The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Americans can sue government officials who block them on social media, an issue that also arose during former President Donald Trump’s time in office. The Supreme Court’s ruling in the matter, which is likely to be heard in the court’s new term that begins in October, is likely to have an impact on all levels of government as citizens increasingly turn to social media to interact with public officials. Several individuals had previously sued Trump after he blocked them from accessing his Twitter account, but the Supreme Court ordered (pdf) that case … Continue reading Supreme Court to decide if public officials can block critics on social media

A Colorado man’s lawyer told the U.S. Supreme Court on April 19 that the man was unfairly convicted of making threats against an entertainer because his intent in trying to communicate with her was never taken into account. The case raises an important First Amendment issue in an age when so much communication takes place online using text, a medium lacking nonverbal cues present in in-person communication and that sometimes makes it difficult to ascertain the intent of the speaker. Billy Ray Counterman was convicted of stalking under Colorado law after he repeatedly contacted singer-songwriter Coles Whalen over two years … Continue reading Convicted cyberstalker cites 1st Amendment in his defense at Supreme Court

The Supreme Court seemed receptive April 18 to the arguments of an evangelical Christian mail carrier who quit the U.S. Postal Service after it refused to accommodate his wish not to work on the Sunday Sabbath. Over the opposition of the Biden administration, the court agreed in January to take up the civil rights lawsuit of Gerald Groff, who began working as a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service in 2012. The hearing of the case, which is of intense interest to faith communities and to a slew of lawmakers who filed friend-of-the-court briefs with the Supreme Court, comes … Continue reading Supreme Court sympathetic to Christian mail carrier who quit over Sunday deliveries

The Supreme Court has agreed to look at class-action lawsuits filed by two women whose automobiles were seized by local governments even though they committed no crimes. The women said they were deprived of due process by two municipalities in Alabama that failed to properly justify their actions. The women filed suit in federal court. The Supreme Court issued an unsigned order on April 17 in the case. No justices dissented from the decision to hear the case. For a petition to move to oral argument, at least four of the nine justices have to vote in the affirmative. The … Continue reading Supreme Court agrees to hear case about alleged car-seizure abuse

Energy companies are urging the Supreme Court to keep a Biden administration-backed environmentalist lawsuit accusing the industry of accelerating climate change in federal court where they may have an advantage. The lawsuit is part of an effort to force action on the climate change issue through the courts, as opposed to having elected lawmakers make policy. Colorado municipalities argue that they have been harmed by a warming climate and that the companies’ products contribute to injuries they have suffered, including hotter springs and summers, a longer wildfire season, and altered precipitation patterns. The case currently before the Supreme Court doesn’t … Continue reading Oil companies urge Supreme Court not to allow climate change lawsuit to proceed in state courts

In his podcast, Mark Tapson provides an excellent roundup of the threat that the transgender movement poses to civilization. The trans movement is far more sick and antisocial than you ever thought, and Tapson explains why in Episode 33 (March 30) of “The Right Take”:   Continue reading Trans violence on the rise

The Supreme Court refused—over the dissent of three liberal justices—on April 3 to take up an appeal by a death row prisoner in Louisiana who was seeking a new sentencing hearing. The inmate, David Brown, argued the prosecution improperly withheld a confession from a co-defendant that could have affected the sentence Brown was given. The case goes back to a 1999 attempt at escape from the Angola state prison. Brown and four co-defendants, called the Angola 5 in the media, were convicted of first-degree murder in the killing of prison guard David Knapps. Brown said he was entitled to have … Continue reading Supreme Court declines to hear death sentence appeal where prosecution allegedly withheld evidence