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	<title type="text">Latest - Reason.com</title>
	<subtitle type="text">The leading libertarian magazine and covering news, politics, culture, and more with reporting and analysis.</subtitle>
	<rights>(c) Reason</rights>
	<updated>
		2026-06-11T09:46:27Z	</updated>

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	<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Ari Shtein</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/ari-shtein/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				2 Texas Grandmothers Who Overcame Addiction Wanted To Become Social Workers. The State Wouldn't Let Them.			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/11/2-texas-grandmothers-who-overcame-addiction-wanted-to-become-social-workers-the-state-wouldnt-let-them/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386419</id>
		<updated>2026-06-11T13:46:27Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-11T13:46:27Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Civil Liberties" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Court of Appeals" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Economic Liberty" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Occupational Licensing" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Right to Work" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="State Governments" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Courts" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Social workers" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Texas" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Now Katherin Youniacutt and Tammy Thompson are taking their fight to become licensed master social workers to the Texas Supreme Court.]]></summary>
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		<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Last week, Texas' 15th Court of Appeals </span><a href="https://ij.org/press-release/texas-social-workers-to-petition-texas-supreme-court-for-right-to-work-after-lifetime-ban/"><span style="font-weight: 400">dismissed</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> a case brought by two women who've been denied social workers licenses in the state. Despite their master's degrees and what the court </span><a href="https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Texas-Fresh-Start-Appeal-Loss-Opinion-002.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400">described</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> as "many strong&hellip;letters of recommendation," the women's decades-old criminal offenses, committed in the throes of addictions they have since overcome, made them categorically ineligible for licensure under state law.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">The plaintiffs, Katherin Youniacutt and Tammy Thompson, plan to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court of Texas. "We're confident, under the existing precedent, that we're entitled to proceed with our case," Arif Panju, an attorney at the Institute for Justice (I.J.), who is representing the women, tells </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400">Reason</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Youniacutt and Thompson, who struggled with substance abuse earlier in their lives, say in </span><a href="https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Petition-for-Filing.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400">their petition</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> before the court that they've reformed themselves. Youniacutt, "a victim of clerical abuse" as a child, turned to alcohol to cope, and in 2007, pled guilty to assaulting an off-duty police officer with her car while under the influence.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Thompson began using methamphetamine in the wake of an ugly divorce. When she was threatened in 2006 by a man with a baseball bat, she was protected by friends and onlookers and left the scene before police arrived. Two years later, Thompson learned that the man had accused her of assaulting him with the bat, and "though she does not recall ever picking up the bat or striking him," she pled guilty to the charges and received two years' probation, eventually resulting (because of her drug use) in a 4-year prison sentence in 2010.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">After earning their master's degrees in social work, Youniacutt and Thompson, who are both sober, were eager to become "licensed master social workers" and begin treating others who struggle with trauma and substance abuse. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">The Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners even assured both of them in 2019 that although their histories "may present a barrier to licensure," they would not be disqualified, and the Board would consider extenuating circumstances before making a decision.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">However, later that year, Texas </span><a href="https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/86R/billtext/pdf/HB01899F.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400">passed a law</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> banning from every healthcare profession anyone who was ever "previously convicted of&hellip;the commission of a felony offense involving the use or threat of force." The Board of Examiners did not contact either woman to notify them of the change.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">When, after paying hundreds of dollars in exam and application fees, the women finally completed all the licensing requirements—Thompson in 2021 and Younicacutt in 2023—their applications were denied.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Now the two women have challenged the lifetime ban's legality under the Texas Constitution, arguing that it amounts to an "unreasonable" imposition on their "right to earn an honest living in the occupation of [their] choice." After a </span><a href="https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/MTD-Denied-Youniacutt-v-SW-Board.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400">district court</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> allowed the case to proceed—agreeing that the ban was "irrational"—the state district attorney filed an appeal, which proved successful last week.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">The Court of Appeals </span><a href="https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Texas-Fresh-Start-Appeal-Loss-Opinion-002.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400">decided</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> that, in fact, "requiring licensed social workers not to have committed violent felonies is still arguably rationally related to the State's interest."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Panju tells </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400">Reason</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400"> that the Court of Appeals essentially "deferred blindly to the Legislature." He says it merely pointed to a legislative study noting that "concerns have been raised regarding the prevalence of licensed healthcare professionals using their privilege and position of authority to commit crimes against vulnerable patients." And then it concluded that on those grounds alone, the lifetime ban—as applied to two grandmothers who'd utterly turned their lives around—was entirely rational.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">"That's not how economic freedom works in the United States," says Panju. "And certainly not in Texas." After the </span><a href="https://reason.com/2015/07/08/is-this-the-most-libertarian-legal-opini/"><span style="font-weight: 400">ruling</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> handed down by the Texas Supreme Court in </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400">Patel v. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400"> (2015), he says a restriction on economic liberty must do a lot more work to justify itself.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">"Under the test laid out by the Supreme Court," he says, the court has to "actually look at the people bringing the challenge—Ms. Thompson and Ms. Youniacutt—and look at the real-world effect of the law on them, as part of the analysis." The Court of Appeals didn't do that: "It just&hellip;pulled out the 'Government Always Wins' rubber stamp," and dismissed their complaint "at the level of abstraction."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Asked about their Supreme Court prospects, Panju says he's "confident, under the existing precedent, that we're entitled to proceed with our case."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Once the motion to dismiss is defeated, he says, all the details of "the real-world effects of the law on&hellip;Ms. Youniacutt and Ms. Thompson" will be considered, and "we'll have this declared unconstitutional."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Until then, these two Texas grandmothers will be banned from guiding others through the same challenges they faced.</span></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/11/2-texas-grandmothers-who-overcame-addiction-wanted-to-become-social-workers-the-state-wouldnt-let-them/">2 Texas Grandmothers Who Overcame Addiction Wanted To Become Social Workers. The State Wouldn&#039;t Let Them.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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							<media:credit><![CDATA[Illustration: Institute for Justice]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[Tammy Thompson and Katherin Youniacutt]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[TX-Social-Workers-v1]]></media:title>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Liz Wolfe</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/liz-wolfe/</uri>
						<email>liz.wolfe@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Is It the Phones?			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/11/is-it-the-phones/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386409</id>
		<updated>2026-06-11T13:30:27Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-11T13:30:27Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Cellphones" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Family" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Fertility" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Fertility rates" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Politics" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Science" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Baby" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Reason Roundup" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Plus: Knicks victorious, Iran is angry, and more...]]></summary>
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		<p><strong>Phones and young people and baby making: </strong>Online interaction is "lacking in some essential emotional nutrient that human beings evolved to harvest from the physical proximity of other human beings," <a href="https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/are-you-finally-ready-to-admit-its?r=1gn7x&amp;utm_medium=ios&amp;triedRedirect=true">writes</a> Noah Smith at his Substack. "Perhaps it's something cognitive—the richness of context that tells you that no, your friend's life isn't perfect just because they posted a cool video of their trip to Europe, and thus you don't need to feel constantly envious and inadequate and left-out. Or perhaps it's something physical—the tiny touch of a high-five or a hug, the simple feeling of the proximity of other human bodies."</p>
<p>"Whatever this emotional nutrient is, our young people are starving for it, while they binge on the cheap sugar-alcohol of emoji reactions and story views," Smith continues. Meanwhile, "the global fertility decline is a long-standing trend. Every country that escapes poverty, urbanizes, and teaches its people to read is going to transition from a high fertility rate (5-7 children per woman) to a much lower rate. Long before the smartphone burst on the scene, most of Europe and the richer parts of East Asia had fallen below replacement-level fertility." Now it's hit the U.S. as well, with a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/health/wellness/us-fertility-rate-impact-f8024b33">new record low of 1.57</a> per April's report. (About one-quarter of the fertility rate drop is due to falling rates of teen pregnancy since about 2007, which is an undeniable victory.)</p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1"></span></p>
<p>But "why is fertility falling everywhere across the globe, to such low levels, all at once?" asks Smith. "Whatever the cause is, it can't be something local and parochial. It can't be the effect of America's Great Recession, or Confucian culture, or whatever. It has to be something that has been affecting <em>the entire world at the same time</em>, and that narrows it down to a pretty short list." This brings us to the <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w35310?utm_campaign=ntwh&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=ntwg14">new paper</a> that's been making the rounds: "Is the iPhone Birth Control? Causal Evidence from AT&amp;T's 2007–2011 Carrier Monopoly," which has been <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/the-smartphone-theory-of-birth-rate-decline-still-doesnt-hold-up/">robustly critiqued</a> (as well as, more broadly, <a href="https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/05/why-i-am-skeptical-on-the-relationship-between-smart-phones-and-fertility.html">the theory that phones are massively responsible for falling fertility</a>).</p>
