News & Media
Federal Anti-SLAPP Legislation Introduced — Hail Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN)
Congressman Steve Cohen, D-TN is our First Amendment Bad Ass of the week. Mr. Cohen introduced The Citizen Participation Act, a federal anti-slapp bill. The bill describes its purpose as follows: To protect first amendment rights of petition and free speech by preventing States and the United States from allowing meritless lawsuits arising from acts in furtherance of those rights,
Genetics, IQ and the judicial double standard
By J. DeVoy Emergent research is raising a serious question about the heritability of IQ, suggesting that most of it is, in fact, genetic. High IQ is associated with the prevalence of certain SNPs – groupings of nucleotides in an individual’s genetic code – which cannot be caused by normal life functions like exercise, eating a healthy diet, or even
Watch Randazza LIVE in Oral Arguments
In ISC v. Marshall before the Florida Supreme Court, starting at approximately 11:20am (EST) here. (Court may be running 15-20 minutes behind schedule)
ISC v. Marshall Liveblog
By Christopher Harbin Starting at 11am EST, we will be live blogging the oral augments in ISC v. Marshall. WordPress doesn’t support iframes (the bastards), so you’ll have to watch it in a popup. Click Here
Randazza Oral Argument Drinking Game
by Jay DeVoy Tomorrow, our fearless leader Marc Randazza has something to say to the Florida Supreme Court about a little topic known as free speech. It’s an important case addressing the very real threat of jurisdictional chill on all internet users. If you post on the internet, this case is about you. The decision in this case has direct
Awesome Toy or Awesomest Toy?
by Christopher Harbin When I was a kid, the most dangerous toy I had was lawn darts. I lament that I never got a portable atomic energy lab. 🙁
Germany's highest court overturns privacy-invading anti-terror law
By J. DeVoy Today, Germany’s highest court overturned a law mandating the retention of data from e-mails and phone calls, finding it a “grave intrusion” on personal liberties. This is an interesting demarcation of what is considered private information in that nation, as its courts previously held that individuals’ IP addresses are not personal information and can be stored without
SOB Stories
Provides an introduction and explanation for laws requiring fixed distances between dancers and patrons, touching upon the decline of the secondary effects doctrine. While the First Amendment prohibits the outlaw of exotic dancing and the enactment of zoning laws specifically to ban it, the secondary effects doctrine allows such laws to stand as long as they serve another interest, such
SUNY-Buffalo Law administrator threatens students with character & fitness complaints
By J. DeVoy In a recent e-mail sent to graduating 3Ls at SUNY-Buffalo Law School, the school’s administration alluded to filing character and fitness complaints against students who are savvy with their graduation tickets. (Emphasis and editor’s notes added.) From: “Saran, Melinda” saran@buffalo.edu To: [UB3L]@buffalo.edu Sent: Thu 02/25/10 9:56 AM Subject: Fwd: Commencement cap & gown order deadline is March 2nd!
Cybersecurity bill gives executive branch new powers over the internet
By J. DeVoy From The Hill: The president would have the power to safeguard essential federal and private Web resources under draft Senate cybersecurity legislation. According to an aide familiar with the proposal, the bill includes a mandate for federal agencies to prepare emergency response plans in the event of a massive, nationwide cyberattack. The president would then have the
Conclusion to Wisconsin facebook blackmail case
By J. DeVoy Today, a Wisconsin man who posed as a girl on social networking sites to obtain nude photos of more than 30 of his high school classmates, which he then used for blackmail, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Anthony Stancl, 19, used these pictures to coerce his classmates to perform sexual acts with him. Stancl photographed
Finally! Is explicit content coming to the iPhone?
By J. DeVoy From the Telegraph: Several developers have reported seeing a new category appearing in the drop-down menus of iTunes Connect, the platform they use to distribute apps through the App Store. Alongside standard categories, such as “entertainment”, “games” and “productivity”, is a new tag: “explicit”. Apple has not commented on the rumours, or confirmed whether or not it will
NY Times releases Paterson exposé
By. J. DeVoy A little over a week ago I mentioned that New York Governor David Paterson was shaking in his boots regarding a then-unpublished piece that may end his political career. As Ferdinand Bardamu speculated, the fact that Paterson handled it so poorly virtually assured that a forgivable infraction would become fatal. Yesterday, the New York Times opened the
Is Higher Education Overrated?
This Time Magazine article makes a compelling case that it might be.
Time for a Revolt against the TSA
First the government says that we need more people who speak Arabic. Then, the TSA handcuffs and detains a student for carrying Arabic flashcards into an airport.Kids’ pillows are a threat to national security, as is Play Doh.TSA agents force a disabled four year old boy’s parents to remove his leg braces before he can pass through security. Then, to
Who dates porn actresses, anyway?
By J. DeVoy Everyone has seen perfectly formed, almost impossibly figured adult actresses on the screen – or more likely in flash video frames on computer screens – but few know about their lives off the set. Porn stars do have public lives at events like the AVN and Xbiz awards, and Adult Entertainment Expo, but these seem more like
How to get yourself off: A class at Michigan Law?
It gets awfully cold in Ann Arbor, Michigan this time of year. Our sources report that a man, most likely a homeless vagrant, has been bopping his baloney in the Michigan Law Library. Well, christ, with the temperature hovering around -3 fahrenheit, a poor guy’s wiener might just go all brittle and shatter if he did it the old fashioned
Banning the use of "retarded" is, well, you know…
By J. DeVoy A recent Washington Post piece by Christopher Fairman takes up the looming controversy over the word “retard” and all its forms. For good or for ill, “retard” and all its derivatives have come into such common use that public awareness is needed to stomp out its casual, easily uttered nature. The question is whether this self-censorship proposed
Vote for Photography Is Not a Crime
Photography is Not a Crime is one of the most compelling publications in the blogosphere. Its editor, Carlos Miller, was arrested for exercising his First Amendment right to photograph police officers in a public place. He turned that experience into a one-man crusade to push back against overreaching law enforcement. He is not a lawyer, but he successfully defended himself
Sometimes violence is the answer – Epic Beard Man FTW!
How to become a world famous douchebag/punk. Step One: Pick a fight with an old man Step Two: After the old man walks away, continue to pick a fight with him Step Three: Get smacked down like the punk ass you are Step Four: Get eaten by the Internet Hate Machine [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLBJnQ4l9t4] If you watch carefully, you can see that
