Yesterday, I posted a critical tweet about Washington and Lee University removing a plaque referring to the horse of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Traveller is one of the more famous horses in military history, an iconic animal associated with the Civil War. My tweet led to a few people objecting that Traveller had to go due to his association with the confederacy. Continue reading ““And the Horse You Rode In On”: The Cancel Culture Comes for Robert E. Lee’s Horse”
Below is my column in the New York Post on the riot caused by Kai Cenat in New York. Torts has long struggled with the vicarious liability of promoters and celebrities for accidents. However, the use of criminal charges, in my view, is neither needed nor wise.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Kai Cenat is a Fool, Not a Felon”
When the Framers drafted the First Amendment, they did so in absolutist terms to allow no abridgment of the freedom of expression. The language was unprecedented and unqualified. While the courts have read various exceptions into that language, it was a recognition that censorship and speech criminalization have always been an impulse of those in power. Moreover, it can create an insatiable appetite where limiting speech in one area leads to demands in other areas. Democratic leaders have shown that tendency in recent years with an expanding anti-free speech agenda, but no one more embodies this danger than Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. Continue reading “Pritzker’s Truth Police: How the Illinois Governor Made the Case Against the Trump Indictment”
We previously followed the disgraceful record of Oberlin College, which relentlessly attacked a small family grocery for false claims of racism, even after the initial accounts were proven to be false. The college then prolonged the litigation, virtually forcing the family into insolvency. Oberlin President Carmen Twillie Ambar and the Board needlessly spent millions in litigation costs above the damages rather than admit that the college was wrong in the targeting of this grocery. In an extraordinary show of hubris, the college is now suing four insurance companies, which balked at paying the costs. It appears that, whatever the value of being an Oberlin graduate may be today, the value of being an Oberlin lawyer is virtually limitless. Continue reading “Oberlin Sues Insurance Companies for the Costs of its Abusive Litigation Against Family-Owned Grocery” 
Below is my column in The Hill on how the second indictment of Donald Trump could fail even if Special Counsel Jack Smith could prove that the former president knew that he was lying after the election. Proving his state of mind will be controversial, but, even if successful, it would not necessarily be determinative in the constitutional challenges to come.
Here is the column: Continue reading “The Mind of Donald Trump: Why Proving a Lie Will Not Necessarily Secure a Conviction for Jack Smith”
When Russia invaded Ukraine, we discussed how various Russian artists, athletes, and performers were blacklisted or fired for not publicly condemning the invasion or Vladimir Putin. Artists and athletes turned on their colleagues and forced them to change their political views as a condition for singing, playing or writing. Now, Soprano Anna Netrebko is suing the Metropolitan Opera and its general manager Peter Gelb for defamation, breach of contract and other violations linked to her termination. Continue reading “Russian Soprano Sues the Metropolitan Opera Over Ukraine-Linked Termination”
In the wake of the second indictment of Donald Trump, many law professors have offered good-faith rationales for why the four counts do not violate the First Amendment. Some of these columns respond to my view that the indictment would criminalize disinformation and political speech. While I respect many of these commentators, including my good friend Bill Barr, I wanted to briefly address some of their points. These points have previously been made in my earlier columns but I wanted to offer a comprehensive response to some of these arguments.
Continue reading “The Speech-as-Conduct Theory: A Response on the Second Trump Indictment”
“The Bidens are the best at doing exactly what Chairman wants.” That WhatsApp message to a Chinese business associate was the perfect epitaph for the entire Biden corruption scandal. Part of the brilliance of the Biden influence peddling operation was to invest the media in the denial of any scandal. That is no more evident than the much discussed 2015 dinner of President Joe Biden with his son’s foreign associates. The alleged dinner demolished Joe Biden’s long denials of any knowledge of his son’s dealings. Accordingly, the Biden campaign denied he ever attended and the media happily dismissed the account. Well, the dinner meeting reportedly occurred, he attended, and, as usual, most of the media has not fully informed their readers or viewers. Indeed, even though Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates was central to this denial, most of the media cannot be bothered with such trivialities. Continue reading “Remember that Biden Dinner That Joe Biden Never Attended? Well, he did.”
