LJC In The News
Two Dueling Court Rulings on Parental Notification in California. What Happens Next?
(Daily Signal)—A Southern California school district requires teachers and staff to notify parents when their children say they have been bullied, are considering self-harm, or decide to publicly identify as a gender opposite their biological sex at school. But California’s Democratic attorney general, Rob Bonta, sued the district to block...
California Scraps 2022 Law Punishing Doctors Who Dissent from COVID Consensus
(The Center Square)—California quietly repealed a law making a doctor spreading state-determined COVID-19 misinformation guilty of unprofessional conduct that could cost a doctor his or her medical license. AB 2098, signed into law in 2022, allows the Medical Board of California to revoke the license of doctors who share any...
California Repeals COVID Misinformation Law, Bowing to Legal Pressure
(The Washington Times)—California has repealed a misinformation law that restricted the advice doctors could give patients about COVID-19, bowing to mounting legal pressure. The legislation was signed into law in September 2022 and took effect in January. It tried to define COVID disinformation as “unprofessional conduct” and empower the Medical...
State Stops Squelching Doctors’ Rights
(American Family News)—Under Assembly Bill 2098, a doctor could lose his or her medical license for giving patients so-called “misinformation” about COVID, which the measure defines as anything that goes against the contemporary scientific consensus. In other words, a single instance of a doctor telling a patient a single piece...
Opinion: Mississippi’s 1890 Constitution Should Not Discriminate Against Private Schools, Attorney Says
(Clarion Ledger)—In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, much has been discussed about the tremendous learning loss that students all across the country experienced. When schools closed their doors and navigated the uncharted waters of virtual learning, it negatively impacted the ability of students to connect with their peers, their...
Newsom Repeals California Law Prohibiting Doctors from Sharing Unapproved Covid Information
(National Review)—California governor Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a bill repealing a law prohibiting physicians from sharing information with their patients that contradicts the prevailing scientific sentiment on Covid-19. The initial law, which Newsom signed in September 2022, violated doctors’ First Amendment rights to free speech and Fourteenth Amendment rights...
California Quietly Repeals Covid ‘Misinfo’ Law that Targeted Doctors’ Speech Rights
(Northern California Record)—Facing the risk of a stinging loss before a federal appeals panel, California’s Democrat-dominated legislature has repealed a law that would have allowed the state to strip the medical licenses of any doctors who discussed information about Covid that ran counter to what the state believed to be...
Wide-Ranging Amicus Briefs in Moore v. U.S. Show Dangers of Taxing Unrealized Income
(Philanthropy Roundtable)—As we’ve discussed here before, the Supreme Court is considering a case with implications for future wealth tax proposals. We know that taxing assets is a net negative for philanthropy and the vibrant charitable sector it supports, so the Roundtable is closely following Moore v. United States. We’ve recently...
Opinion: Who Decides What’s False When Outlawing Free Speech?
(Duluth News Tribune)—In Minnesota, it’s now a crime to express the wrong opinion about voting rules. A law passed in May bans individuals and organizations from sharing information about voting locations, times, qualifications, and restrictions if they intend “to impede or prevent another person from exercising the right to vote”...
Groups Urge Supreme Court to Hear School Admissions Case
(The Center Square) — A Virginia parents group and Fairfax County Public Schools have been locked in a legal battle recently appealed to the Supreme Court – and several legal organizations have filed amicus briefs petitioning the court to hear the case. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology...
Campus ‘Bias Response Teams’ Stifle Free Expression
(Cato)—Virginia Tech has instituted a “bias‐related incidents” policy, under which students may be referred to a “Bias Response Team.” Under the policy, students can be referred for violating a standard as vague as “words or actions that contradict the spirit of the Principles of Community.” Students can also run afoul...
Liberty Justice Center Urges U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Case Challenging University ‘Bias Response’ Policies
(The Argus Observer)—On Sept. 15, the Liberty Justice Center, joined by the Cato Institute, filed an amicus brief urging the United States Supreme Court to hear Speech First v. Sands, a case challenging Virginia Tech’s “bias response” policies for violating students’ First Amendment rights. On April 8, 2021, Speech First—a...
Jacobs: “The new Illinois law limiting where people may file legal complaints for state constitutional violations is now facing its own lawsuit.”
(The Carbondale Reporter)—The new Illinois law that restricts the locations where citizens can file lawsuits regarding the constitutionality of various laws is now facing its own legal challenge. Rep. Paul Jacobs recently brought attention to House Bill 3062, which has caused controversy among Illinois residents. The Liberty Justice Center filed...
Nevada Short-Term Property Owners Take Case to Supreme Court
(The Center Square)—An industry group that advocates for short-term rental owners is taking its lawsuit against Clark County’s regulations to the Nevada Supreme Court. The Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association, which filed its case to the court last week after filing a notice of appeal in March, argues Clark...
Can Parental Rights Carry the Day in California?
(National Review)—Bipartisanship in California is rare — but mess with children anywhere, and parents will fight back. Six California school districts passed parental notification laws this summer that require schools to notify parents if a child requests a gender transition or experiences gender confusion. More districts will follow. Even though...