Several federal circuit courts have recognized a constitutional right to record law enforcement performing their duties in public. The Seventh Circuit, containing Illinois, is one of them.

"Defendants thumb their noses at Congress’s commands and give responses that are dripping with indifference to their statutory obligations." You have to love seeing Judge Lambeth read Lake and other defendants the riot act over VOA. These district judges are getting understandably spicy.

This disconnect doesn't bode well for the future...

Let's not forget the historical fiction Alito had to invent to arrive at the Dobbs decision. We can't let facts get in the way of overruling nearly 50 years of precedent if we want to allow the powerful in society to subjugate others who are less powerful at their whim.

Historical context is essential to understanding how unprecedented the Trump Administration's actions are, and we no longer prioritize teaching these things in K-12 and even college. I now spend a lot of time in in my classes explaining what things have or haven't happened in the past for students.

In this month's Commentary and Coverage newsletter: - I Tried to Pry Records From Brookline Schools - Teachers Have Been Placed on Leave for Posts About Charlie Kirk’s Death - Court Rules Public Has Right to Know Who Has Parking Passes Read more: conta.cc/4mHs3BN

Prosecutors have an obligation to act in good faith. Here, the prosecutor volunteered to drop the charges if the journalists agreed there was probable cause for the arrest — likely an attempt to thwart a § 1983 lawsuit. They wouldn't, and now they're standing trial this week.

For serious, law people... How have some of you not learned your lesson with GenAI?!

Over the past nine months, the Supreme Court has decided 21 emergency applications filed by the Trump Administration. It has sided with the administration more than 90% of the time ... with no written opinions to accompany these orders.

It is our appellate courts who are failing us... led squarely by the U.S. Supreme Court and its overzealous use of the Shadow Docket to undermine rule of law and make law without thorough consideration or explanation.

"Over 300 cases in federal district courts against the Administration so far ... plaintiffs were winning 77% in the district courts. ... Trump was losing equally before Republican-appointed judges (72%) and Democratic-appointed judges (80%)." democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center...

I'm not sure how I feel about AI-powered dynamic pricing for news, but I'm pretty sure I don't like it for the all the reasons (and more) I don't like the other dynamic pricing models. But I can survive without concert tickets or a last-minute flight to Barbados that seems too expensive...

On this International Day for Universal Access to Information, we take note of how states and tech companies either blocked people’s right to find life-saving knowledge or actively distorted the facts.

"Brown showed The Post an email confirming the students’ reservation of an auditorium in the ATLAS building." Nothing says First Amendment "chilling effect" like police trying to identify college students who showed up to watch a 2009 movie about Palestinian families.

People wonder why I say I'd have been fired by now if I'd stayed in Texas... I won't stand for this insanity. Students deserve to be called the name they choose and use the pronouns they want. And Tech profs have a First Amendment right to do that. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...

Food for thought on First Amendment Day... "The First Amendment is often inconvenient. But that is beside the point. Inconvenience does not absolve the government of its obligation to tolerate speech." —Justice Anthony Kennedy

The crisis of synthetic child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is getting worse. In the US, the federal government could create a safe harbor for red teaming models for child sexual abuse material, reports Tech Policy Press fellow @jazzmyth.bsky.social.

More than half (55%) of Americans would describe the current state of freedom of speech in the U.S. as somewhat or very bad, according to the latest YouGov poll.

The BBC, alongside AFP, AP and Reuters, is again calling for international journalists to be given access to Gaza youtu.be/-cVKQB2aj54?...

More of this, please.

Big win for privacy: Multiple U.S. Courts of Appeals ruled that carriers (e.g. Verizon, T-Mobile, etc.) must protect your cell phone location data. This closes a 5+ year saga over whether carriers can sell/share that data without consent. epic.org/multiple-cou...

Tenured professors like me find themselves in a position of extreme privilege. If we aren't willing to speak out publicly, then we shouldn't expect our students to do so. They have the most to lose. Grow a spine, colleague. Stop relying on the rest of the world to do the hard work for you.

This is the first monetary sanction I've seen for undisclosed use of AI in court filings, but I'm curious what others have seen. I'm also collecting examples of disciplinary action to share with students as well.

The courts will soon be overflowing with lawsuits from faculty members whose universities have fired them, demoted them, investigated them and persecuted them for exercising their First Amendment rights. It will keep my First Amendment attorney friends and @thefireorg.bsky.social very busy.