Below is my column in the Daily Beast on the second federal indictment of former president Donald Trump. I remain deeply concerned over the implications of free speech from this prosecution. Indeed, the general dismissal of these concerns by legal experts shows how our current rage politics can blind us to dangers even to our own fundamental rights.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Yielding to Temptation: Jack Smith’s Indictment Seeks to Bag Donald Trump at any Cost”
This weekend, I went to my first “white coat” ceremony — the traditional start of medical school for future doctors. The fact that this was the 175th anniversary of Georgetown Medical school in its historic Healy Hall was incredibly powerful. However, it was watching my eldest son, Benjamin, “coated” that made this one of the most powerful and proudest moments of my life. Leslie and I watched with our other children as Ben began his medical training as part of the Georgetown class of 2027. Continue reading “A White Coat and Weathered Tie: Reflections on Georgetown’s 2027 Medical School Class”
Below is my column in USA Today on the second indictment of former President Donald Trump. While many are celebrating the charges, the implications for free speech are chilling. While Smith did not charge incitement or insurrection (or seditious conspiracy), commentators (and Smith) portrayed the case as holding Trump accountable for the actual riot in the Capitol. Notably, the same pundits and politicians previously insisted that the rejected crimes were obvious and well-established. Indeed, Trump was impeached on incitement charges. They are now shrugging off the conspicuous omission of those charges while attacking those of us with free speech concerns as apologists.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Making History in the Wrong Way: The Second Trump Indictment is a Threat to Free Speech”
President Joe Biden has been a regular recipient of “Pinocchios” by the Washington Post for his false statements on subjects ranging from election laws to abortion protections to deficit reduction. Biden is undeterred and regularly repeats false stories from his life that have ranged from an invented arrest with Nelson Mandela to a zombie-like train conductor. Undeterred, this week he continued with the false claim about the “Joey, Baby” conductor. Now, the President has a fresh set of “Four Pinocchios,” but the false claim is far more serious than inventing a conductor or rewriting the history of the Second Amendment. The Post is admitting that Biden has been lying about how his son Hunter never made money from China. It is the latest indication that the protective media wall surrounding Biden is beginning to crumble under the weight of new evidence in the corruption scandal. Continue reading ““Four Pinocchios”: The Washington Post Admits Biden Lied About Hunter Not Accepting Money from China”
John Clauser, a Nobel prize-winning physicist, is apparently the latest target of a cancel campaign. According to a group called the Co2 Coalition, Clauser was scheduled to speak to a group at the International Monetary Fund on climate change when critics spotted a serious problem: he does not support the accepted view on the subject. The response was all-too-familiar (even if less expected by Nobel laureates): Clauser had to be barred from sharing his scientific views or being heard by others at the IMF.
Continue reading “Nobel Prize Winner Canceled by the IMF After Questioning Climate Change Data”
Below is my column in The Messenger on the new evidence supplied by Hunter Biden’s close friend and former business associate Devon Archer. The effort of Rep. Dan Goldman to spin the damaging testimony spiraled out of control as it did in his prior effort to question IRS whistleblowers. Goldman is demanding that any further investigations stop immediately after a key witness showed that President Biden has been lying for years in denying that he had any knowledge of his son’s foreign dealings. Archer discussed over 20 calls from Joe Biden and the use of the calls to “sell the brand.” The second Trump impeachment was launched on the basis for a single phone call, but Goldman insists that the millions that were received by the Bidens, the countervailing whistleblower testimony, the proven false statements, and the allegation of bribery are all insufficient to ask any further questions.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “The Biden ‘Brand’: Devon Archer Reveals the ‘Niceties’ of Influence-Peddling”
The Bidens don’t gamble. That was the message from Hunter Biden in new emails released this week. As Hunter explained in an email to Devon Archer (who supplied damaging evidence this week to the House on the Biden influence peddling efforts): “I dont believe in lottery tickets anymore, but I do believe in the super chairman.” Continue reading “The Biden Lottery: New Evidence Shows Why Hunter Switched from Powerball to Influence Peddling”