers are clients who use arrests to make incriminating statements but few get to the level of Perla Aguilar, 27. Aguilar was arrested for DUI in Oklahoma and reportedly told police, repeatedly, that it is all right because she “does this all the time.” She was arrested around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday for drunk driving and child neglect. Continue reading “When Experience Works Against You: DUI Defendant Allegedly Tells Police She “Does This All The Time””
The Livingston County (Mich.) Sheriff’s Office is seeking criminal charges against a Howell woman who posted nasty attacks on Twitter to criticize recent public meeting comments by anti-maskers. Kasey Helton seems an entirely unhinged and uncivil person. However, as will come as no surprise to regulars on this blog, I do not see the basis for such a criminal referral, which creates a chilling effect on free speech. Continue reading “Michigan Woman Criminally Investigated for Social Media Attacks on Anti-Maskers”
There was a surprising claim by Prince Andrew this week by his defense in the lawsuit from Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claims that she was forced to have sex with him at the behest of Jeffrey Epstein. The Duke of York is arguing that Giuffre was too old at the time of the alleged sexual acts to use the New York Child Victims Act (CVA) to “revive” her claims now. He also repeats his main defense that Giuffre signed a release that bars her lawsuit against him.
Continue reading “Aged Out at 17? Prince Andrew Raises Surprising Defense to Giuffre Lawsuit”
U.S. District Judge James Peterson this week upheld Wisconsin’s voter identification rules for college students. Common Cause and other groups challenged the requirement that student IDs display the student’s signature, an issuance date, and an expiration date. Peterson found that such rules were rationally related to the purpose of combatting voter fraud. Continue reading “Wisconsin Voter ID Law for College Students Upheld”