<p>However, "the old fertility drop was due to <em>parents having fewer children</em>, while the recent drop is due to <em>fewer people becoming parents at all"—</em>a critical distinction. Less marriage, less coupling. Also, possibly, the expectation of love as a precursor to marriage:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">You&#39;re going to read a thousand takes on why there are less kids being born. But you won&#39;t hear the obvious one. There are less couples, less marriages. </p>
<p>The threshold for coupling up is love. Women would rather be single than not be in love. But love is rare. Always has been <a href="https://t.co/s9KM99pXg9">pic.twitter.com/s9KM99pXg9</a></p>
<p>&mdash; LindyMan (@PaulSkallas) <a href="https://x.com/PaulSkallas/status/2053799337960861765?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 11, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Smith and others point to the rise of sexlessness and social isolation—time spent alone—coinciding with the rise of smartphones as a major contributor:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Smartphones appear to have accelerated the global fertility crisis -- by making social isolation and singledom more comfortable and entertaining.</p>
<p>Chatbots could nudge humanity even further in this direction. Today, digital technology doesn&#39;t just provide loners with perpetual&hellip; <a href="https://t.co/eMXSZg8kt1">pic.twitter.com/eMXSZg8kt1</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Eric Levitz (@EricLevitz) <a href="https://x.com/EricLevitz/status/2063998167650103498?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>It's fascinating that these anti-social trends—part of "the anti-social century," as Derek Thompson <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/american-loneliness-personality-politics/681091/">put it</a> at <em>The Atlantic</em>—have happened basically everywhere, all at once; that there appears to be no obvious corrective; and that people can't even necessarily agree on what type of impact the phones (specifically: smartphones that can access social media) have had. Of course, the pandemic almost certainly functioned as an accelerant to preexisting social-withdrawal trends, and government-mandated lockdowns should be partially blamed. But there's something larger happening here, where synthetic socialization delivering cheaper, easier-to-come-by dopamine hits seems to satiate some part of our social longing, but with plenty of unintended consequences along the way.</p>
<p>I'm persuaded by <a href="https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/are-you-finally-ready-to-admit-its">the Smith argument</a>, for what it's worth. But <em>Reason</em>'s Elizabeth Nolan Brown <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/the-smartphone-theory-of-birth-rate-decline-still-doesnt-hold-up/">pushed back on all of this</a>, which is also worth your time. I'm just hoping we get a Knicks-related birth rate spike nine months from now, which brings me to&hellip;</p>
<hr />
<p><strong><em>Scenes from New York: </em></strong>WE LOVE A COMEBACK!!! MIRACLE AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN! After being down 29 points in the second half, the Knicks managed to pull through. In the last few seconds, Jalen Brunson went for a game-winning 3-point shot that bounced off the rim and needed just a little boost from OG Anunoby to help it in. It was extraordinary. My whole neighborhood was erupting with cheers. I am shocked the noise level of my own little watch party didn't wake up my 3-year-old (who spent much of yesterday decorating cupcakes in Knicks colors).</p>
<p>The only good thing Mayor Zohran Mamdami has ever done:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">When James Dolan cancels the watch party outside MSG, we bring the watch party to you.</p>
<p>Thanks to the <a href="https://x.com/NBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBA</a>, Knicks Game 4 is now playing on dozens of <a href="https://x.com/LinkNYC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LinkNYC</a> screens across our city.</p>
<p>LGK. <a href="https://t.co/gRcYjobzSV">pic.twitter.com/gRcYjobzSV</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) <a href="https://x.com/NYCMayor/status/2064889427285966978?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Incredible scenes all around the city:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">JFK TERMINAL 8 TONIGHT WHEN THE KNICKS TOOK THE LEAD <a href="https://t.co/YvQujrsplV">pic.twitter.com/YvQujrsplV</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Renny Gong (@rennyxgong) <a href="https://x.com/rennyxgong/status/2064917018919264665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">yes!!! i risked the no fly list screaming <a href="https://t.co/XuwShzUfiU">pic.twitter.com/XuwShzUfiU</a></p>
<p>&mdash; kyle (@kyle4prezident) <a href="https://x.com/kyle4prezident/status/2064936588627365903?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Someone from their second floor apartment projects the Knicks game  against the 4th Avenue-9th Street station <a href="https://t.co/oUJQ34XnPM">pic.twitter.com/oUJQ34XnPM</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Steven Vago (@Vagoish) <a href="https://x.com/Vagoish/status/2064883451711439314?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">NY Post backpage <a href="https://t.co/vm1D5eUmsY">pic.twitter.com/vm1D5eUmsY</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Stefan Bondy (@SbondyNBA) <a href="https://x.com/SbondyNBA/status/2064959117794431292?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>LOOKIN' AT YOU, WEMBY:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">visiting the shaolin monks then losing the wu tang game in historical fashion is crazy storytelling</p>
<p>&mdash; alex (@steven_lebron) <a href="https://x.com/steven_lebron/status/2064947820927365166?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>I LOVE NEW YORK SO MUCH!!!</p>
<hr />
<h2>QUICK HITS</h2>
<ul>
<li>"We're going to be attacking them, attacking them very hard," President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-10/trump-says-iran-will-pay-the-price-for-prolonged-talks?srnd=homepage-americas">told reporters</a> at the White House yesterday, referring to Iran. "We hit them hard yesterday, and we're going to hit them hard again today." Trump also threatened to seize Kharg Island, "which handles roughly 90% of Iran's crude exports," <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/11/world/live-news/iran-war-trump-israel-hnk">per</a> CNN. Iran's military is now targeting U.S. bases for the second day in a row.</li>
<li>"The Food and Drug Administration <a class="js-itid-click" title="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/06/09/why-your-next-sunscreens-ingredient-list-may-look-more-like-those-europe/" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/06/09/why-your-next-sunscreens-ingredient-list-may-look-more-like-those-europe/" target="_self" rel="">approved a new sunscreen ingredient</a> this week for U.S. markets," <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/06/10/sunscreen-approved-by-fda-highlights-cost-bureaucracy/">writes</a> the editorial board of <em>The Washington</em> <em>Post</em>, referring to bemotrizinol, which was approved for use in Europe 27 years ago. "That shouldn't be remarkable. Yet this is <a title="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-expands-sunscreen-options-first-time-20-years" href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-expands-sunscreen-options-first-time-20-years" target="_self" rel="">the first time</a> the agency has done so since 1999&hellip;The reason for this disconnect is <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/us-sunscreen-fda-ingredients-uv-protection-rcna150307" rel="">a 1938 law</a> that classified sunscreen products as drugs to be regulated by the FDA. That has required time-consuming animal testing and clinical trials to prove that they every new variety is safe to be sold over the counter."</li>
<li>"Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's government has introduced legislation that would ban social media for youth under 16 unless companies such as <a class="media-ui-Link_link-tVkXhPLPofs-" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/META:US" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-component="link">Meta Platforms Inc.</a> and X Corp. meet a set of safety standards," <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-10/meta-x-to-face-moratorium-on-users-under-16-with-new-canada-bill?srnd=homepage-americas">reports</a> <em>Bloomberg.</em></li>
<li>Worth your time: "<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/07/uk-productivity-economy-reform-party/687303/">How Britain Became as Poor as Mississippi</a>" over at <em>The Atlantic.</em></li>
<li>Agreed:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot;Remote work is the biggest innovation for ambitious women with children since the dishwasher.&quot;</p>
<p>Citing <a href="https://x.com/FamStudies?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FamStudies</a> research: Mothers of young children who worked full-time from home spent 2.4 additional hours with their children</p>
<p>Excellent <a href="https://x.com/katebachwsj?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@katebachwsj</a> <a href="https://x.com/WSJFreeEx?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WSJFreeEx</a> <a href="https://t.co/5jv3sl4a9v">pic.twitter.com/5jv3sl4a9v</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Carter Skeel (@CarterSkeel) <a href="https://x.com/CarterSkeel/status/2064764705982312728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/11/is-it-the-phones/">Is It the Phones?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
]]>
		</content>
							<media:credit><![CDATA[TK]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[Teenagers on social media affects their mood and mental health]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[smartphones]]></media:title>
		<media:thumbnail url="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2023/05/smartphones-1-1200x675.jpg" width="1200" height="675" />
	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Guy Bentley</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/guy-bentley/</uri>
						<email>gbentley@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				'Find Some Kids': How Health Officials Drummed Up Fake Support for Tobacco Bans in Massachusetts Towns			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/11/find-some-kids-how-health-officials-drummed-up-fake-support-for-tobacco-bans-in-massachusetts-towns/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386351</id>
		<updated>2026-06-11T13:31:39Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-11T12:00:45Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Cigarettes" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Drug Policy" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="E-cigarettes" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Nanny State" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Nicotine" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Public Health" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="War on Drugs" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Boston" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Consumer Freedom" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Local Government" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Massachusetts" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Prohibition" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Public records" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Smoking Bans" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Teenagers" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Tobacco" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[State health officials scouted towns, scripted hearings, recruited teen witnesses, and celebrated each ban as a "win."]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/2026/06/11/find-some-kids-how-health-officials-drummed-up-fake-support-for-tobacco-bans-in-massachusetts-towns/">
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										alt="Against a red backdrop with subtle images of cigarette packs, a computer screen is pictured in black and white, with text on the screen highlighted in neon blue that says &quot;find some kids.&quot; | Illustration: Peshkova/Volodymyr Melnyk/Josefkubes/Dreamstime"
