Universal Life Church Scores Small But Significant Legal Victory in Tennessee

Not only are the three DAs’ concessions substantive and meaningful in their respective counties, the stipulations they put into the record, although legalistically drafted, are all but concessions that they were on the losing side of the merits of the case. (Keep reading)

What Dobbs Did and Didn’t Do, and What Abortion-Rights Advocates Can Do About It

Abortion-rights advocates who are displeased with Dobbs have a couple of paths forward. (Keep reading)

My Dad and I Are Eating Our Way Through a List of Cheeses Mentioned in Monty Python’s Famous Sketch, “The Cheese Shop”

Apropos of nothing in particular, my father and I recently made a pact of sorts to attempt to try every single one of the cheese varieties mentioned in the script of “The Cheese Shop,” one of British comedy troupe Monty Python’s more famous sketches from its Flying Circus television show that aired on the BBC in the late 1960s and early 1970s. (Keep reading)

Chicken & Andouille Sausage Gumbo Recipe

Many people seem to be as provincial about their gumbo as they are about their favorite sports team.  I have enjoyed almost every bowl and variant of gumbo that I have ever tried–at least I cannot remember disliking one–and this is by no means the only way to make it.  It is just the recipe that I use because it reminds me of a restaurant where I used to work. (Keep reading)

Open Letter to Rep. Mark Green (TN-7th): Cosponsor and Vote to Pass the Ending Qualified Immunity Act

In the following open letter to my new congressman, Rep. Mark Green, I explain why I think it is important for him to cosponsor and vote for passage of Rep. Justin Amash’s Ending Qualified Immunity Act.  Thank you for reading. (Keep reading)

Facebook Is Playing with Fire by Censoring Activists’ COVID-19 Protest Organization Efforts

Facebook’s investors would probably rather the company’s directors not needlessly expose its bottom line to litigation expenses to defend even meritorious First Amendment claims by taking such drastic, heavy-handed measures as outright censorship of political speech and associations. (Keep reading)

Surgical Masks in the COVID-19 Pandemic and “The Power of the Powerless”

It’s completely normal to think of a 42-year-old political essay when discussing surgical masks with one’s spouse, right? Well, everyone is scared right now, particularly with so much uncertainty about the effects that quarantining indefinitely will have on the economy, and adding nastiness and shaming and smug superiority to the fear seems really inappropriate, if not wholly unhelpful. (Keep reading)

Why the Tenth Amendment Won’t Shield States and Municipalities from Liability for Violating the First Amendment

“Does the Tenth Amendment and reservation of police powers to the states under the Constitution create any special hurdle to liability for quashing protests?”  The answer to that question is a resounding “no.” (Keep reading)

Beware COVID-19 Orders and Related Actions That Try to Stop People from Protesting

The Raleigh Police Department shut down a protest this week and arrested people who refused to comply. It should lose a First Amendment challenge to its conduct ten times out of ten under multiple theories of free speech law. (Keep reading)

Church Closures During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Probably) Do Not Violate the First Amendment

As they say, the devil is always in the details, but generally speaking, broad-based “safer-at-home” or “shelter-in-place” orders to prevent the spread of COVID-19, without more, probably do not violate the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause, even if they prevent church members from gathering to worship. (Keep reading)