Free Speech and Association

Over the past few years, qualified immunity has been the legal issue at the forefront of police reform. While major events like the 2020 death of George Floyd have inextricably linked qualified immunity to over-policing, it’s important to note that it is not limited to criminal justice reform alone. As our colleague David Deerson noted ̷ ...

Laws barring businesses and schools from teaching anti-racist ideas, such as Florida’s Stop WOKE Act, mimic the same intolerance displayed by woke progressives. The better path is to encourage open debate, not censorship. The Stop WOKE Act prevents businesses, schools and other institutions from subjecting students and employees to training o ...

In 1593, the Roman Inquisition convicted the Dominican friar Giordano Bruno for heresy. His crime: teaching that the earth revolved around the sun. The inquisitors burned him alive. We should’ve learned from that dark era. Yet over 400 years after Bruno’s death, California is about to pass a law that will punish physicians for spreading ...

Exciting news!   Pacific Legal Foundation has acquired a lost alternate version of one of the last scenes in the cult classic film, Monty Python and The Holy Grail.   We are honored to be able to share it with you below!  ————————————————— ...

California’s universities once required faculty to sign an anti-Communist oath. Many faculty resigned or refused to sign on principle, and no one looks back on that history with fondness. Yet California’s community colleges are on the brink of embracing a new loyalty oath. Rather than force faculty to denounce communism, a new policy wi ...

In late April, an Idaho judge allowed a vital free speech lawsuit against Boise State University to go forward. Big City Coffee, the plaintiff, had lost its contract with the university because some administrators and students were offended that the café supports local police. Thankfully, Judge Cynthia Yee-Wallace has denied Boise State’s re ...

Dr. Elizabeth Weiss is a fully tenured professor of anthropology at San Jose State University.   When you speak with her, the passion she feels for her work as a scholar and a lecturer is reflected in her radiant smile.   She is well-spoken and calmer than you’d expect one to be while discussing how her … ...

A new regulation would prohibit New York City education councils from debating important policies. Around midnight on December 22, the New York City Panel for Education Policy wrapped up a seven-hour meeting by passing policy D-210, billed as a measure to combat harassment and discrimination. Unfortunately, the regulation risks chilling the speech ...

What do beer and free speech have in common? As it turns out, a lot. Jim Caruso, CEO of Flying Dog Brewery in Maryland, has always had a passion for beer, economics, and free speech. It may not have ever occurred to him, though, that all three would someday become intricately intertwined and lead to … ...