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		<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Massachusetts has </span><a href="https://reason.com/2023/03/09/massachusetts-tobacco-ban-went-as-badly-as-youd-expect/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">a long and storied history of prohibition</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. The Puritans banned dice, cards, and gaming tables. The state was one of the first to ban alcohol and marijuana. Missing from this murderer's row of vices is tobacco—for now.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Local boards of health are </span><a href="https://reason.com/2022/04/02/welcome-to-the-nicotine-prohibition-era/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">banning nicotine</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in their towns and cities by </span><a href="https://reason.com/2024/03/13/expanding-the-drug-war-to-include-tobacco-would-be-a-big-mistake/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">imposing "Nicotine-Free Generation" (NFG) policie</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">s. These forbid anyone born after a specific date from buying any kind of tobacco in their lifetime, ever. In Massachusetts, the specific date is typically either January 1, 2004, or January 1, 2005. The bans usually cover not just cigarettes but all nicotine products, regardless of their level of health risk, including cigars, nicotine pouches, vapes, hookah, and pipe tobacco.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The boards of health responsible for these rules are municipal bodies. They're empowered to adopt and enforce "reasonable health regulations." Their work typically focuses on sanitary code enforcement, restaurant inspections, housing conditions, and communicable disease control.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Board members are elected in some towns and appointed in others. The elections typically have a low profile and a low turnout, and they're often uncontested. Most residents are unaware that a tobacco regulation is being considered until it has already been adopted.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Public records from 13 Massachusetts municipalities reveal that the adoption of NFG policies is not the result of popular demand. It is the result of a coordinated, state-funded campaign of a dedicated network of activists, collaborating with health board members and a melange of tobacco control programs, pursuing predetermined outcomes with little regard for public opinion.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program (MTCP), for example, is a taxpayer-funded public health program whose goal is to prevent young people from using nicotine, help current users quit, protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke, and eliminate tobacco-related disparities. Nowhere in its legal mandate is there a duty to lobby localities to ensure adults never have the choice to use nicotine.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But local tobacco control programs, funded through MTCP, use tobacco control program managers and coordinators to scout potential cities to target for a generational ban. MTCP tracks each new effort and includes NFG adoption among its tracked goals.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The dual role of government employee and prohibition activist is evident in an email chain from March 2025. Maureen Buzby, a tobacco inspection coordinator employed by the city of Melrose, wrote to the town of Hopkinton's health director, Shaun McAuliffe, after learning of the town's interest in a generational ban at an MTCP meeting. Using her government email account, Buzby offered to deploy "an amazing group of volunteers" who would "answer questions, attend a meeting, testify at a hearing, whatever."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">McAuliffe described the arrangement in an email to the town's Select Board chair: "The Commonwealth has assigned NFG staff and reps from the [Massachusetts Municipal Association] to insulate us through the remainder of the process."</span></p> <figure class="alignright wp-image-8386390 size-full"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8386390 size-full" src="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2026/06/3.png" alt="An email between public health officials discussing nicotine policy" width="1600" height="900" data-credit="Public records request" srcset="https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/3.png 1600w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/3-300x169.png 300w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/3-1024x576.png 1024w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/3-768x432.png 768w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/3-1536x864.png 1536w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/3-1200x675.png 1200w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/3-800x450.png 800w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/3-600x338.png 600w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/3-331x186.png 331w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /><figcaption>Public records request</figcaption></figure> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Buzby was explicit about MTCP's interest in NFG, writing to the town of Mansfield's health director: "MTCP has asked all of us Tobacco Program Managers to let them know when new tobacco policies get passed."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The grant report for the Six City Tobacco Initiative, which is entirely </span><a href="https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/programs/six-city-tobacco-initiative"><span style="font-weight: 400;">funded</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by the Massachusetts Department of Health, recorded Somerville's adoption of NFG in March 2025 as "another win." The use of such language in a grant report to a state health department suggests that this is an active policy being pursued with no public mandate.</span></p> <h1><b>In These Towns, the Board Decided Before Anyone Testified</b></h1> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On April 14, 2025, McAuliffe wrote to Lisa Stevens-Goodnight of the Massachusetts Municipal Association: "We intend to hold the hearing mid-May. I intend to rally the parents of the kids that are addicted to Zins [</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">sic</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">], etc. My Board is committed to passing this."</span></p> <figure class="alignright wp-image-8386389 size-full"><img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-8386389 size-full" src="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2026/06/2.png" alt="An email between public health officials discussing nicotine policy" width="1600" height="900" data-credit="Public records request" srcset="https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2.png 1600w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2-300x169.png 300w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2-1024x576.png 1024w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2-768x432.png 768w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2-1536x864.png 1536w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2-1200x675.png 1200w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2-800x450.png 800w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2-600x338.png 600w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2-331x186.png 331w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /><figcaption>Public records request</figcaption></figure> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In Milton, the health director urged the board to adopt the ban before a single resident had spoken. The hearing was gavelled in and out in 14 minutes. Three witnesses who testified were pro-NFG campaigners who had appeared at hearings in other towns. No opposition testimony was recorded. The board voted unanimously.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Somerville's board passed a ban a month before the public hearing. A pre-written hearing script used in Amherst said: "Board members only need to listen to the public testimony. No [Board of Health] member will comment or ask any questions."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In Belchertown, Public Health Director Andrea Crete initiated contact with advocacy organizations, solicited template letters of support, and coordinated external experts. Letters sent to the board were drafted by outside parties, vetted by Crete, and then put before the board as if they were spontaneous expressions of local support. One federally funded Drug-Free Communities program director asked Crete to review her draft letter: "Let me know if there is anything specific you would like me to add."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There were about 1,000 emails in opposition. Yet the Belchertown Board voted 4-0-1 in favor of NFG.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One member who voted in favor, Ken Elstein, had spent the preceding weeks helping the outside advocates shape the regulation he would approve. In an email chain that October and November, under the subject line "Belchertown TFG comments," Elstein traded edits on the draft language with the </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Public Health Advocacy Institute</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">'s Mark Gottlieb, Kate Silbaugh of Boston University's law school, and Anthony Ishak of Massachusetts General Hospital, with Gottlieb supplying a detailed legal analysis in return. Elstein relayed another member's private doubts about the measure to the same advocates, and he took in the Public Health Advocacy Institute's legal read on it before a single resident had the chance to see it, let alone object.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Six weeks later, Elstein made each of the three motions to adopt the regulation. By 1:40 a.m., not seven hours after the gavel, a finished press release was already going around to Elstein and his collaborators, with instructions to "get ahead of the story."</span></p> <h1><b>'Find Some Kids'</b></h1> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The emails reveal how officials understood their own role. When an opponent emailed the Hopkinton Board of Health, McAuliffe forwarded the message not to the board members he is supposed to serve but to Buzby. His response: "I'm going to line up as many parents that have addicted kids that I can. Game on." Buzby coached him on credibility: "Youth are the most important voices. As well as local residents. We get chastised regularly for being 'outsiders.'"</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Town employee Erin Bartolini, a Drug-Free Communities coalition coordinator who used her government email, maintained a catalog of template testimony for different audiences and distributed it to young people, encouraging them to recruit friends and parents. After Hopkinton adopted a generational tobacco ban, the apparatus was redeployed to the neighboring town of Ashland. McAuliffe emailed Buzby: "I can speak to Rajit and find some kids." He then contacted other town departments: "Do we still have a joint program with Ashland where we could recruit from?" A colleague asked: "For what?" McAuliffe replied: "Support NFG for Ashland."</span></p> <figure class="alignright size-full wp-image-8386388"><img decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-8386388" src="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2026/06/1.png" alt="An email between public health officials discussing nicotine policy" width="1600" height="900" data-credit="Public records request" srcset="https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1.png 1600w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1-300x169.png 300w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1-1024x576.png 1024w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1-768x432.png 768w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1-1536x864.png 1536w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1-1200x675.png 1200w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1-800x450.png 800w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1-600x338.png 600w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1-331x186.png 331w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /><figcaption>Public records request</figcaption></figure> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The director of Hopkinton Youth &amp; Family Services suggested sending "Emily our young intern" who "wanted to speak at Hopkinton and lost out on time."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To be clear, it is already illegal for children to buy any kind of tobacco product in Massachusetts. And if they don't want to use nicotine after they turn 21, they do, in fact, have the option not to use it. Instead, they are dragooned into supporting legislation to ban their future selves and peers from having the choice in the first place.</span></p> <h1><b>Residents Voted Against the Ban. Officials Kept It Anyway.</b></h1> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In Manchester-by-the-Sea, after the health board adopted a generational tobacco ban by a 3–1 vote in October 2024, residents successfully petitioned for a nonbinding warrant article to be placed before a town meeting. Opponents of the tobacco ban won the vote, 81–76, at the April 2025 town meeting. The board's response was to keep their NFG policy anyway. Health Director Wendy Hansbury reframed the loss, arguing the vote was "so close" that the board was "justified saying that you side with the ½ that want to protect youth."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In Ashland, the Health Board resisted. Chair Ed Burman said, "the Board discussed at length and felt 5 Board Members shouldn't make this decision for the whole Town." According to the minutes of a November 2025 meeting, board member David Kinsman said, "He would like to live in a world where nobody uses tobacco products. However, there are a lot of things in the world that he wishes didn't exist and believes that NFG goes too far&hellip;mentioned Covid and the public belief that government went too far during the pandemic. Doesn't want to erode that trust any further and tell adults what they can and can't do."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These responses appear to have baffled NFG campaigners. Stephanie Patton, a prevention coordinator in Stoughton, emailed Buzby: "Do you have any intel into why the [Board of Health] in Ashland went the way that they did?"</span></p> <h1><b>Who's Funding the Push for Lifetime Tobacco Bans in Massachusetts?</b></h1> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Public Health Advocacy Institute is the leading pressure group pushing generational tobacco bans. The institute reported total revenue of $741,000 in fiscal year 2022; the following year, </span><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/42668916"><span style="font-weight: 400;">that figure soared to $21.2 million</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Whatever the source of that sudden increase, public or private, it's an eye-popping amount of money for a small policy shop offering free legal defense to municipalities that adopt NFG.