The censors who abound in Congress will likely vote to ban TikTok or force a change in ownership. It will likely soon be law. I think the Supreme Court will ultimately rule it unconstitutional, because it would violate the First Amendment rights of over 100 million Americans who use TikTok to express themselves. In addition, I believe the Court will rule that the forced sale violates the Fifth Amendment. Under the Constitution, the government cannot take your property without accusing and convicting you of a crime—in short, without due process. Since Americans are part of TikTok's ownership ..read more

Please enjoy the latest edition of Short Circuit, a weekly feature written by a bunch of people at the Institute for Justice. Pish-tosh and tomfoolery! This week, Tex. Attorney General Ken Paxton lost 9-0 at the U.S. Supreme Court. Curiously, he declared victory. But we double checked and can indeed confirm that he urged the Court to affirm the dismissal of IJ client Richie Devillier's Fifth Amendment takings claim and the Court instead revived it. Because Ken Paxton lost. And Texans won. Click here to learn more. Russian businessman gives $100k to American political opera ..read more

On Friday, the Biden administration unveiled final Title IX regulations, nearly two years after the administration proposed dramatic changes to how colleges handle sexual assault allegations. The new rules largely mirror proposed regulations released last year and will effectively reversing Trump-era due process reforms.  According to the final regulations, accused students will lose their right to a guaranteed live hearing with the opportunity to have a representative cross-examine their accuser. This is accompanied by a return to the "single-investigator model," which allows a single a ..read more

From today's opinion by Judge Michael Watson (S.D. Ohio) in Kaltenbach v. Hilliard City Schools (a notice of appeal has been filed): … Plaintiffs allege that, if the District believes a parent holds anti-LGBTQ+ views, the District will not inform that parent if the parent's child shows any sign of an LGBTQ+ identity. The [District's] Policies allegedly work as follows: The District's "default" is that it will tell parents anything important about their children, including things related to LGBTQ+ issues. However, there is a "health and safety" exception to this default. Separately, the Distri ..read more

As we keep more and more personal data on our phones, iPhone and Android devices now have some of the most advanced encryption technology in existence to keep that information safe from prying eyes. The easiest way around that, of course, is for someone to gain access to your phone. This week, a federal court decided that police officers can make you unlock your phone, even by physically forcing you to press your thumb against it. In November 2021, Jeremy Payne was pulled over by two California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers over his car's window tinting. When asked, Payne admitted that he was ..read more

Several inmates in an Oklahoma prison say they were locked in filthy shower stalls, some as small as 2 square feet, for days on end. In a lawsuit filed last week, the inmates claim that this treatment caused "severe physical and emotional suffering," and was an obvious violation of their Eighth Amendment rights. According to the suit, staff at the Great Plains Correctional Center locked several inmates in small shower stalls for extended periods, without access to basic amenities like adequate food and water. Most were placed in 3 square foot shower cells, though at least one was confined in ..read more

Rep. Jim Banks (R–Ind.) announced yesterday that he will introduce a bill to defund National Public Radio (NPR). Marsha Blackburn (R–Tenn.) has said she hopes to do the same in the Senate. We live in strange times, anything can happen in politics, and there may be no faster route to looking like a fool than to issue a prediction. With that throat-clearing out of the way: No, of course Congress isn't about to defund NPR. This latest wave of Defund NPR! sentiment follows an article by Uri Berliner in The Free Press, in which the NPR editor and reporter—make that former NPR editor and reporter ..read more

Since late 2020, Border Patrol along the United States–Mexico border has encountered over 6.9 million illegal crossers. A recent Pew Research survey reveals that 57 percent of respondents consider "dealing with immigration" a top policy priority this election year—just below "defending against terrorism" at 63 percent.  Amid this backdrop, politicians and pundits have been quick to conflate these issues, holding numerous congressional hearings on the purported threat of terrorists entering the U.S. to commit acts of terror. This has given rise to a flood of rhetoric about said terrorists ..read more

Israel attacks Iran: Overnight, Israeli forces attacked near Isfahan, Iran, in retribution for Iran's barrage of drones and missiles that hit Israel roughly a week ago. This round of fighting was started by an April 1 Israeli strike in Syria that struck an Iranian consulate complex and killed three senior commanders and four officers reportedly responsible for dictating Iran's military strategy. But Iran and Israel have been engaged in a shadow war for a long time; recent strikes just bring tensions out into the open. Iranian air defense systems reportedly intercepted most of the drones ..read more

On April 13, 2024, I was honored to accept the Jurist of the Year award from the Texas Review of Law & politics. Perhaps more importantly, I was quite pleased to see the Josh Blackman Bobblehead. I stand in some great company. Here is the audio, where you'll hear comments from two very special guests.   And here are my prepared remarks: Introduction Thank you so much for the introduction, Judge Ho. It is the honor of a lifetime to be up here. But in candor, I'm not sure why I'm here. When Adam Ross told me that I was selected as the 2024 TROLP jurist of the year, my immediate reactio ..read more