December 8, 2023

Congress

U.S. House Committee on Ways & Means: Chairman Smith and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Schweikert Announce Subcommittee Hearing on Growth of the Tax-Exempt Sector and the Impact on the American Political Landscape

.....House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman David Schweikert (AZ-01) announced today that the Subcommittee on Oversight will hold a hearing to examine the tax-exempt sector and its impact on American politics. The hearing will take place on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, at 2:00 PM in 1100 Longworth House Office Building. Members of the public may view the hearing via live webcast available at https://waysandmeans.house.gov. The webcast will not be available until the hearing starts.

The Popehat Report: Stop Demanding Dumb Answers To Hard Questions

By Ken White

.....America faces many problems. The easy ones we solve or ignore. We struggle with the hard ones. Hard problems raise complex questions that lack glib, one-word answers. The stubborn thirst for simple answers to hard questions is bad for America. It’s anti-intellectual, pro-ignorance, pro-stupidity, pro-bigotry, pro-reactionary, pro-totalitarianism, pro-tyranny, pro-mob.

Take this week’s Congressional hearing about antisemitism on college campuses, titled “Holding Campus Leaders Accountable and Confronting Antisemitism.” ...

If you think the question “is calling for the genocide of a group against your policy” is an easy question with a one-word answer, you’re wrong. I understand you want the answer to be easy, but that’s not the same thing as it being easy.

Original Jurisdiction: Against Free-Speech Hypocrisy

By David Lat

.....But I respectfully dissent, at least in part, from the widespread criticism of President Gay and two other university presidents, Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania and Sally Kornbluth of M.I.T., who similarly refused to flatly declare that calls for genocide can be grounds for student discipline.

Free Expression

Reason Podcast: Jeff Kosseff: Why False Speech Deserves First Amendment Protections

By Nick Gillespie

.....Over the past decade, no legal scholar has pushed arguments for free speech as far or as influentially as today's guest: Jeff Kosseff, a former journalist who now teaches cybersecurity law at the U.S. Naval Academy. In previous books, he defended Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet and stood up for anonymous speech in The United States of Anonymous: How the First Amendment Shaped Online Speech.

Donor Privacy

The Public's Radio: ACLU says fire district letters to shoreline access donors could threaten free speech

By Alex Nunes

.....The Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union is asking the Weekapaug Fire District to stop notifying shoreline access advocates that they may be called to testify in an ongoing legal matter because they donated to a GoFundMe campaign meant to support opening up public beach access in that case.

In a Dec. 7 letter to the fire district’s moderator, ACLU Executive Director Steven Brown says his organization is “deeply concerned that these letters have the effect, if not the intent, of chilling the exercise of free speech and freedom of association rights of people interested in shoreline access issues.”

The States

Alliance for Justice: Nonprofit Lobbying Assistance Guides Now Available for All 50 States

.....Alliance for Justice’s Bolder Advocacy program and the Democracy Capacity Project are proud to announce the completion of their Practical Guidance – Nonprofit Lobbying series. The series provides resources for all 50 states and the District of Columbia to assist nonprofits in their efforts to build power through policy advocacy. It provides the information nonprofits need to design and run state and local-level legislative and executive branch advocacy programs in compliance with relevant laws and regulations governing those activities. 

Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): Social Media Political Insults of Public Employee in Election Campaign Aren't Protected by the First Amendment

By Eugene Volokh

.....From Fideldy v. Schumacher (Minn. Ct. App.), decided July 25, in an opinion by Judge Peter Reyes, joined by Louise Dovre Bjorkman; the Minnesota Supreme Court denied review Oct. 25: