First Amendment

Litigation continues in federal actions alleging fraud with LDS tithings

Updated: The complaint states that between 1993 and 2017, Huntsman donated 10% of his annual income to the church, which amounted to millions, and was misled to think the money would not be used to finance commercial projects.

May 23, 2024 1:42 PM CDT

Former BigLaw employee alleges she was wrongly fired for vaccine refusal

A former practice group assistant at Jenner & Block has filed a lawsuit contending that the law firm violated federal law when it fired her for refusing to get a vaccine for COVID-19.

May 20, 2024 10:36 AM CDT

Driver won’t obey judge’s order to apologize for his command to police officer

An Alabama man ticketed for speeding acknowledges telling the police officer standing in front of his car to “get your ass out of the way.” But he is refusing to obey a judge’s order to write an apology letter.

May 16, 2024 12:29 PM CDT

When Trump criticizes judges online, calls for violence follow, analysis shows

Since March 1, at least 152 posts on three websites supportive of former President Donald Trump have called for violence against judges handling his high-profile cases, according to an analysis by Reuters.

May 15, 2024 1:41 PM CDT

Catholic school can fire gay drama teacher for marrying, 4th Circuit rules

One of the most liberal appellate courts in the country has ruled that a Catholic high school could fire a teacher for marrying another man, a victory for conservative and religious advocacy groups that have pushed back against anti-discrimination law.

May 8, 2024 3:10 PM CDT

University is ‘incubator of bigotry,’ say 13 federal judges boycotting its grads

Thirteen federal judges, all of them appointees of former President Donald Trump, have announced that they won’t hire clerks who graduate from Columbia University or Columbia Law School.

May 7, 2024 10:57 AM CDT

Pro-Palestinian groups are Hamas propagandists, BigLaw firm’s suit alleges; is First Amendment an issue?

Updated: A May 1 lawsuit alleges that two pro-Palestinian groups are Hamas propagandists that are involved in campus protests in an effort to justify violence against Israel and Zionists.

May 6, 2024 2:06 PM CDT

TikTok and the U.S. government dig in for legal war

A defiant TikTok is preparing to fight for its life in court after President Biden signed a law calling for its forced sale or ban in the United States, a legal battle that could reshape American speech freedoms in the internet age.

Apr 25, 2024 1:00 PM CDT

1st Circuit allows suit by fired worker who refused to remove Black Lives Matter face mask

A federal appeals court on Wednesday revived a lawsuit alleging that Whole Foods Market retaliated against a worker who protested the company's ban on Black Lives Matter face masks for employees.

Apr 25, 2024 12:39 PM CDT

How to rid house of leavened products during Passover? Mormon law prof has contracts for that

A professor at the William & Mary Law School was acting as a “friendly gentile” when he helped draft contracts to purchase unused leavened foodstuffs and lease its storage locations from members of another law professor’s synagogue in suburban Philadelphia.

Apr 24, 2024 12:08 PM CDT

Supreme Court won’t hear lawyer’s challenge to anti-bias ethics rule

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied certiorari in a challenge to a Pennsylvania ethics rule that bars lawyers from knowingly engaging in conduct that constitutes discrimination and harassment in the practice of law.

Apr 24, 2024 10:16 AM CDT

Ex-BigLaw partner can’t get cyberstalking injunction against blogger, judge says

A former Greenberg Traurig partner can’t get a cyberstalking injunction against a blogger who posted videos of the lawyer yelling and telling his wife that he hates her, a Florida state judge has ruled.

Apr 18, 2024 2:57 PM CDT

Law dean Chemerinsky condemns ‘blatant antisemitism’ of caricature, confronts ‘rude’ protester with law prof wife

Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the University of California at Berkeley School of Law, is viewing a disrupted law student dinner in his backyard Tuesday through a First Amendment lens.

Apr 11, 2024 10:29 AM CDT

Wisconsin bar redefines ‘diversity’ to settle challenge to clerkship program; both sides claim success

The State Bar of Wisconsin has agreed to redefine “diversity” as it applies to its Diversity Clerkship Program to settle a challenge filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.

Apr 9, 2024 2:49 PM CDT

New York prison will let inmates go outdoors to view eclipse after lawsuit

Six New York prison inmates who sued the state’s corrections department over a planned lockdown that would have forced them indoors during Monday’s solar eclipse will be allowed to view the celestial phenomenon outside under a settlement agreement, their attorneys announced Thursday.

Apr 8, 2024 9:00 AM CDT