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Massachusetts Health Officers Association and the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards together reported millions more in government grants, with the latter group's senior staff attorney supplying draft NFG regulations to towns. These taxpayer-funded associations turned into distribution channels for a campaign nobody voted for.</span></p> <h1><b>The Strategy Behind Going Local First—and Then Using It to Push a Statewide Ban</b></h1> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Why do NFG advocates target boards of health rather than the state legislature or Congress? It's because local health boards have a low profile and are rarely scrutinized. They consist of three to five members who, by self-selection and the very nature of the office they hold, are more likely to prize longevity above all other values. More strategically, littering the state with localities that have NFG policies gives advocates ammunition to demand that the legislature adopt tobacco bans statewide.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Elstein, the same Belchertown board member, said as much at a Northampton presentation: "The more localities that pass this policy, the pressure it puts on the state to pass a statewide NFG bill."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This reveals an irony. For decades, tobacco control organizations have </span><a href="https://www.publichealthlawcenter.org/resources/preemption-what-it-and-how-can-it-be-bad-public-health"><span style="font-weight: 400;">opposed</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> measures that would give state legislatures exclusive power to regulate tobacco, arguing that local action serves as a laboratory for policy innovation. But the FOIA record shows the commitment to local democracy is threadbare. When enough municipalities adopt the same regulation, the advocates pivot to the state legislature and argue for statewide adoption, citing regulatory coherence. This is precisely the argument for preemption that the tobacco control movement has spent decades opposing.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The process is already in motion. Emily Reynolds, at the time a staffer in Massachusetts state Sen. Jason Lewis's office, kept Buzby and the Public Health Advocacy Institute abreast of developments regarding state-level NFG legislative hearings. "I am forwarding the public hearing notice for the tobacco free generation legislation&hellip;.Please forward this on to any advocates that you think would be interested," Reynolds wrote in an email in July 2025.</span></p> <p><a href="https://reason.com/2023/11/02/youth-smoking-nears-zero/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Youth nicotine use is at a 25-year low</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and fewer than 2 percent of kids smoke cigarettes. The war on youth nicotine use has been fought and won. Nicotine-free generation bans are about restricting tomorrow's adults, not today's kids. It's not unreasonable to imagine that if NFG advocates get their way, age-graded prohibition could be applied to a host of other products and activities that adults enjoy but run afoul of the preferences of public health officials.</span></p><p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/11/find-some-kids-how-health-officials-drummed-up-fake-support-for-tobacco-bans-in-massachusetts-towns/">&#039;Find Some Kids&#039;: How Health Officials Drummed Up Fake Support for Tobacco Bans in Massachusetts Towns</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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							<media:credit><![CDATA[Illustration: Peshkova/Volodymyr Melnyk/Josefkubes/Dreamstime]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[Against a red backdrop with subtle images of cigarette packs, a computer screen is pictured in black and white, with text on the screen highlighted in neon blue that says "find some kids."]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[mass-tobacco-ban-v2]]></media:title>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Josh Blackman</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/josh-blackman/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Today in Supreme Court History: June 11, 1993			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/11/today-in-supreme-court-history-june-11-1993-7/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=volokh-post&#038;p=8365769</id>
		<updated>2026-01-26T15:31:20Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-11T11:00:57Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Politics" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Today in Supreme Court History" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[6/11/1993: Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah decided.
The post Today in Supreme Court History: June 11, 1993 appeared first on Reason.com.
]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/11/today-in-supreme-court-history-june-11-1993-7/">
			<![CDATA[<p>6/11/1993: <a href="https://conlaw.us/case/church-of-the-lukumi-babalu-aye-v-city-of-hialeah-1993/">Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah</a> decided.</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah (1993)" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iLDVzFZNfUA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/11/today-in-supreme-court-history-june-11-1993-7/">Today in Supreme Court History: June 11, 1993</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
						</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Damon Root</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/damon-w-root/</uri>
						<email>damon.root@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Gordon Wood's Enduring Defense of the American Revolution			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/11/gordon-woods-enduring-defense-of-the-american-revolution/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386384</id>
		<updated>2026-06-11T13:38:06Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-11T11:00:33Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Law &amp; Government" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="American Revolution" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Courts" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="History" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Obituaries" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Slavery" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Plus: When tattoos meet copyright law]]></summary>
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		<p>In 1775, the great British essayist and lexicographer Samuel Johnson entered the political fray over the American Revolution with a <a href="https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_taxation-no-tyranny-an-_johnson-samuel_1775/mode/2up">scorching pamphlet</a> that attacked the wayward colonials for their disloyalty to the crown and hypocritical talk of freedom. "How is it," Johnson demanded, "that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?"</p>
<p>That sort of question still looms large over many contemporary debates about the American Revolution. "Why should anyone take seriously the founders' odes to liberty," the argument may go, "when many of those same founders participated in the vile institution of slavery?"</p>

<p>I got to thinking about Johnson's pamphlet the other day after I learned about the tragic death of the towering American historian Gordon Wood. The connection came to mind because Wood had offered his own response to such Johnsonian questioning in what was, to my mind, his best book, <em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679736883/reasonmagazinea-20/">The Radicalism of the American Revolution</a></em>. Here is what Wood had to say:</p>
<blockquote><p>To focus, as we are today apt to do, on what the Revolution did not accomplish—highlighting and lamenting its failure to abolish slavery and change fundamentally the lot of women—is to miss the great significance of what it did accomplish; indeed, the Revolution made possible the anti-slavery movement and women's rights movements of the nineteenth century and in fact all our current egalitarian thinking.</p></blockquote>
<p>The example of John C. Calhoun, the famous South Carolina statesman and inveterate defender of slavery, may help to buttress Wood's point. In 1848, Calhoun denounced both the Declaration of Independence and its author, Thomas Jefferson, for promulgating the idea that "all men are created equal," which Calhoun described as "the most false and dangerous of all political errors." Calhoun was no fool. He well understood that if the Declaration of Independence was ever followed to its logical conclusion, it would spell doom for American slavery.</p>
<p>The great abolitionist hero Frederick Douglass knew that, too. The only difference was that while Calhoun disparaged Jefferson's words, Douglass celebrated them. By the middle of the 19th century, it was Douglass, and the antislavery movement to which he devoted his life, that truly embodied the radical principles of the American Revolution.</p>
<p>"It was no accident," Wood wrote, "that Americans in Philadelphia in 1775 formed the first anti-slavery society in the world." For them, just like for Douglass several decades later, the principles underlying the American Revolution could point nowhere else.</p>
<hr />
<h1><strong>In Other Legal News</strong></h1>
<p>The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue opinions today in one or more argued cases. As of this writing, we're still waiting on huge opinions dealing with executive power, birthright citizenship, immigration, and more.</p>
<p>As we wait for those big SCOTUS decisions to drop, I wanted to highlight a fascinating copyright case that's been bouncing around in the lower courts. If you're familiar with the tattoo-based reality TV shows <em>Miami Ink</em> or <em>LA Ink</em>, you may also be familiar with the tattoo artist who goes by the name Kat Von D. Well, a few years ago, Von D tattooed an image of Miles Davis on one of her friends. That image was based on a picture of Davis taken by a photographer named Jeff Sedlik. After Sedlik learned about the tattoo, he demanded to be paid a licensing fee. A federal copyright suit eventually followed.</p>
<p>Writing at <em>Courthouse News</em>, Edvard Pettersson <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/kat-von-ds-miles-davis-tattoo-will-get-a-closer-look-by-full-ninth-circuit/">lays out</a> the legal and artistic differences between the parties:</p>
<blockquote><p>Von D testified that no one in the tattoo world gets licenses to use photographs as references for their creations. She maintained her use of the Miles Davis image was "fair use" because it was her interpretation of the image and served an entirely different purpose than Sedlik's work&hellip;.</p>
<p>Sedlik, however, turned out to be a stickler when it comes to unlicensed use of his work; he regularly scans the internet to find infringers. He testified how in 2014 he tracked down another tattoo artist who had posted on social media a tattoo he had done based on the same Miles Davis photo.</p></blockquote>
<p>I am sympathetic to Von D's fair use argument in this case. And while it's not exactly pertinent to this particular dispute, I might add that I am sympathetic to the legal plights of tattoo artists in general, as this venerable profession has long suffered under <a href="https://reason.com/2016/05/14/tattoos-vs-the-state/">bogus regulations and other unjustifiable government interference</a>. Indeed, it was not until 2010 that a federal judge finally held that "the tattoo itself, the process of tattooing, and the business of tattooing are forms of pure expression fully protected by the First Amendment."</p>
<p>In any event, <em>Sedlik v. Von Drachenberg </em>looks to be a copyright case to watch, as its final outcome may have costly implications for many tattooists at work today.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/11/gordon-woods-enduring-defense-of-the-american-revolution/">Gordon Wood&#039;s Enduring Defense of the American Revolution</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		<media:title><![CDATA[American Revolution-6-10]]></media:title>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Ronald Bailey</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/ronald-bailey/</uri>
						<email>rbailey@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				1776 All-Stars: Why Thomas Jefferson Is the Most Fascinating Founder			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/11/1776-all-stars-thomas-jefferson/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8382210</id>
		<updated>2026-05-26T19:48:43Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-11T10:00:49Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Politics" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="America 250" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="American Revolution" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="History" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Thomas Jefferson" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[The author of the Declaration of Independence may have written "the greatest sentence ever."]]></summary>
