Author: nick

From today’s opinion in Commonwealth v. Meta Platforms, Inc., written by Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt, for a unanimous court: The Commonwealth alleges that Meta Platforms, Inc., and Instagram, LLC (collectively, Meta), engaged in unfair business practices by designing the Instagram platform to induce compulsive use by children, engaged in deceptive business practices by deliberately misleading the public about the safety of the platform, and created a public nuisance by engaging in these unfair and deceptive practices. The court concluded that § 230 doesn’t bar Massachusetts’ claims (note that no First Amendment claims were discussed in the opinion). It began by…

It might be the perfect parable to summarize the Trump administration’s trade policies: The new ballroom under construction at the White House will be built with imported steel. “ArcelorMittal, a Luxembourg-based firm that is the world’s second-largest steel maker, is providing steel for the structure of the ballroom project,” The New York Times reported this week. The steel has been “donated” to the project, and the exact value of that contribution remains uncertain—but Trump boasted last year about having secured a $37 million donation of steel for the project. Yes, it is obviously hilarious that an administration fixated on promoting…

Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the G. B. v. U.S. EPA kids climate suit. The court seemingly had no trouble resolving this case, as it was only argued on March 5. In this suit the plaintiffs argued, among other things, that the practice of discounting in assessing the threat of climate change is unconstitutional as it discriminates against younger people and future generations. The court did not reach the substance of this claim, concluding the plaintiffs lacked standing. Specifically, the panel found that the plaintiffs could not satisfy any…

Please enjoy the latest edition of Short Circuit, a weekly feature written by a bunch of people at the Institute for Justice. New cert petition! In 2022, a SWAT team blew up IJ client Carlos Pena’s print shop in Los Angeles while trying to apprehend a fugitive—and the city stuck Carlos with the tab. But the Fifth Amendment requires just compensation when the gov’t intentionally damages or destroys an innocent person’s property, so we’re asking the Supreme Court to take up the case and remind lower courts that that’s been the law for a long time. (Click here for a lovingly…

In Seoul, there are quiet conversations about what the war in Iran means beyond the oil shortages and economic crises. The gravest concern is that U.S. action has established a precedent: contested regions where continental and maritime powers collide can be controlled or neutralized. Control seeks to incorporate a space into one’s own strategic system – through alliance, occupation, or political dominance – so that it can be used to project power and shape the broader balance. Neutralization, by contrast, is a strategy of denial. It does not require ownership, only that the space be rendered unusable to rivals –…

Hours after the Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s “emergency” tariffs on February 20, he revealed a backup plan. Instead of relying on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which the justices held does not authorize import taxes at all, Trump invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows tariffs in response to “fundamental international payments problems” caused by “serious United States balance-of-payments deficits.” The main issue raised by that new legal rationale is whether Trump is right in asserting that the United States faces such a situation. On Friday, the U.S. Court of International Trade…

A Baltimore hospital held a woman against her will for several months, while a psychiatrist repeatedly tried to forcibly inject her with antipsychotic medications—even as two independent experts concluded she showed no signs of psychosis and didn’t need inpatient care. The Supreme Court will soon decide if her lawsuit against the hospital can continue in federal court. “T.M.” suffers from a rare medical condition involving Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and non-celiac gluten sensitivity where any amount of gluten could trigger a psychotic episode. In 2023, she arrived at the Baltimore Washington Medical Center asking for voluntary admission after experiencing a gluten-induced psychosis.…

Robby Soave and Christian Britschgi play a guessing game involving metal music and military operations before they dive into an update on the ceasefire that never really ceased anything from happening in Iran and the Persian Gulf. 0:00—Robby was pretending to be Christian. 3:51—The ceasefire that never was and Trump Always Chickens Out 20:03—Is it a metal music album or a military operation? 29:53—Christian finally got an Apple MacBook. 39:40—The culture wars always come around. 44:02—Pokémon is so back. 52:25— The Substance and how young actors look 1:10:14—COVID-19 cultural impressions 1:16:47— Christian’s thoughts on Ukraine Source link

The Daily Tar Heel, the student-run newspaper at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), announced it would stop producing satire articles for the rest of the semester after receiving backlash from students and school administration over its April Fools’ Day issue.  On April Fools’ Day, the paper published a series of satirical articles, including one with a subheadline that said the paper had rebranded as The Daily Woke Heel. Others read “UNC brings back DEI—for whites,” and “A new way forward for the Dean Dome: a two-stadium solution.” Another, published on the website, said “Satire: Trump orders…

Some excerpts from the 88 pages of opinions in AFSCME v. Social Security Admin., decided today by the Fourth Circuit en banc, in an opinion by Judge Toby Heytens: Three organizations sued to stop the Social Security Administration from giving U.S. DOGE Service personnel access to sensitive personal information about millions of Americans. The district court granted a preliminary injunction, which the Supreme Court stayed pending this appeal and any further Supreme Court review. We now vacate the current preliminary injunction and return the case to the district court for further proceedings…. On January 20, 2025, the President signed an…