“If hospitals controlled by a public university can reap the benefits of state funds, then they must be bound by the same constitutional and equal protection mandates as all other state-funded institutions.” They should also be bound by the same open records law. Just sayin'.

Penn State Health sued for citing Catholicism to cancel gender-affirming surgery

Penn State University has been sued for canceling gender-affirming surgery for a non-binary individual because it would have violated Catholic principles.

local21news.com

It's almost like age-gating never works. <checks notes> How well did it work for: °violent video games °alcohol °cigarettes °R-rated movies But just imagine what responsible parenting might accomplish...

More than 80% of kids still using social media despite ban, new eSafety report finds

The report provides more evidence Australia’s world-leading social media ban isn’t going to plan.

theconversation.com

I agree. Sadly, many of these presidents and trustees are too busy running their own campuses like autocrats to care. See, e.g., Penn State and Michigan State's gag policies on trustees. Penn State's large-scale exemption from the state's Right-to-Know Law.

Heidi Kitrosser@heidikitrosser.bsky.social · 2d ago

Yes. And I am begging U presidents & trustees to read some of the outstanding work on autocracy (from their own institutions!) that incorporates lessons from other countries. One of the first moves in democratic backsliding: The autocrat captures civil society, including universities.

Looks like Jack Daniels was barking up the wrong tree...

Gabriel Malor@gabrielmalor.bsky.social · yesterday

9th Cir. holds that the Bad Spaniels parody toy of a Jack Daniel's bottle is unlikely to harm the reputation of Jack Daniel's trademarks *because* it is parody. Held: no dilution by tarnishment; remanded for entry of judgment in favor of Bad Spaniels maker. cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...

Given the typically restrained nature of federal judges, their collective—regardless of political affiliation—expression of concern should raise serious alarm over the Trump Administration co-opting the DOJ to serve as its personal vendetta squad. That's not how a democratic society functions.

Federal Judges Chastise Trump’s Justice Department for “Unlawful,” “Unethical” and “Unseemly” Conduct

ProPublica reviewed hundreds of cases in which judges criticized the actions of federal prosecutors. In many, judges expressed frustration that they can no longer take the government at its word.

propublica.org

I'm still salty that Penn State has refused to continue support for WPSU — what an abandonment of our land-grant mission — but I'm so very thankful WHYY stepped up. Now it's up to Brendan Carr and his ilk at the FCC. I hope he realizes WPSU serves all of Central Pennsylvania, red and blue.

Penn State and WHYY finalize WPSU deal, submit paperwork to FCC

Penn State and Philadelphia-based WHYY reached agreement on the details of the transfer of WPSU and filed an application with the FCC.

radio.wpsu.org

All of this is troubling: 1) Penn State decided to remove the law school dean rather than stand by its law faculty's pedagogical choices. 2) The offended student hadn't bothered to look at the curriculum before applying. 3) Someone recorded class in violation of PA's all-party consent requirement.

There's always more to the story... but with Penn State, it's nearly impossible to find out because the university is largely exempt from the state's public records law. As for the disgruntled student, the first rule of being a lawyer is do your research. The curriculum isn't a secret.

Penn State Dickinson Law Dean's Sudden Departure Follows Congressional DEI Hearing | Law.com

The school announced Friday that Danielle Conway had stepped down as dean effective immediately, two days after a former Penn State Dickinson Law student testified during congressional hearings accusi...

law.com

The fee-shifting provisions in anti-SLAPP laws matter. News organizations shouldn't be forced to pay their own legal fees—whether it's $1K or $170K—when someone files a vexatious lawsuit against them for doing journalism.

Justin Baldoni's studio ordered to pay New York Times' legal fees

As Justin Baldoni's studio fights Blake Lively over legal fees, its battle with The New York Times over reporting on Lively's claims is ending.

usatoday.com

This is clearly not for a Taylor & Francis journal, where their Pine-based content management system (circa 1992) likes to misplace submissions randomly just to fuck with journal editors who are already at their wit's end...

Connor Ewing@cmewing.bsky.social · last wk.

409 days (median) from submission to publication if you're lucky enough to be among the ~6% of accepted manuscripts.

Ah, a great example for my students of where you *do not* actually have any First Amendment right to free speech... Delta, United and American could shut this down immediately and throw her off the plane (not while in flight, of course) if she refused to stop her sermons.

Hemant Mehta@friendlyatheist.com · last wk.

Evangelist Whitney Lynn says she preaches on planes because she loves “a captive audience.” She's not alone. It's becoming a trend. If spreading your message requires listeners who can't escape, maybe it's not as compelling as you think. www.friendlyatheist.com/p/christian-...

SLAPP lawsuits like this one are designed to prevent journalists and citizens from demanding accountability. They chill free speech and discourage the kind of discussion and deliberation that is foundational to a democratic society. We need a federal anti-SLAPP law now.

WIRED@wired.com · 3w ago

A statement from WIRED leadership.

"To 'discourage the offloading of work to AI tools' while not deterring its use, the University of Chicago Law School ... will now ban phones and laptops in 1L courses and mandate that exams happen in class without access to the internet, electronic files or apps."

University of Chicago Law School restricts AI, bans personal devices for 1Ls

To “discourage the offloading of work to AI tools” while not deterring its use, the University of Chicago Law School is adjusting its artificial intelligence po

abajournal.com

More good news out of Florida as a state court judge dismissed an $885 million dollar defamation lawsuit brought against the Miami Herald for its coverage of a bribery scandal involving an elected official. These vexatious lawsuits are designed to discourage critical reporting about government.