32 Chunk aside, my money's on 128 Grazer. "Her fearsome nature is respected by other bears who often choose to give her space instead of risking a confrontation." We girls gotta stick together.

DallasNews Corporation shareholders approve a merger with Hearst, shutting out an unsolicited bid from an affiliate of Alden Global Capital (Javier E. David/Dallas Morning News) Main Link | Mediagazer Permalink

BREAKING: A University of South Dakota professor filed a federal lawsuit today after the university moved to fire him over a Facebook post about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, following pressure from top state officials. FIRE supports Professor Hook’s efforts to defend his First Amendment rights.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, a Republican, urges public schools to fire teachers who engage in "callous, crude, and controversial" speech about Charlie Kirk, declaring that such speech is unprotected by the First Amendment. Here's the full letter: image.subscription.in.gov/lib/fe2e1174...

kimmel will be back on tv but hold the celebrations; the trump assault on free speech rights continues. those who stood up for kimmel need to stand up & rally for universities, public media, access to govt information, independent journalism, etc - and against trump's propaganda.

If profiles on the dating apps were as amazing as Fat Bear Week profiles, I'd be far more interested in dating... 32 Chunk sounds like a keeper, if you ask me.

I got out so quickly when I saw how fast this was happening in Texas that I didn't have time to let the door hit me... Adios, Lone Star State. That would be too generous of a Yelp rating right now.

they’re putting Kimmel back on the air. I would now like to see the same amount of outrage for the firing of professors for their statements

West Point in the mix of academic freedom: apnews.com/article/west...

Ah, well, nevertheless.

My 5 Minutes of Canadian Fame! When your friend in Qatar gets a text from her daughter in Canada saying that the daughter's boyfriend heard a familiar voice on a CBC video he was watching and it turns out to be you!

Today I get to try to explain this to undergraduate students who have just learned about how rule of law plays a fundamental role in a democratic society... I really wish the John Roberts would stop making my job harder than it already is.

Jimmy Kimmel isn't returning to the airwaves because of "thoughtful conversations" with Disney executives. He's back because consumers sent Disney a clear message: selling out our fundamental rights is not an acceptable cost of doing business.

BREAKING: SCOTUS will hear a case over whether it should overrule Humphrey's Executor — in a shadow docket order that also allows Trump's firing of Rebecca Slaughter as an FTC commissioner to take effect while the appeal is considered, which should not be allowed under Humphrey's Executor.

The best piece of advice I received in life was never to change my last name... One marriage and a divorce later, I'm forever grateful that I listened even though I was *certain* my marriage would last forever.

Well, here's an interesting development...

Spyware like this is possibly the greatest threat to journalism and activism that exists today. It affects all of us and our ability to communicate freely. I spend a significant amount of time now talking to U.S. journalists about threats I used to only worry about when I lived in the Middle East.

Kudos to the amazing journalists @spotlightpa.org and attorneys @rcfp.org for taking the Penn State Board to Trustees to task. Pennsylvanians have a right to know how the state's universities are being run, especially in times of financial strife.

Another federal trial court judge toeing the line on the First Amendment and rule of law. Will the appellate courts hold steady? That perhaps provides the only clear signal to SCOTUS that the lower-court judges have had enough. But it seems clear to me that they've had enough...

3 experts discuss the question "How can we tell if #FOI laws are working in practice?" Join Toby Mendel of @law-democracy.bsky.social, Giovanni Esposito of Université Libre de Bruxelles & @mariazuffova.bsky.social of @eui-eu.bsky.social on Oct 2: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/putting-tr... #RightToKnowDay

I got to speak more about the Kimmel situation, and how Trump and his administration are weaponizing the law and the regulatory agencies, on CBC's About That with Andrew Chang. I come in starting at 9:15 and then throughout.

It's almost like Project 2025 was his job interview for his current role as FCC Chairman...

First, it's asking for sources' names before the WH will offer a comment. Next, it's the Pentagon asking journalists not to be journalists. Both are antithetical to a democratic society. Everyone should be concerned.

Thanks, @ajaywagner.bsky.social! It's gonna take a lot more than that to make me fearful about speaking out. I am loyal to one thing: the U.S. Constitution.

Finally, something that Ted Cruz and I agree on! Well, that and we both have an affinity for Mexican beaches in winter.