October 18, 2023

Supreme Court

ABC News: Supreme Court leaves in place court victory for PETA over North Carolina ag-gag law

By The Associated Press

.....The Supreme Court on Monday rejected North Carolina's appeal in a dispute with animal rights groups over a law aimed at preventing undercover employees at farms and other workplaces from taking documents or recording video.

The Courts

Courthouse News: Host of ‘Mueller, She Wrote’ podcast sues VA, Donald Trump for retaliation

By Sam Ribakoff and Sergio Frez

.....The host of the popular podcast "Mueller, She Wrote" is suing her former employer, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the subject of her podcast, former President Donald Trump, claiming the VA retaliated after learning she was the anonymous voice behind critiques of Trump and the investigation into his links to Russian officials. 

Allison Gill filed the lawsuit Monday in San Diego federal court, naming Trump as an individual, as well as former Secretary of the Veterans Administration Robert L. Wilkie.

Free Expression

The Atlantic: Let the Activists Have Their Loathsome Rallies

By Thomas Chatterton Williams

.....Like many Americans, I am appalled by the student and political organizations that have excused or, in some cases, rallied in celebration of the October 7 Hamas attack on Jewish civilians, the deadliest single-day assault on Jews in Israel’s history. But I am also grateful to call home a country where such rallies are permissible and where, despite the illiberal criticism of open debate that became fashionable in the summer of 2020, freedom of expression still prevails.

Reuters: NYU law school investigating student who said Israel 'bears full responsibility' for Hamas attacks

By Karen Sloan

.....New York University School of Law is investigating whether a former Student Bar Association president who blamed Israel for the Hamas attacks in an online newsletter violated the school's policies against discrimination and harassment, the school said on Tuesday.

Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): The Canceling of the American Mind, by FIRE's Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott

By Eugene Volokh

.....I just read and much enjoyed this new book, and highly recommend it: It's readable, factually detailed, and thoughtful in its analysis and recommendations. For a taste of the argument, see this Substack post. And here are a few of the jacket blurbs from others:

Candidates and Campaigns

Axios: Just one-third of state political donors are women

By Emma Hurt

.....Women donors made up just 29% to 33% of the contributions to general election candidates at statewide and state legislative levels between 2019 and 2022.

That's according to a new report on the "donor gap" from Rutgers' Center for American Women and Politics using data from OpenSecrets.

The States

Spectrum News: Mainers to decide foreign government spending ban on Nov. 7

By Susan Cover

.....Question 2 on the November ballot asks voters if they want to prohibit foreign governments from spending on Maine ballot initiatives.

Supporters say it’s a way to ensure Mainers maintain control over what happens in their state…

But opponents say it could prevent some Maine companies with foreign government investors from having their say and would put an added burden on the media to determine who should be allowed to advertise in Maine — and who shouldn’t.

MLive: Michigan looks to regulate artificial intelligence use in political ads

By Ben Orner

.....House Bills 5141 through 5145, a bipartisan package heard for the first time Tuesday and later advanced to the full House, would regulate and punish the deceptive use of AI-generated material in political campaign advertisements.

ABC 27: Group seeking to ban dark money in Pennsylvania elections

By George Stockburger

.....New efforts are underway to block dark money, untraceable campaign contributions in battlegrounds like Pennsylvania that could influence elections.

The group American Promise says they want to amend the U.S. Constitution to allow individual states to make their own rules when it comes to campaign contributions.

The Supreme Court has already ruled that campaign contributions are considered free speech.