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		<p><em>This is part of 1776 All-Stars, a series about </em>Reason's <em>favorite American Founders. <a href="#all-stars">Read more here</a>.</em></p> <p><strong><figure class="alignright size-medium wp-image-8383193"><a href="https://reason.com/issue/july-2026/"><img decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-8383193" src="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2026/05/america-250-300x300.png" alt="" width="300" height="300" data-credit="Joanna Andreasson" srcset="https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/america-250-300x300.png 300w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/america-250-1024x1024.png 1024w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/america-250-150x150.png 150w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/america-250-768x768.png 768w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/america-250-400x400.png 400w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/america-250-800x800.png 800w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/america-250-675x675.png 675w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/america-250.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption>Joanna Andreasson</figcaption></figure>"</strong>Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will, within the limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others," <a href="https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-14-02-0191">wrote</a> Thomas Jefferson in 1819. This accords well with the Cato Institute's definition of <a href="https://www.cato.org/libertarianism">libertarianism</a>: "the belief that each person has the right to live his life as he chooses so long as he respects the equal rights of others."</p> <p>Immediately following his definition of rightful liberty, Jefferson properly cautioned, "I do not add 'within the limits of the law'; because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual."</p> <p>Nearly half a century earlier, as a 27-year-old lawyer in 1770, Jefferson sought freedom for Samuel Howell, who was being held in indentured servitude because his grandmother was white and his grandfather was black. In his legal brief, Jefferson <a href="https://encyclopediavirginia.org/primary-documents/thomas-jeffersons-argument-in-howell-v-netherland-1770/">declared</a>, "Under the law of nature, all men are born free, every one comes into the world with a right to his own person, which includes the liberty of moving and using it at his own will." Jefferson was asserting the libertarian moral claim that every individual has full self-ownership. Alas, he lost the case.</p> <p>Six years later, in the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson famously <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript">wrote</a>, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Historian Walter Isaacson <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Greatest-Sentence-Ever-Written/Walter-Isaacson/9781982181314">calls</a> that phrase "the greatest sentence ever written." And the claim that sentence made has reverberated across the world for the last two and a half centuries.</p> <p>Despite declaring that "all men are created equal," Jefferson benefited from the labor of more than <a href="https://www.monticello.org/slavery/slavery-faqs#:~:text=How%20many%20people%20did%20Thomas,people%20were%20enslaved%20at%20Monticello.">600 enslaved</a> people at Monticello and other properties over the course of his lifetime. Jefferson was conscious of this hypocrisy. In his first draft of the Declaration, he <a href="https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/declaration-independence-and-debate-over-slavery/">indicted</a> King George III for having "waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating &amp; carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere." Jefferson further accused the king of "suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce." Jefferson later <a href="https://tjrs.monticello.org/letter/54#X3184736">explained</a> that this passage "was struck out in complaisance to South Carolina &amp; Georgia who had never attempted to restrain the importation of slaves, and who on the contrary still wished to continue it."</p> <p>In his 1783 draft of a new constitution for the Commonwealth of Virginia, Jefferson <a href="https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-06-02-0255-0004">proposed</a> that the new General Assembly not have the power "to permit the introduction of any more slaves to reside in this state, or the continuance of slavery beyond the generation which shall be living on the 31st. day of December 1800; all persons born after that day being hereby declared free." Jefferson recognized the evil of slavery but could not politically bring about its end or bring himself to give it up.</p> <p>Jefferson was a fierce supporter of the liberty of conscience. "It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god," he <a href="https://tjrs.monticello.org/letter/2260">observed</a> in 1782. "It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." While Rhode Island was the only colony without an established state church, the 1786 adoption of Jefferson's <a href="https://www.monticello.org/encyclopedia/virginia-statute-religious-freedom">Statute for Religious Freedom</a> made Virginia the first state to end the use of taxes to support state-sanctioned churches.</p> <p>Jefferson was ambassador to France as the new Constitution was being hammered out in 1787. But in his <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/historic-document-library/detail/thomas-jefferson-and-james-madison-correspondence-on-a-bill-of-rights">correspondence</a> with chief writer <a href="https://www.montpelier.org/learn/the-life-of-james-madison/">James Madison</a>, Jefferson decried the "omission of a bill of rights providing clearly &amp; without the aid of sophisms for freedom of religion, freedom of the press, protection against standing armies, restriction against monopolies, the eternal &amp; unremitting force of the habeas corpus laws, and trials by jury in all matters of fact triable by the laws of the land &amp; not by the law of Nations." Persuaded, Madison drafted a <a href="https://billofrightsinstitute.org/primary-sources/bill-of-rights/?gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=23630606819&amp;gbraid=0AAAAAC2Yh3UHk4FM2FnQg6qtHYJ7dvevo&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw-dfOBhAjEiwAq0RwI3t-c2UlLZ3r7WLR1eHT_2JCD-nYkXv7WsQA7JeNQAlC38JR3QgA9hoCR3wQAvD_BwE">Bill of Rights</a> that largely incorporated Jefferson's concerns; it was ratified as the first 10 amendments to the Constitution.</p> <p>Jefferson's hypocrisy with respect to slavery is a blot on his legacy. But he still deserves our praise for expressing the principles and framing the institutions that enabled the eventual extension of civil and political rights to all American men and women. On the anniversary of Jefferson's Declaration, it is up to us to sustain and extend that document's ideals.</p> <h2 id="all-stars">1776 All-Stars, a series about <em>Reason</em>'s favorite American Founders:</h2> <ul> <li><a href="https://reason.com/2026/07/01/1776-all-stars-benjamin-franklin/">Benjamin Franklin</a></li> <li><a href="https://reason.com/2026/07/01/1776-all-stars-samuel-adams/">Samuel Adams</a></li> <li><a href="https://reason.com/2026/07/01/1776-all-stars-thomas-jefferson/">Thomas Jefferson</a></li> <li><a href="https://reason.com/2026/07/01/1776-all-stars-george-mason/">George Mason</a></li> <li><a href="https://reason.com/2026/07/01/1776-all-stars-a-farmer/">A Farmer</a></li> <li><a href="https://reason.com/2026/07/01/1776-all-stars-george-washington/">George Washington</a></li> <li><a href="https://reason.com/2026/07/01/1776-all-stars-patrick-henry/">Patrick Henry</a></li> </ul><p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/11/1776-all-stars-thomas-jefferson/">1776 All-Stars: Why Thomas Jefferson Is the Most Fascinating Founder</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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							<media:credit><![CDATA[Illustration: Joanna Andreasson, ChatGPT-5.4; Source images: Wikimedia]]></media:credit>
		<media:title><![CDATA[jefferson]]></media:title>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Charles Oliver</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/charles-oliver/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Brickbat: 'Less Serious' Theft			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/11/brickbat-less-serious-theft/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386108</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T15:12:03Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-11T08:00:50Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Crime" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Money" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Brickbats" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="California" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Government employees" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Former San Luis Obispo County, California, probation officer Fallyn Rollins was sentenced to 270 days in county jail after she&#8230;
The post Brickbat: &#039;Less Serious&#039; Theft appeared first on Reason.com.
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		<p>Former San Luis Obispo County, California, probation officer Fallyn Rollins was <a href="https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/crime/article315977871.html">sentenced</a> to 270 days in county jail after she admitted embezzling over $160,000 from her department's union while serving as its treasurer. Prosecutors and the Santa Barbara Probation Department had recommended a sentence of eight years and four months in state prison, arguing that Rollins abused a position of public trust, but the judge instead imposed a much shorter jail sentence and smaller fine after considering testimony about her mental health. The judge said she found Rollins' crimes "substantially less serious" than other similar crimes, noting that though she used the stolen funds to buy a luxury car, she primarily spent it on daily living expenses like childcare. In addition to her jail sentence, Rollins paid $169,875 in restitution.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/11/brickbat-less-serious-theft/">Brickbat: &#039;Less Serious&#039; Theft</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		<media:title><![CDATA[Fallyn-Rollins-v1]]></media:title>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Eugene Volokh</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/eugene-volokh/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Open Thread			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/11/open-thread-232/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=volokh-post&#038;p=8386240</id>
		<updated>2026-06-11T07:00:00Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-11T07:00:00Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Politics" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[What’s on your mind?]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/11/open-thread-232/">
			<![CDATA[<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/11/open-thread-232/">Open Thread</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
						</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Reem Ibrahim</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/reem-ibrahim/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				The House Just Passed a 'Pro-Worker' Bill That Takes Power Away From Workers			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/the-house-just-passed-a-pro-worker-bill-that-takes-power-away-from-workers/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386411</id>
		<updated>2026-06-11T00:27:07Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-11T00:27:07Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Congress" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Employment" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Jobs" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Labor Market" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Labor Unions" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Law &amp; Government" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Legislation" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[The Faster Labor Contracts Act promises quicker union agreements, but it would let federal arbitrators impose contracts workers never approved.]]></summary>
