August 19, 2025

In the News

Union Leader: Both sides in lawsuit against Kearsarge board agree to 31-day 'pause' to resolve matter

By Paul Feely

.....Attorneys for both sides in a federal lawsuit filed against the Kearsarge Regional School District by a Nashua resident claiming her First Amendment rights were violated during a school board meeting last summer have agreed to a 31-day pause in the proceedings, in hopes the matter can be resolved.

The lawsuit, filed by attorneys from the Institute for Free Speech, along with local counsel Roy S. McCandless, claims Beth Scaer’s First Amendment rights were violated when she was “silenced and threatened with police intervention” after referring to a transgender athlete on a girls soccer team as a “tall boy” during the Aug. 29, 2024, meeting of the Kearsarge Regional School District.

IRS

New York Times: The I.R.S. Is Trying to Uphold a Core Liberal Principle

By Benjamin Leff

.....To its critics, the proposal threatens to transform houses of worship into political action committees, enabling donors to influence elections by funneling tax-deductible money through them.

But the core of the I.R.S.’s proposal is correct, and you don’t need to be a conservative evangelical to think so. It’s a central liberal principle that government should not restrict political speech. The I.R.S. can and should revise the Johnson Amendment to protect the speech rights of charities without creating a campaign finance loophole.

Granted, striking that balance is tricky. On the one hand, it seems obvious that the First Amendment should prohibit the government from telling rabbis, for example, what they can and can’t say to their congregants during a synagogue service. On the other hand, the government shouldn’t force taxpayers to subsidize political speech they may not agree with — which, in effect, is what allowing tax-deductible contributions to fund political campaigning would do.

The solution, I believe, is to permit charities to endorse candidates, but to limit as much as possible the charities’ use of funds to promote that endorsement. One way to do that is to limit political speech to internal communications — specifically, face-to-face discourse among congregants or members. Charities should be prohibited from engaging in political speech in outside settings. For example, a pastor should be able to endorse a political candidate in a sermon, but not if that sermon is posted on a church website. Nor should the pastor’s church be allowed to publicly campaign for a candidate.

The Courts

Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): First Amendment Claim Over Firing of Firefighter for Supposedly Racially Offensive Anti-Abortion Post Can Go Forward

By Eugene Volokh

.....From today's decision in Melton v. City of Forrest City, written by Judge David Stras, joined by Judges Lavenski Smith and Ralph Erickson:

Florida Politics: Judge’s Florida book ban decision is a ‘total knockout’ in censorship fight, lawyer says

By Gabrielle Russon

.....A legal victory to overturn a Florida book-banning law won’t instantly return books on the shelves, but it will help shift the momentum to fight censorship, according to a publishing company attorney.

“If a district did not put the books back, then they are risking a lawsuit,” said Dan Novack, a vice president and associate general counsel for Penguin Random House. “If you don’t do the right thing, a student or a parent or an author or publisher or an educator can vindicate their rights now.”

A federal judge ruled earlier this week that the state’s 2023 law on banning pornographic books is too broad and violates the First Amendment.

The world’s biggest publishers — as well as several bestselling young adult authors and two parents from Florida — united to file a federal lawsuit last year in the U.S. District Court and argued that part of HB 1069 is unconstitutional. They sued state officials as well as the School Boards in Orange and Volusia counties.

“Many non-obscene books have been removed from public school libraries to the dismay of students that deeply identify with these books,” Judge Carlos Mendoza wrote in a 50-page order.

The City: Eric Adams Tries Yet Again to Score Public Matching Funds

By Greg B. Smith

.....Far behind in the latest polls, Mayor Eric Adams is once again suing the city Campaign Finance Board (CFB), the agency that keeps denying his requests for millions of dollars of public matching funds due to what it sees as his continuing failure to address its concerns about his questionable campaign fundraising tactics.

The new case, filed Friday in Brooklyn federal court, is the mayor’s second lawsuit against the board since May. The first case was dismissed July 11 by Brooklyn Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis, who declared the board was justified in denying the campaign’s fund requests over its continued failure to turn over documents the agency has been demanding since last fall regarding dubious donations tied to millions of dollars in public matching funds.

On Friday the new case was initially randomly assigned to Chief Judge Margo Brodie, but by day’s end Monday it was reassigned back to Judge Garaufis.

CFB officials declined to discuss the latest litigation. The board will next vote on matching fund requests in 10 days.

Exhibits attached to the new lawsuit and other court documents make clear that the CFB is aggressively pursuing its investigation of Adams’ 2021 and 2025 mayoral campaigns.

Tallahassee Democrat: Federal appeals court revives Florida pastor's First Amendment lawsuit

By Stephany Matat

.....A Manatee County pastor spent three years arguing that his First Amendment rights were violated — and it went nowhere.

On Aug. 15, federal appeals court judges unanimously said he has a case.

