Liberty, in sickness and in health

In the pandemic’s early days, the American judiciary largely gave governors wide leeway in issuing unprecedented business-closure and stay-at-home orders in order to dampen the spread of the disease.

As time wore on, however, more and more drastic quarantine measures were implemented with little or no justification. Tim Snowball tells us how courts across the country, prompted by hundreds of lawsuits, have taken notice and are taking greater steps to enforce constitutional limits on executive power.

De Blasio’s obsession with racial balance in schools has a clear victim: Asian students

Since the mid-1800s, Chinese immigrants have come to the United States to obtain better futures for their children. They often worked long hours in grueling jobs. But they believed their children could have better lives in a country that grants opportunities based on merit and hard work, rather than on who you know.

Wen Fa says they’d be shocked to see what’s happening in New York today, where hard-working students from Asian families in impoverished middle schools have been denied educational opportunities in the name of racial balancing.

Temple University rightly clarifies ban on student gatherings

Good news for students at Temple University and other universities in Philadelphia. They won’t be suspended or expelled for attending church or canvassing on behalf of political candidates.

This action came after we sent a letter to the City of Philadelphia and Temple University raising constitutional concerns over the city’s COVID-19-driven declaration that college students shouldn’t gather at all—regardless of group size.

Fortunately, Temple University did the right thing and clarified that its “COVID-19 protocols do not interfere with any student’s First Amendment right to assemble.” Temple’s decision is an important recognition of the free speech rights of students in Philadelphia and of the principle that we do not give up our fundamental rights during a pandemic.

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