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		<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On Tuesday evening, the House of Representatives passed the </span><a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5408"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Faster Labor Contracts Act</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (FLCA) in a 230–193 vote, with 20 Republicans crossing party lines to vote in support of the Democratic-led legislation. The bill, which aims to speed up first contract talks after workers unionize, now moves to the Senate.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The bill has been celebrated by a growing consortium of populists that has taken over the Republican Party.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.), who has sponsored the Senate version of the bill, </span><a href="https://www.hawley.senate.gov/hawley-applauds-house-passage-of-faster-labor-contracts-act/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> he was "glad to see the House has done the right thing for working-class Americans." He added, "We need real labor reform that puts workers first." Rep. Pete Stauber (R–Minn.), who cosponsored the bill in the House, </span><a href="https://norcross.house.gov/2025/9/norcross-stauber-introduce-bill-to-speed-up-first-contracts-for-new-unions"><span style="font-weight: 400;">said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> he was "proud to partner" on the bill to "hold employers accountable and ensure workers have a real voice at the negotiating table," adding that "when our workers succeed, our entire nation succeeds." The bill has also been heralded by Oren Cass, founder of American Compass, who </span><a href="https://x.com/oren_cass/status/2064344055299838000"><span style="font-weight: 400;">described</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> it as the "best opportunity yet for conservatives to show they support strong labor laws and the rights of workers."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The </span><a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5408/text"><span style="font-weight: 400;">FLCA</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is designed to speed up negotiations when a new union is certified or </span><a href="https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-law/employees/your-right-to-form-a-union"><span style="font-weight: 400;">recognized</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, in part by requiring the parties to enter contract negotiations within 10 days of a collective bargaining request. They then would have 90 days to negotiate, followed by 30 days of mediation, before the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service must be notified. A three-person </span><a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5408/text#H5CD91430EC7C41E39CB1AEEEA5003BDB"><span style="font-weight: 400;">arbitration</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> panel would then be created, and a majority of that panel could forcibly impose a first contract on both sides, binding the employer and worker for two years unless they both later consent to changes.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Once this process is complete, the union would become the exclusive bargaining representative for every worker, including those who did not vote for it, did not join it, and may wholly disagree with its priorities. The FLCA would mandate a federally supervised arbitration panel to impose contract terms on the entire workplace, meaning that many workers would lose the ability to negotiate for themselves. Their wages, hours, benefits, and working conditions could be settled by union officials they did not support, and government bureaucrats they did not vote for.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rep. Tim Walberg (R–Mich.) made this very point on the House floor. He </span><a href="https://edworkforce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=413389&amp;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">argued</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the bill actually "erodes workers' rights" and that a "government-appointed arbitration panel" would impose a contract if the parties do not reach an agreement within the bill's timeline.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Supporters of this bill assure businesses and workers that it is about worker empowerment and efficiency," Walberg said. "I may be misremembering the definition of empowerment, but I can guarantee it does not mean taking away a worker's right to vote on his or her own contract and giving that power to a Washington bureaucrat with no stake in the outcome."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Practically speaking, labor negotiations take a long time for a reason. The </span><a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5408/text#H91B4563995714C37801C55CC009A6A1D"><span style="font-weight: 400;">legislation</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> points to a </span><a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/bloomberg-law-analysis/analysis-now-it-takes-465-days-to-sign-a-unions-first-contract"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bloomberg Law</span></i></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> analysis that found that the average number of days between the formation of a union and the parties entering into a contract was 465 days. "It's a hard statistic to pin down," according to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bloomberg Law</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, partly because private-sector collective bargaining agreements are not required to notify the government when an agreement is made.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, the FLCA treats the potential delays themselves as evidence of a problem requiring federal intervention, even though the number itself does not distinguish between bad-faith stalling and ordinary bargaining. By forcing first-contract negotiations into an arbitrary 120-day window, the bill risks reducing bargaining to a procedural hurdle before outside arbitrators impose the final terms.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The bill's future is uncertain in the Republican-controlled Senate. However, in 2025, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R–La.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, </span><a href="https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/labor-law-reform-part-2-new-solutions-for-finding-a-pro-worker-way-forward"><span style="font-weight: 400;">criticized</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the bill for taking "workers out of the process by removing the need to ratify a contract." He added that workers "cannot reject" the agreement, and said that it would be "removing the democracy from the workplace." For now, the jury is still out on whether other senators will share Cassidy's concerns.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Crucially, a faster contract is not necessarily a fairer one. The FLCA may speed up bargaining, but it does so by replacing negotiation with government compulsion. Conservatives who claim to put workers first should be wary of a bill that hands workers' choices to union officials and federal arbitrators.</span></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/the-house-just-passed-a-pro-worker-bill-that-takes-power-away-from-workers/">The House Just Passed a &#039;Pro-Worker&#039; Bill That Takes Power Away From Workers</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		<media:title><![CDATA[Faster-Labor-Act-6-10]]></media:title>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Ilya Somin</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/ilya-somin/</uri>
						<email>isomin@gmu.edu</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Upcoming National Constitution Center Annual Supreme Court Review			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/upcoming-national-constitution-center-annual-supreme-court-review/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=volokh-post&#038;p=8386433</id>
		<updated>2026-06-11T05:25:04Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T21:56:38Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Separation of Powers" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Politics" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Supreme Court" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Three different VC bloggers are among the speakers: Jonathan Adler, Keith Whittington, and myself.]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/upcoming-national-constitution-center-annual-supreme-court-review/">
			<![CDATA[<figure class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-8322511"><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-8322511" src="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2025/03/NCC-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" data-credit="NCC" srcset="https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/NCC-300x225.jpg 300w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/NCC-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/NCC-768x575.jpg 768w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/NCC.jpg 1161w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>NCC</figcaption></figure> <p>The National Constitution Center's annual <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/calendar/2026-supreme-court-review-key-rulings-public-perceptions-and-constitutional-debates">Supreme Court Review event</a> is being held on July 7 in Philadelphia. I wanted to highlight it here, because three different regular Volokh Conspiracy bloggers will be among the speakers: Jonathan Adler, Keith Whittington, and myself. There are lots of other speakers - many of them highly prominent - as well. Loyal VC readers will surely want to attend, or at least watch online!</p> <p>Additional information and free registration available <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/calendar/2026-supreme-court-review-key-rulings-public-perceptions-and-constitutional-debates" data-mrf-link="https://constitutioncenter.org/calendar/2026-supreme-court-review-key-rulings-public-perceptions-and-constitutional-debates">here</a>. You can watch either online or in person.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p><p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/upcoming-national-constitution-center-annual-supreme-court-review/">Upcoming National Constitution Center Annual Supreme Court Review</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Jacob Sullum</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/jacob-sullum/</uri>
						<email>jsullum@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				A DOJ Brief Preposterously Insists That Trump's 'Anti-Weaponization Fund' Was Politically Neutral			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/a-doj-brief-preposterously-insists-that-trumps-anti-weaponization-fund-was-politically-neutral/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386279</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T22:13:20Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T21:00:55Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Legal Ethics" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Politics" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Capitol Riot" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Congress" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Corruption" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Department of Justice" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Donald Trump" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Equal Protection" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Federal Courts" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="First Amendment" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Fraud" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Government abuse" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="immunity" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="IRS" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Litigation" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Taxes" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Trump Administration" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[The president himself has repeatedly contradicted that claim.]]></summary>
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		<p>In a <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.vaed.596617/gov.uscourts.vaed.596617.62.0_2.pdf">brief</a> filed on Friday, Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. argues that a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trumps-irs-lawsuit-threatens-justice-system-11475643">brazenly corrupt</a> "Anti-Weaponization Fund" is moot because the Justice Department does not plan to implement the idea. Woodward also notes that the lawsuit, <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73383692/floyd-v-department-of-justice/"><em>Floyd v. Department of Justice</em></a>, is based on the premise that the fund was <a href="https://reason.com/2026/05/19/trump-settles-his-own-lawsuit-against-the-irs-for-1-8-billion-of-your-money/">designed</a> to benefit Trump's supporters, excluding Democrats who claim they were victims of Republican "lawfare and weaponization." And that, he says, is simply not true.</p>
<p>Trump himself cast doubt on both of those arguments in a <em>Meet the Press</em> <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/read-transcript-president-donald-trump-interviewed-nbc-news-meet-press-rcna348508">interview</a> that aired two days after Woodward filed his brief. The president suggested that the fund, which was part of a May 18 "<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28132616-sdfl-settlement-signed/">settlement agreement</a>" that resolved his lawsuit against the IRS, might not be dead after all. And he described the intended beneficiaries as people who "have been hurt so badly by radical-left lunatics" who "worked for the Biden administration and Sleepy Joe."</p>
<p>As the contrast between Woodward's arguments in court and Trump's comments on TV illustrates, the Justice Department's portrayal of the Anti-Weaponization Fund is completely divorced from reality. Woodward's description of the fund, which he officially approved by signing the "settlement agreement," glides over the reasons why it provoked the <a href="https://reason.com/2026/05/27/even-republicans-are-rebelling-at-trumps-blatantly-corrupt-anti-weaponization-fund/">bipartisan backlash</a> that persuaded Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/02/trump-is-reportedly-reconsidering-his-politically-and-legally-contentious-anti-weaponization-fund/">ditch</a> the idea two weeks after announcing it.</p>
<p>The pretext for the Anti-Weaponization Fund was a <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172.1.0_4.pdf">lawsuit</a> in which Trump preposterously claimed that IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn's illegal leaking of his tax returns had caused "at least" $10 billion in damages. In addition to offering an improbable estimate of the injury he had suffered, Trump missed the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/7431">statutory deadline</a> for filing such claims. And even if he had filed his lawsuit on time, he would have faced the challenge of showing that the IRS was responsible for the crimes of a man it did not employ.</p>