The pastor’s First Amendment claims from 2022 against a retired school superintendent were unanimously affirmed by a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, who reversed a district court’s dismissal of his case.

Arthur Huggins filed a lawsuit against retired Manatee County schools superintendent Cynthia Saunders, accusing her of violating his free speech. He was removed from a 2019 school board meeting where members were discussing funding for Lincoln Memorial Academy, a Black-owned charter school that hastily went under the school board’s control at the time, removing its administration.

At the time, Huggins had consistently criticized Saunders, who retired in 2023, and the decision to take control of the charter school. That day, he was sitting in the meeting until he had to stand up to relieve back pain from his preexisting back injuries, where security told him to sit down or be removed. He explained the back pain but was removed by an officer nonetheless.

Free Expression

The Hill: Performative virtue-signaling has become a threat to higher ed

By Forest Romm and Kevin Waldman

.....On today’s college campuses, students are not maturing — they’re managing. Beneath a facade of progressive slogans and institutional virtue-signaling lies a quiet psychological crisis, driven by the demands of ideological conformity.

Between 2023 and 2025, we conducted 1,452 confidential interviews with undergraduates at Northwestern University and the University of Michigan. We were not studying politics — we were studying development. Our question was clinical, not political: “What happens to identity formation when belief is replaced by adherence to orthodoxy?”

We asked: Have you ever pretended to hold more progressive views than you truly endorse to succeed socially or academically? An astounding 88 percent said yes.

These students were not cynical, but adaptive. In a campus environment where grades, leadership, and peer belonging often hinge on fluency in performative morality, young adults quickly learn to rehearse what is safe.

Candidates and Campaigns

Axios: Scoop: ActBlue makes it easier for independents to tap donors

By Hans Nichols

.....ActBlue, the online donation platform that makes it easy for Democratic candidates to hoover up small-dollar donations, is making it easier for independents to do the same.

Why it matters: The new rules allow ActBlue to include independent candidates on a "case-by-case" basis.

That change can give independents access to ActBlue earlier in the campaign cycle—and even if a declared Democrat is in the race...

A spokesperson for ActBlue confirmed the changes, which were made earlier in August.

Archive link

The States

Washington Examiner: State foreign agent laws gain momentum as critics warn of risks

By Samantha-Jo Roth

.....More states are passing laws that require individuals or companies with ties to foreign governments to register with local authorities, a step supporters say strengthens security, but critics warn it could spark legal battles and economic harm.

What began as a handful of proposals narrowly focused on state-level lobbying has grown into a broader campaign, modeled in part on the federal Foreign Agents Registration Act. That law requires people representing foreign interests to disclose their work to the United States government. 

State-level foreign agent laws now target foreign-owned companies, trade associations, and nonprofits. Four states, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, and Nebraska, enacted measures in 2025, and others are weighing similar bills. Supporters say the effort closes security gaps left by reduced federal enforcement, while critics warn the laws are overly broad and could ensnare far more people and groups than intended.

State-by-state momentum

Arkansas enacted its law in April, applying it to a wide range of foreign principals and including civil penalties for noncompliance. Texas followed in May, targeting lobbying by entities connected to “countries of concern” and imposing criminal penalties for knowing violations.

MLive: Michigan House Republicans propose jail time for unpermitted street protests

By Michael Kransz

.....Next week, the House Judiciary Committee will hear testimony on the Republican bill that, if passed, would make it a misdemeanor for a group of 10 or more people to block or impede traffic on a public roadway.

The charge would carry up to 93 days in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.

ACLU of Michigan Legislative Director Kyle Zawacki said his organization has grave concerns about the chilling effect the escalated penalties would have on free speech and the right to assemble.

“The state already has the ability to enforce and regulate this with civil infractions,” Zawacki said. “The idea of increasing this with a monetary fine and jail time and the criminalization of it into a misdemeanor goes well above something necessary to protect the public interest. All that that does is just looking to criminalize political speech and assembly, and that’s something that we are vehemently opposed to.”

But bill sponsor state Rep. Alicia St. Germaine, R-Harrison Township, said the enhanced penalties wouldn’t curb free speech, as there are already avenues, like getting a permit, to legally demonstrate in the street.

Silive.com: NYC bill would make debates mandatory for publicly funded local candidates

By Tracey Porpora

.....South Shore Republican Councilmember Frank Morano introduced legislation on Thursday that would require all City Council and borough president candidates receiving public matching funds to participate in at least one official debate.

Morano announced Thursday that he introduced the bill along with Brooklyn Democratic Councilmember Lincoln Restler.

Under current law, candidates for citywide offices – mayor, public advocate, and comptroller – are required to debate as a condition of receiving public funds through the Campaign Finance Board. However, there is no such requirement for candidates in local races, such as those for City Council and Borough Hall, allowing publicly funded candidates to avoid public forums entirely.