who like Obama using executive orders to go around Congress? "The Enablers"...
So holds today’s Obsidian Finance Group v. Cox (9th Cir. Jan. 17, 2014) (in which I represented the defendant). To be precise, the Ninth Circuit concludes that all who speak to the public, whether or not they are members of the institutional press, are equally protected by the First Amendment. To quote the court,The protections of the First Amendment do not turn on whether the defendant was a trained journalist, formally affiliated with traditional news entities, engaged in conflict-of-interest disclosure, went beyond just assembling others’ writings, or tried to get both sides of a story. As the Supreme Court has accurately warned, a First Amendment distinction between the institutional press and other speakers is unworkable: “With the advent of the Internet and the decline of print and broadcast media … the line between the media and others who wish to comment on political and social issues becomes far more blurred.” Citizens United, 558 U.S. at 352. In defamation cases, the public-figure status of a plaintiff and the public importance of the statement at issue — not the identity of the speaker — provide the First Amendment touchstones.I think that’s right, not just as a matter of First Amendment principle but also as a matter of history and precedent.... The specific legal issue that the Ninth Circuit was confronting in this passage, by the way, is whether all who speak to the public are equally protected by the Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. rules, which are that
We reported last week on how Judge Leon in the District of Columbia ruled against the government, preliminarily, on NSA mass data surveillance. I cautioned against the media assumption that the ruling would survive: The judge issued a preliminary injunction, but stayed his decision pending appeal....
Sorry, but I have too many other things on my plate right now to dig into this, even though it's clearly an important decision which may eventually make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. A federal judge in D.C. has found parts of the NSA...
No polygamous marriages yet, but polygamous family relationships no longer illegal in Utah....
A follow up to An increasingly dangerous presidency and More on Obama lawlessness. You can read the full testimonies at the links. The key thing is that there may be no remedy -- other than at the ballot box in 2014 -- to Obama's lawlessness. There...
The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to review the lawsuit filed by Hobby Lobby against the federal government over the Obamacare mandate that employers provide contraceptive coverage in their health plans. Hobby Lobby, which is owned by an Oklahoma City family with strong Christian beliefs, says a 1993 law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, protects the company from the mandate. The company is particularly opposed to paying for coverage that includes the morning after pill.The court also accepted a related case from Pennsylvania involving a Mennonite family with a furniture-making business. In that case, a federal appeals court initially ruled that the owners could not challenge the mandate on religious ground because a company did not enjoy the same rights as individuals.
Rand Paul: Congress "getting too involved on how we execute war."...
I believe Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal and Ted Cruz to be "natural born Citizens" and eligible to be President. Here's why. 1. Summary There are few eligibility requirements to be President. You don't have to be smart, wise, experienced, honest, educated, or a particular gender or race. Article II, Section...
The president's latest radio address is a classic example of Obamaspeak. We've grown used to the drill. First, some empty words about how he's going to help the economy and the middle class. Then sanguine projections about what his program (in this case, Obamacare) will do...
The analysis of the Natural Born Citizen clause in the Constitution as it applies to Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. I promised to do this long ago, and did the research with the assistance of a former student, but couldn't bring myself to actually write it...
Yucca Mountain ruling has important implications for Obamacare implementation and other refusals of the Obama administration to comply with congressional mandates....
How many crime victims must be sacrificed at the alter of fuzzy math?...
Mark Levin's new book, The Liberty Amendments: Restoring The American Republic is out, and it proposes an ambitious set of Amendments to the Constitution: I undertook this project not because I believe the Constitution, as originally structured, is outdated and outmoded, thereby requiring modernization through amendments,...
There's sudden attention being paid to the 3rd Amendment: ‘Forgotten’ Third Amendment Surfaces in Nevada Case A Real Live Third Amendment Case Nevada Family Says Police Occupation of Homes Violated the Third Amendment At Legal Insurrection we supported the 3rd Amendment before it was cool to support the 3rd...
7-2 decision practically invites Arizona to try again using proper administrative procedures...
When I first traveled the Soviet Union, and two guys we didn't know got out of a car and escorted me and some American friends past the long line waiting to get into a night club in Tallinn, seated us at a prime location table which...
