Articles

Seattle asks courts to clear the way for unlawful taxes Late last year, a King County, Washington, trial court ruled in Kunath v. City of Seattle (formerly Shock v. City of Seattle), that Seattle's attempt to levy an income tax on so called "high-earners" was plainly unlawful. In what the local press has called a "Hail Mary," the city has asked ...

Last year, the Ninth Circuit rejected cell phone retailers' First Amendment claim challenging the City of Berkeley's ordinance requiring the retailers to display posters and other large documents warning against unsafe cell phone usage and including the city's advice about "how to use your phone safely." The retailers' trade association, CTIA, peti ...

After 40 years of garnishing worker paychecks under the authority of Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, today the Supreme Court held in Janus v. AFSCME that the coercion must end. In a 5-4 split, the Court today holds that the First Amendment prohibits states from giving public employee unions the special privilege of docking the wages of non-uni ...

At the same time that the City of Mount Dora in Florida is trying to fine property owners for the artistic decoration of their home, the City of Oakland in California is forcing property owners to patronize and publicly display artworks. Both of these coastal incursions on the First Amendment are wrong, but today the federal court in San Francisco ...

Today begins SCOTUSblog's online symposium discussing Janus v. AFSCME, the case that could free government workers nationwide from being coerced to support public employee unions. My submission, "Overrule Abood to protect individual rights (at long last)", discusses how the Supreme Court is poised to overrule the 40-year old decision in Abood v. De ...

Today in Elster v. City of Seattle, PLF appealed a court order dismissing our clients' First Amendment claim against Seattle's novel "democracy-voucher" program. Two questions might help you understand why our clients oppose this new-fangled campaign finance law. First, has anyone run for office recently that you detest? Second, how would you fe ...

Think on these three statements: A law forbids you from posting a sign that says, "Vote for Voldemort." A law forces you to post a sign that says, "Vote for Voldemort." A law forces you to pay for someone else's sign that says, "Vote for Voldemort." Should the First Amendment treat these laws differently? The Supreme Court has sai ...

The First Amendment doesn't just protect your right to speak, it also protects your right not to speak. So imagine if your municipal government required you to devote 20% of your shirt to "Smith for City Council" or plaster 20% of your car with "remember to recycle" stickers. No matter how laudable (or sinister) the message, you'd be upset. Under t ...

The government shouldn't be able to force you to say things you don't want to say. When the State compels speech for no good reason, Americans may call on the First Amendment for help. First, call PLF. Three weeks ago, we filed a comment pointing out the First Amendment problems with the FDA's menu labeling rule. This week, we submitted this lett ...