<p>Despite those legal weaknesses, the Justice Department never mounted a defense. That failure underlined the blatant conflicts of interest created by the lawsuit, which pitted Trump against agencies he oversees in a case where both sides were represented by attorneys who work for him. The situation was so bizarre that Kathleen Williams, the federal judge overseeing the case in the Southern District of Florida, <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172.41.0_2.pdf">questioned</a> whether it involved a genuine controversy between adverse parties, as required for the lawsuit to proceed.</p>
<p>"Because President Trump is the Chief Executive," Woodward concedes, his lawsuit against his own administration "presented unique challenges." That is putting it mildly: If the parties were not truly adverse, which they clearly were not, this was a fake case from the beginning, and any "settlement" arising from it is just as phony.</p>
<p>"Ultimately," Woodward says, "the federal defendants agreed to resolve the litigation." That <em>ultimately</em> is doing a lot of work. Why settle a lawsuit that was fatally flawed? Could that decision have something to do with the fact that the lead plaintiff happened to be the boss of the Justice Department lawyers charged with defending the IRS, which they manifestly failed to do?</p>
<p>Woodward does not say. But it is clear that the Justice Department did not treat Trump like other plaintiffs with similar claims. In 2022, Woodward notes, Kenneth Griffin, another billionaire whose tax returns were disclosed by Littlejohn, <a href="https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/griffinvirs.pdf">sued</a> the IRS under <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/7431">26 USC 7431</a>, the same statute that Trump invoked. Unlike Trump, Griffin filed his lawsuit within two years of learning about the disclosure, as that law requires. Also unlike Trump, Griffin faced Justice Department lawyers who actually challenged his claims.</p>
<p>The Justice Department argued that Littlejohn did not count as a federal employee, another requirement for a Section 7431 claim. The judge declined to dismiss the lawsuit on that basis but indicated that the issue would be addressed in summary judgment proceedings or possibly a trial. He also ruled that Griffin had not adequately alleged a separate claim for damages under the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/552a">Privacy Act</a>. "Ultimately," Woodward says, Griffin "settled with the United States for a formal apology."</p>
<p>Although Trump never had to contend with government lawyers determined to pick apart his claims, he also got an apology. But unlike Griffin, he got a lot more: $1.8 billion in taxpayer money for his allies and supporters, plus <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/03/trumps-immunity-deal-stinks-even-more-than-his-blatantly-corrupt-anti-weaponization-fund/">blanket protection</a> from liability for tax violations and any other federal offenses he or his family may have committed prior to May 19—a jaw-dropping immunity promise that Blanche <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1441216/dl">revealed</a> the day after he announced the main agreement. Neither arrangement had anything to do with Trump's claims against the IRS.</p>
<p>Williams never had a chance to review that sweet deal. And because Trump dropped the lawsuit two days before the deadline for briefing on the question of whether it involved a real dispute, she never resolved that crucial issue. But she recently <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/01/trumps-corrupt-settlement-with-the-irs-hits-two-judicial-roadblocks/">signaled</a> that she plans to revisit the question. On May 29, she <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172.65.0_1.pdf'">ordered</a> the government to address "charges of collusion," "whether the Parties are truly adverse," "the assertion that the dismissal in this case was premised on deception by the Parties," and "the question of whether the case should be reopened because the Court was the 'victim of a fraud.'"</p>
<p>Woodward does not mention any of that. Nor does he explain the logic that connects the Anti-Weaponization Fund to Trump's complaint that the IRS failed to properly supervise contractors entrusted with confidential tax information. But as Woodward tells it, the fund was a politically neutral plan to compensate victims of government abuse.</p>
<p>"Plaintiffs' premise—that hypothetical claimants must have been targeted<br />
by Democrat, rather than Republican, administrations—misreads the plain language of the Settlement Agreement," Woodward says. "Nothing in the Settlement Agreement would have precluded persons targeted by a Republican administration from submitting a claim. Claimants need only 'assert at least one legal claim stating that the claimant was a victim of Lawfare and/or Weaponization,' meaning they were 'target[ed]&hellip;for improper and unlawful political, personal, and/or ideological reasons."</p>
<p>Other aspects of the "settlement agreement" belie that claim of neutrality. The document describes the Anti-Weaponization Fund as a response to abuse of "government power" by "Democrat elected officials, political and career federal employees, contractors, and agents." It specifically cites "the Biden Administration's wrongful labeling of certain parents as domestic terrorists" and "the Biden Administration's abuse of the FACE Act," which <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/248">prohibits</a> obstruction of access to abortion clinics.</p>
<p>The agreement does not mention any abuses by Republican administrations, such as Trump's <a href="https://reason.com/2026/05/30/trump-loves-accusing-critics-of-treason-u-s-law-makes-that-charge-hard-to-prove-for-good-reason/">vindictive</a> and <a href="https://reason.com/2026/05/05/why-the-courts-will-86-the-flagrantly-unconstitutional-charges-against-james-comey/">legally frivolous</a> attempts to imprison his political opponents. As Blanche <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/04/todd-blanche-hates-weaponization-of-government-unless-it-benefits-his-boss/">sees it</a>, there is no problem with that sort of weaponization.</p>
<p>Despite the fund's framing, Woodward insists that it would have been open to all purported victims of "lawfare and weaponization," regardless of their ideology or political affiliation. But the process was clearly designed to favor the president's friends, since the five-member board charged with doling out the money would have been completely under Trump's control. The board would not have been required to publicly disclose its procedures or decisions, and it would have stopped accepting claims a month and a half before Trump leaves office.</p>
<p>In case those clues were not enough, Trump made it clear who the intended beneficiaries were. "I am helping others, who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Administration, receive, at long last, JUSTICE!" he <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116618545735076530" data-mrf-link="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116618545735076530">explained</a> four days after the "settlement" was announced.</p>
<p>Those "others" presumably include the 1,600 or so Trump supporters who were arrested for participating in the 2021 Capitol riot, since Trump already has <a href="https://reason.com/2025/01/21/trumps-blanket-clemency-for-capitol-rioters-excuses-political-violence/">pardoned</a> them and has frequently described them as victims of government persecution. He reiterated that take during his <em>Meet the Press</em> interview. "The people were destroyed by dirty cops and by weaponization," he <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/read-transcript-president-donald-trump-interviewed-nbc-news-meet-press-rcna348508">said</a>. "Many of those people should be compensated."</p>
<p>Trump did not rule out compensation for rioters who were convicted of assaulting police officers—a prospect that <a href="https://reason.com/2026/05/27/even-republicans-are-rebelling-at-trumps-blatantly-corrupt-anti-weaponization-fund/">angered</a> the Republican legislators who objected to the Anti-Weaponization Fund. "I wouldn't be inclined to say" those people should receive compensation, he said, "but I have to see it." He suggested they might in fact have legitimate claims, since "they pled guilty because they were frightened."</p>
<p>Woodward omits all of this context, without which the political reaction to the fund is inexplicable. The compensation scheme "garnered significant attention and provoked widespread discussion about the weaponization of government, whether and how any claims process should function, and past settlements reached by other administrations," he blandly reports. "After Plaintiffs filed this case, the political process continued to play out. On June 2, 2026, the Acting Attorney General told Congress that although 'the reasons for the Fund remain important,' the Fund is 'not going forward, period.'"</p>
<p>Trump seemed to contradict that assurance during the <em>Meet the Press</em> interview, suggesting that the fund could be revived in some form. "I think the weaponization fund is a great idea, and so do many other Republicans," he said. "You have to get it approved. If they get it approved, that's great. If they don't get it approved, I'd be disappointed."</p>
<p>Woodward nevertheless may be right that the <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.vaed.596617/gov.uscourts.vaed.596617.1.0_1.pdf">lawsuit</a> challenging the fund, which was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia on May 22, no longer involves a genuine "case or controversy." He may also be right that the plaintiffs—a former federal prosecutor, the city of New Haven, Common Cause, and the National Abortion Federation—never had standing to sue. And he persuasively argues that their First Amendment and equal protection claims are unlikely to succeed.</p>
<p>Woodward's description of the "settlement agreement," by contrast, is so misleading that a reader unfamiliar with the controversy it provoked would be puzzled as to why the Trump administration abandoned this seemingly fine idea. It is pretty clear why Woodward does not want to get into all of that, since the explanation would implicate him in a scam. Under the pretext of a phony lawsuit, Trump extracted benefits for himself, his family, and his supporters. That would not have been possible without the eager assistance of government attorneys who abandoned legal ethics in their rush to please the president.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/a-doj-brief-preposterously-insists-that-trumps-anti-weaponization-fund-was-politically-neutral/">A DOJ Brief Preposterously Insists That Trump&#039;s &#039;Anti-Weaponization Fund&#039; Was Politically Neutral</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[the Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C.]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[DOJ-building]]></media:title>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>John Stossel</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/john-stossel/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Why Are Republicans and Democrats Abandoning Economic Freedom?			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/why-are-republicans-and-democrats-abandoning-economic-freedom/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386333</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T18:48:21Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T19:00:36Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Business and Industry" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Democratic Party" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Economic Growth" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Economic Liberty" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Economics" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Freedom" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Politics" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Big Government" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Donald Trump" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Economy" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Free Markets" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Joe Biden" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Republican Party" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Ronald Reagan" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA["It's really important that people step back, look at economic history," says economist Donald Boudreaux. "They'll see that we prosper more the more economically free we are."]]></summary>
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		<p>Politicians promise they'll "help" us.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump says he'll "create the jobs and future you deserve."</p>
<p>President Joe Biden liked to say, "Help is on the way."</p>
<p>I prefer President Ronald Reagan's: "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"</p>
<p>An economy runs best when government gets <em>out</em> of the way and lets free market competition work.</p>
<p>Economist Donald Boudreaux gets that, and it's why <em>The Triumph of Economic Freedom</em> is the title of his new book.</p>
<p>Boudreaux explains in my <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOwIGHeSJtA">new video</a>: "The more we move away from free markets, the worse things become."</p>
<p>Biden's spending increased inflation, and his administration gave billions of dollars to politically connected companies like Intel.</p>
<p>Now, Trump's doing similar things.</p>
<p>"Free markets are on the ropes now," says Boudreaux. "It's really important that people step back, look at economic history&hellip;they'll see that we prosper more the more economically free we are."</p>
