First Amendment

Claiming to have 4.3 trillion readers, the Onion supports parodist and its writers’ paychecks in SCOTUS brief

Updated: The satirical website the Onion deems itself to be “the single most powerful and influential organization in human history” in an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of an Ohio man who was prosecuted for creating a parody Facebook page for the local police department.

Oct 4, 2022 12:03 PM CDT

Chaplain’s prayer before court isn’t coercive, doesn’t violate establishment clause, 5th Circuit rules

A federal appeals court has rejected an establishment clause challenge to chaplain-led prayer before court sessions at a justice of the peace court in Texas.

Oct 3, 2022 9:26 AM CDT

Watch out for these ethical constraints and pitfalls when speaking with the media

Most attorney speech about cases and the judicial system qualifies as political speech, which represents the core values behind the First Amendment. But attorneys are officers of the court, and their speech rights are limited in comparison with those of others.

Oct 1, 2022 1:40 AM CDT

Supreme Court ready to tackle free speech, affirmative action and election law in new term

The U.S. Supreme Court—and those in its orbit—has been going through the usual machinations leading up to a new term in recent weeks: Panels of law professors and practitioners are previewing the big cases of the new term, and a few justices are making public appearances to send one message or another.

Sep 29, 2022 12:36 PM CDT

Chemerinsky: Supreme Court poised to sharply advance the law to the right

Last year’s term was momentous: The court overruled Roe v. Wade, greatly expanded gun rights and aggressively protected free exercise of religion. There is no doubt that the coming term, too, will be filled with blockbuster decisions.

Sep 29, 2022 9:52 AM CDT

Weekly Briefs: Bias suit against Trump lawyer resolved; Montana no longer defies court order over birth certificates

Trump lawyer resolves rap-music bias suit Alina Habba, a lawyer for former President Donald Trump, has resolved a race- and gender-bias lawsuit largely based on the rap music that she was accused of loudly playing in the office. The case filed by legal assistant Na’Syia Drayton claimed that the music…

Sep 23, 2022 1:05 PM CDT

Strip search by transgender guard violated inmate’s religious rights, 7th Circuit says

A federal appeals court ruled Friday for a Muslim inmate in Wisconsin who claimed that his religious rights were violated by strip searches conducted by a transgender prison guard.

Sep 21, 2022 3:42 PM CDT

Texas may enforce law banning social media from blocking users based on viewpoints, 5th Circuit says

A federal appeals court on Friday allowed Texas to enforce a law that generally bans large social media companies from restricting posts based on the viewpoint of the speaker.

Sep 19, 2022 10:39 AM CDT

Supreme Court requires Yeshiva University to recognize LGBTQ student club as state court review continues

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to block a trial judge’s order requiring Yeshiva University to recognize an LGBTQ student club at its undergraduate campus while litigation continues.

Sep 15, 2022 9:50 AM CDT

Oberlin College will pay over $36M to bakery that alleged school aided false claim of racism

Oberlin College will pay $36.59 million to an Ohio bakery claiming that it was defamed when school officials supported students who accused the business of racial profiling.

Sep 13, 2022 3:44 PM CDT

Sotomayor stays order requiring Yeshiva University to allow LGBTQ student club

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Friday stayed an order that required Yeshiva University to recognize an LGBTQ student club at its undergraduate campus.

Sep 12, 2022 9:51 AM CDT

HIV-prevention drug coverage violated religious rights of employer opposed to ‘homosexual behavior,’ judge rules

A federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, has ruled that the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that insurance plans cover HIV-prevention drugs violates the statutory rights of employers with religious objections. The plaintiffs had argued that providing compulsory coverage for PrEP drugs makes them “complicit in facilitating homosexual behavior.”

Sep 8, 2022 3:55 PM CDT

9th Circuit upholds ban on conversion therapy for minors in First Amendment challenge

Washington state’s ban on conversion therapy for minors does not violate the First or 14th Amendments, a federal appeals court ruled on Sept. 6.

Sep 7, 2022 12:55 PM CDT

Chemerinsky: Originalism has taken over the Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court term that ended on June 30 was the most originalist in American history. In case after case, the court professed that the meaning of a constitutional provision is to be determined by the original understanding at the time when it was adopted. Some of the justices—Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett—are self-avowed originalists. All of the conservatives often write their opinions in originalist language and sign on to expressly originalist decisions.

Sep 6, 2022 8:00 AM CDT

Judge tosses suit by Yale psych prof fired over diagnosis of Trump and Dershowitz

A federal judge in Connecticut has tossed a lawsuit filed by a volunteer psychiatry professor at Yale University who lost her job after suggesting publicly that former President Donald Trump and lawyer Alan Dershowitz may have shared psychiatric symptoms "by contagion."

Sep 1, 2022 12:33 PM CDT