Miami Herald Beats $885M Suit For Reporting Bribery Scandal - Law360

A Florida state court judge dismissed an $885 million defamation lawsuit brought by a billionaire couple against the Miami Herald for its coverage of a bribery scandal involving an elected city offici...

law360.com

Good news yesterday out of Florida, where a federal district judge ruled in favor of the Washington Post, booting Trump Media and Technology Group's $3.8 billion defamation lawsuit. These vexatious lawsuits continue to be a political weapon used against news organizations and critics.

Judge rules for The Washington Post in $3.8B defamation suit brought by Trump Media

The social media company failed to identify convincing evidence that The Post acted with actual malice, a federal judge in Tampa ruled.

washingtonpost.com

Given what has transpired at UT-Austin with attempts to control KUT, this is a tremendous development. Many of our state universities hold licenses for public media. I hope more states follow Illinois' lead. Public media are an essential source of trusted, free, local information.

New Illinois law strengthens protections for public media at state universities

ILLINOIS (WCIA) — A bill that provides protections for professional journalists on certain college campuses in Illinois was signed into law last week. House Bill 4420 modifies the College Cam…

wcia.com

Got to speak with Texas Standard about the Supreme Court letting Texas' App Store Accountability Act take effect while the case goes to trial. Age-verification laws limit everyone's access to information. Plus, I guarantee your teenager already knows all the workarounds.

Penn State should take a page from fellow Big 10 brother Wisconsin... Surveillance doesn't improve the college experience or make people feel safer.

UW-Madison ends contract with Flock over privacy concerns, conflict with city policy

The UW-Madison Police Department will not renew its annual contract with Flock Safety following community concerns about privacy.

madison.com

The Fifth Circuit's views on QI are an absolute disgrace...

Raffi Melkonian@rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · last mo.

The overuse of SWAT is an absolute curse. Here, it is undisputed that the police lied to deploy SWAT, and many people were shot. No liability, because the situation (a shootout) the police themselves created was dangerous. www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...

In many ways, it's been helpful that Trump has created a culture of bragging among his administration. When they scream the quiet part on social media, it gives judges direct evidence of discriminatory animus...

Gabriel Malor@gabrielmalor.bsky.social · last mo.

In Round 3 of NYTimes v. DOD, over Sec. Hegseth's attempt to curtail press coverage at the Pentagon, Hegseth loses yet again. On the question of presumption of regularity, the district court again relies, in part, on DOD officials' poasting and boasting. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Oh to have been in the room when Trump learned about this decision... I'm gonna bet he was BIG MAD. Wonder who he's ordered to find a way for him to impeach his own appointees.

Live updates: Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship, rejecting Trump’s restrictions

The Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship as is, rejecting President Donald Trump’s order that children born to parents who are in the U.S. illegally or temporarily are not American citizens.

apnews.com

A tremendous piece of investigative journalism from @apnews.com and @frontlinepbs.bsky.social about the ugly world of online catfishing that cost Americans nearly $200 billion in losses in 2024.

Four days to make victims fall in love: How global scammers use US tech to fleece people

Technology from American companies is being used to power a revolution in the scam industry, playing a key role in the industrialization and globalization of fraud in ways that have not been clear unt...

apnews.com

it's impossible to overstate the damage the court has done to popular self-governance & the rule of law. the majority believes in autocracy, they are committed to the most anti-democratic version of their & the president's power. it's court-theorized tyranny.

US is stunned when Supreme Court issues a decision that accords with the Constitution 😜

JUST IN: NYT v Sullivan escapes unscathed at #SCOTUS as justices deny review of dismissal of law prof Alan Dershowitz's libel suit v. CNN. Justice Thomas joined by Gorsuch again complain that Sullivan standard is made up, but can't get votes for cert. Doc: www.documentcloud.org/documents/28...

DershSCOTUSOpn062926

documentcloud.org

OK, so another piece of good news from SCOTUS. But is it really good news when we never should have gotten to this point in these cases? Like, if we had a functioning democracy where we wanted to empower citizens to vote and those votes to count, should this have even been an issue?

Marc Elias@marcelias.bsky.social · last mo.

🚨VICTORY: Supreme Court holds that federal Election Day statutes do not prevent Mississippi from counting absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day but received afterwards A huge victory for our clients and the Elias Law Group team. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

If the president can fire the head of an “independent” agency without cause, there is no such thing as an “independent” agency.

Perhaps the only redeeming thing that'll come from the Supreme Court this week... But until the courts are actually willing to do away with QI in these cases, law enforcement will continue to try to strong arm providers for this data and users will have very little recourse.

Andrew Guthrie Ferguson@profferguson.bsky.social · last mo.

Major Fourth Amendment win. Geofence queries are searches violating a reasonable expectation of privacy and requiring a warrant. Huge implications that digital Is different for the Fourth Amendment. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

Standing up to bullies, whether it's the FCC or the DOJ, is the only way to stop the bullying. News organizations are slowly catching on...

Justice Dept. Issued, Then Withdrew, Grand Jury Subpoenas of Journalists

nytimes.com

Every so often, the Fifth Circuit gets things right...

Gabriel Malor@gabrielmalor.bsky.social · last mo.

5th Cir.: it would violate clearly established law for deputy to discharge high-velocity pepper spray from half the manufacturer-approved minimum safe distance into face of handcuffed and seat-belted suspect in retaliation for kicking police car door. No QI. www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...