Best wishes to everyone celebrating Christmas. We are enjoying the holiday with our four children and, of course, Luna. It is not a white Christmas here in Virginia this year, given the lack of snow this season. However, we made do. We all watched A White Christmas next to the tree picked out by our local cadre of Bears fans. Leslie made her signature Old-Fashioned cocktails as we listened to Crosby, Kaye, Clooney, and Vera-Ellen bring in the holiday in the 1954 classic.
We have been discussing the efforts of school officials around the country to block information for parents on their children changing their gender in public schools, including a recent victory for parents in Michigan. I have long been a critic of such attacks on parental rights in our schools. Now, parents have another major victory in California from District Court Judge Roger Benitez, who offered a resounding ruling in support of the inherent rights of all parents. However, public school boards, administrators, and teachers’ unions are continuing the fight to bar parents from knowing about gender changes in their children. Nevertheless, it is a great way to end this year for everyone who values family and parental rights.
Continue reading “Parents Win Major Victory in California Public Schools in Gender Change Case”
Below is my column in The Hill on how Democrats in some blue states are moving from censoring speech to compelling speech in renewed attacks on free speech. They are facing resistance in the courts despite determined efforts to force others to mouth approved viewpoints.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Democratic Despotism: The American Left Moves from Censored to Compelled Speech”
Yale has finally achieved liberal nirvana. According to a recent report from the Buckley Institute, there is now not a single Republican found across 27 of 43 departments at Yale University. In a nation roughly evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats (with a slight advantage to the GOP), only 3 percent are Republicans across all Yale departments.
Continue reading “Study: Yale No Longer Has a Single Republican Professor Across 27 Departments”
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” That question posed by Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet seems to now occupy much of Washington. Last night at a Christmas party with many media from Washington, the question was put to me more succinctly and repeatedly as “can they do that?” The “that” was the renaming of the Kennedy Center as the Trump-Kennedy Center. Soon courts may have to face this quintessentially Shakespearean question “for never was a story of more woe.” Continue reading ““What’s in a Name?” Courts Could Face a Truly Shakespearean Question Over the “Trump-Kennedy Center””
A jury in Milwaukee this week proved that it takes more than a robe to act like a judge. On Thursday, Judge Hannah Dugan was found guilty of the most serious count brought against her in a case that captivated many in the nation. Dugan famously told a fellow judge to wear her robe in the hallway to confront federal officers seeking to arrest a suspect.
Continue reading “Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan Found Guilty of Obstruction”
A district court in Delaware this week handed down McGillvary v. Grande, a case with some interesting tort elements — and a heck of an underlying story. Judge Jennifer Hall ruled against Caleb McGillvary (aka “Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker”) in his defamation claim against Todd Grande. McGillvary brought the action despite currently serving a 57-year sentence in a New Jersey state prison for first-degree murder. Continue reading ““Smash, Smash, SUH-MASH!”: Court Axes Case of Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker”
Years ago, I called the pandemic arguably the greatest case of negligence in the history of torts. However, with millions dead and hundreds of billions expended, it was unlikely that China would ever be truly held accountable for its actions. Those failures include not only the alleged release of the virus from the Wuhan lab but also China’s concealment of the release until it had spread globally. A $24 billion judgment was secured in Missouri earlier this year, but China defied the verdict.
Now, it has countersued, naming former Missouri Attorney General and now Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., among others as defendants. Even by the standards of the Chinese legal system, this action is legally absurd. However, in the CCP-controlled court system, the verdict is little in doubt. Continue reading “China Sues Sen. Schmitt and Others For Defamation Over COVID-19 Lawsuit”
The trial of Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan began this week. Yesterday, the defense was delivered a blow from the testimony of the judge, who Dugan enlisted to confront ICE officers seeking to arrest an illegal alien in the courthouse. Judge Kristela Cervera testified that she was pulled into the dispute by Dugan, who she said admitted that she was trying to help Eduardo Flores-Ruiz as he evaded officers. Continue reading “Fellow Judge Delivers Blow to the Defense of Hannah Dugan”
The Trump Administration has released disturbing emails from the FBI and Justice Department leading up to the unprecedented raid on Mar-a-Lago. Internal communications confirm that some were expressing doubts about both the basis for probable cause and the need for a raid within the departments. The newly disclosed material also shows how some in the Biden Administration appeared hellbent on carrying out the search even as agents objected that it might not be necessary. Continue reading ““Damn … the Optics”: Newly Released Documents Show Officials Brushed Aside Concerns Over Mar-A-Lago Raid”
During the ridiculous controversy over flags flying at the house of Justice Samuel Alito, the media and the left went into vapors over the inclusion of the “Free Pine” flag” or “Appeal to Heaven” flag — a flag with origins in the American Revolution. As I wrote at the time, this flag is neither racist nor extremist. Now, the controversy is back after a USA Today article by congressional reporter Zach Schermele, who wrote about how the “controversial Christian nationalist flag is hanging outside the D.C. office of a top Education Department official.” Continue reading “No, the “Appeal to Heaven” Flag is Not a “Christian Nationalist Flag””
In an age of rage, the loudest lunatic reigns supreme. The sudden rise of Jennifer Welch vividly proves that regrettable fact. Welch is the face of rage, spewing hate-filled attacks to feed a rage addiction on the left. She is also an example of how many on the left call for censorship to combat disinformation, but constitute some of the greatest sources of such false and misleading stories. This week offers another such example. After attacking Charlie Kirk’s widow as a “grifter,” Welch declared that Kirk “justified” his own killing. The basis for that disgraceful claim is a false viral claim that Kirk shrugged off the killing of school kids from gun violence. Despite being repeatedly debunked, liberals like Welch continue to spread the claim. Continue reading “Jennifer Welch Declares that Kirk “Justified” His Own Assassination”
Below is my column in The Hill on the fallout from the release of the Epstein files from grand-jury and congressional investigations. As various figures are hounded over embarrassing emails, we need to ask about the implications of such a wholesale release. One can be in favor of transparency without dismissing the impact on third parties who are not accused of any criminal conduct.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Epstein’s Last Casualty Could Be Grand Jury Secrecy”
Below is my column in The Wall Street Journal on the move to sharply curtail the use of jury trials in Great Britain. The ill-conceived move is the work of Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor David Lammy, who previously denounced the idea as an abandonment of British values and the loss of a critical protection for citizens. It is a tragic variation on Winston Churchill’s legendary observation about the fleeting virtue of the insufferably sanctimonious. Like the socialite who was indignant when Churchill puckishly offered a small amount of money to sleep with him, it turns out that Lammy was “just haggling over price.” When faced with significant savings, Lammy is willing to toss aside the right that once defined them as a people.
Continue reading “Britain Moves to Curtail Jury Trials and Free Speech”