K. Lloyd Billingsley | Wednesday May 29, 2019 at 10:35 AM PDT
With police and public officials alike, California taxpayers should watch what they do, not what they say.
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Tag: First Amendment
Samuel R. Staley | Friday July 13, 2018 at 4:25 PM PDT
The law has limits to changing hearts and minds.
William J. Watkins, Jr. | Wednesday June 27, 2018 at 4:13 PM PDT
This decision limits the power of organized labor and gives greater freedom to individual workers.
William J. Watkins, Jr. | Monday June 4, 2018 at 6:26 PM PDT
This was the right result in this case, but the Court has done little to provide meaningful guidance as free exercise and free speech clash with public accommodation statutes making sexual orientation a protected classification.
Samuel R. Staley | Sunday January 21, 2018 at 6:59 PM PDT
The Washington Post is now a stalwart of the national press corps, but, as the movie The Post makes clear, its status was not assured. Neither was the future of the Freedom of the Press in the wake of Daniel Ellsberg’s leaking of The Pentagon Papers in 1971 in what may be the most...
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William J. Watkins, Jr. | Wednesday June 28, 2017 at 6:14 PM PDT
The Supreme Court ruled this week that the state of Missouri cannot exclude non-profit, religious organizations from programs for which secular non-profits are eligible. The Washington Post has a news story on the opinion here. According to the Court “But the exclusion of Trinity Lutheran from a public benefit for which it is otherwise...
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William J. Watkins, Jr. | Monday May 15, 2017 at 3:51 PM PDT
On May 3, The Wall Street Journal posted a short op-ed I wrote on the Trinity Lutheran case. (Sorry, but the op-ed is behind a pay wall; however, here is a blog post that gives some background to the case and my first impressions.) Professor Michael Stokes Paulsen, alleging I was “wrong on every...
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William J. Watkins, Jr. | Thursday April 20, 2017 at 3:46 PM PDT
The media has been reporting on the arguments in Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer, the so-called “playground case.” I’ve had a chance to examine the briefs and arguments and wanted to share these thoughts. First, a bit of background. The state of Missouri operates a program whereby it reimburses nonprofits when they install rubber...
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William J. Watkins, Jr. | Saturday December 17, 2016 at 10:25 AM PDT
Last week, Dutch politician Geert Wilders was convicted of inciting discrimination and of insulting a group. The offending remarks came at a political rally when Wilders suggested that his country would be better off without any more Moroccan immigration. The New York Times has this news story here. Many folks who read this website are likely...
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Abigail R. Hall | Thursday December 1, 2016 at 12:26 PM PDT
My grandfather retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Air Force. As such, he was given a full military funeral upon his death. I remember that day better than most. It was bitterly cold and had rained non-stop for several days. I remember thinking that the men shooting during the “21 gun...
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