<p>Now, people blame greed and free markets for the high cost of housing and daycare.</p>
<p>"Housing is rising in prices chiefly because of government!" says Boudreaux. "Land use restrictions reduce the supply and restrict building. Rent control reduces the supply of rental housing&hellip;.Daycare is riddled with government regulations, which raises the cost of those things."</p>
<p>Houses and daycare would be cheaper and better if capitalists were allowed to freely serve their customers without government intrusion.</p>
<p>Likewise, AI will lower costs, but it will also eliminate jobs, so ignorant politicians like Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.) want laws to protect existing jobs. Bad idea, says Boudreaux.</p>
<p>"Some jobs are destroyed, but others are created. The jobs created tend to be <em>better</em>&hellip;.If we had today the same technology we had 40 years ago, the only web designers would have eight legs&hellip;.Our living standards rise as a result of these innovations&hellip;.People might not like change, but you can't get economic growth without it."</p>
<p>Some politicians want to tell stores how many self-checkout lanes they're allowed and how many employees must work at registers.</p>
<p>"How does government know the 'right' number of workers in any business? That's up to those businesses," says Boudreaux. "It's in their interest to run their companies as efficiently as possible, which keeps down prices. When government does things like this, that's going to raise the prices."</p>
<p>Seattle's new socialist mayor Katie Wilson says she'll help people by making sure they have more leisure time.</p>
<p>"You should have time to read a book and lay on the grass," she says. "We need bread. But we need roses, too."</p>
<p>"Pretty words," laughs Boudreaux, "but what business is it of government to decide how people should spend their time? That's an individual decision. Why should government put its finger on the scale?"</p>
<p>"To make life nicer," I say.</p>
<p>"If I want to work more, you're making life <em>worse</em> for me, not nicer. I can smell the roses on my own time."</p>
<p>Mayor Wilson also says, "We cannot allow giant grocery chains to&hellip;close stores at will and leave behind food deserts."</p>
<p>"What she's proposing," replies Boudreaux, "is to prevent stores from closing or downsizing. Once she does that, she'll find that fewer stores will move in. The long-run effect will be fewer grocery stores in Seattle."</p>
<p>Politicians' belief that they know better how to help people sometimes leads to absurd ideas, like a Minnesota legislator's <a href="https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/lawmaker-comment-about-benefits-of-shoplifting-goes-viral/">plan</a> to study the "benefits of shoplifting" because "perhaps people are relying on that&hellip;maybe it's assisting them."</p>
<p>"Let's then also study the benefits of pickpocketing, armed robbery, and burglary," replies Boudreaux. "After all, those people get income from that."</p>
<p>"These politicians just want to be kind," I push back.</p>
<p>"It's not kind to people victimized by shoplifting. [It] raises the cost of operating grocery stores&hellip;which raises grocery prices that low-income families have to pay."</p>
<p>More often than not, government tries to help but makes things worse.</p>
<p><strong>COPYRIGHT 2026 BY JFS PRODUCTIONS INC.</strong></p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="The Case for Economic Freedom: Why Governments Often Make Prosperity Harder" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tOwIGHeSJtA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/why-are-republicans-and-democrats-abandoning-economic-freedom/">Why Are Republicans and Democrats Abandoning Economic Freedom?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
							<media:credit><![CDATA[Stossel TV]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[John Stossel stands next to a group of politicians with a red X over them]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[john-stossel-case-for-economic-freedom]]></media:title>
		<media:thumbnail url="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2026/06/john-stossel-case-for-economic-freedom-1200x675.png" width="1200" height="675" />
	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Meagan O'Rourke</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/meagan-orourke/</uri>
						<email>meagan.orourke@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				The FDA Finally Approved a New Sunscreen Ingredient. It Only Took Over 25 Years. 			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/the-fda-finally-approved-a-new-sunscreen-ingredient-it-only-took-over-25-years/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386342</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T18:46:51Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T18:46:51Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Bureaucracy" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Health" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Science" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Consumer Freedom" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="FDA" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Regulation" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[The FDA's burdensome regulatory process has throttled sunscreen innovation. ]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/the-fda-finally-approved-a-new-sunscreen-ingredient-it-only-took-over-25-years/">
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		<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The U.S. has led the world in several innovations in recent decades: the iPhone, Facebook, and artificial intelligence. But when it comes to sunscreen, Americans have been living in the Dark Ages compared with Europe and Asia. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That could be changing. This week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) </span><a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-expands-sunscreen-options-first-time-20-years"><span style="font-weight: 400;">added</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> bemotrizinol (BEMT) to its list of permitted active sunscreen ingredients, updating the list for the first time since 1999, according to </span><a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/health/article/fda-new-sunscreen-ingrediant-bemotrizinol"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">National Geographic</span></i></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. BEMT, per the FDA, "provides protection against both ultraviolet A and B rays and has low levels of absorption through the skin into the body," and it is safe and effective "for use in sunscreens by adults and children 6 months of age and older." Beginning August 9, BEMT will be sold in the U.S. exclusively by the manufacturer DSM, under the name Parsol Shield, </span><a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5916560-fda-approves-bemotrizinol-sunscreen/"><i>The Hill</i></a> reports<i>. </i>After 18 months, other manufacturers will be allowed to sell BEMT.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While the approval might be good news for sunscreen consumers, it's long overdue: BEMT has been </span><a href="https://www.acs.org/molecule-of-the-week/archive/b/bemotrizinol.html?cid=home_motw"><span style="font-weight: 400;">used</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in the European Union's sunscreen market since 2000, and it has been approved in Australia, Canada, and several Asian countries. So why has the U.S. lagged so far behind other countries when it comes to sunscreen innovation? Sunscreen ingredients are "treated as over-the-counter drugs," </span><a href="https://time.com/article/2026/05/19/new-sunscreen-ingredient-bemotrizinol-fda/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">reports</span></a> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Time, </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">whereas "in the E.U., they are considered cosmetics," making the approval process in the U.S. lengthy and costly. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There has been a bipartisan push to remove some of these regulatory hurdles. In 2014, Congress passed the </span><a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/2141"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sunscreen Innovation Act</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which was intended to expedite the approval process, but it did not prompt the FDA to approve any new ingredients. In 2020, Congress again tried to modernize the sunscreen ingredient approval process via a provision of the 2020 </span><a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/guidance-compliance-regulatory-information/sunscreen-innovation-act-sia"><span style="font-weight: 400;">CARES Act</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, but it still took six years for BEMT to become the first ingredient approved under the new process, according to the </span><a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-expands-sunscreen-options-first-time-20-years"><span style="font-weight: 400;">FDA</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. And last November, as part of a </span><a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5371/text"><span style="font-weight: 400;">stopgap government funding bill</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Congress </span><a href="https://perkinscoie.com/insights/blog/new-otc-drug-and-sunscreen-provisions-passed-congress"><span style="font-weight: 400;">passed</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> a provision requiring the FDA to draft guidance on how to allow for non-animal testing while still meeting safety standards for sunscreens—meaning there will likely be more pathways for approval in the future. The issue has even </span><a href="https://x.com/BasedMikeLee/status/1690836576480395264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1690836576480395264%7Ctwgr%5E935c74ed8b1804ff522b9bf7043188669b2f9c3b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fkslnewsradio.com%2F2029621%2Fsen-mike-lee-aoc-agree-on-deregulating-sunscreen%2F"><span style="font-weight: 400;">united</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> political foes Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–N.Y.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R–Utah), who have called for an overhaul of the regulatory process. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Given the impact that bad sunscreen can have on people's health, it's important that new sunscreen ingredients are seriously tested for their safety. A 2020 </span><a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2759002?guestAccessKey=81a4a1e1-66d2-4f85-8d80-8d4d1aa1c56e&amp;utm_source=For_The_Media&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ftm_links&amp;utm_content=tfl&amp;utm_term=012120"><span style="font-weight: 400;">study</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by FDA researchers demonstrated that some sunscreen active ingredients can be absorbed into the bloodstream. While the study's authors </span><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyle/sunscreen-ingredients-really-do-seep-into-the-blood-is-that-bad-idUSKBN1ZK21Y/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that the study does not mean people should stop wearing sunscreen, it emphasizes the need to ensure sunscreens are safe for use. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But rather than approving a new ingredient once every 20 years, alternative approval pathways should be considered. One that has been proposed by the Cato Institute's Jeffrey A. Singer would allow for </span><a href="https://www.cato.org/blog/american-health-care-consumers-should-have-access-drugs-devices-benefitting-people-other"><span style="font-weight: 400;">international drug reciprocity</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which would enable the U.S. to approve drugs already found safe in other developed countries. Such a policy would have allowed the U.S. to sell products containing BEMT long before 2026. And clearly, there has been a demand for new products, as Americans have turned to a </span><a href="https://www.womenshealthmag.com/beauty/a71526536/korean-sunscreens-online-dangers/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">gray market</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for overseas sunscreens from countries like South Korea.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some consumers may remain sunscreen </span><a href="https://time.com/6084625/sunscreen-safety-regulations/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">skeptics</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, perhaps opting to brave the sun barefaced or lathering themselves in olive oil and baking to a crisp. But those who want more skin protection options should not be burned by outdated and inefficient regulations.</span></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/the-fda-finally-approved-a-new-sunscreen-ingredient-it-only-took-over-25-years/">The FDA Finally Approved a New Sunscreen Ingredient. It Only Took Over 25 Years. </a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
							<media:credit><![CDATA[Yanadjana/Envato]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[An outline of a sun made out of sunscreen on someone's skin]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[06.09.26-v1]]></media:title>
		<media:thumbnail url="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2026/06/06.09.26-v1-1-1200x675.jpg" width="1200" height="675" />
	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Steven Calabresi</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/steven-calabresi/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Remembering Gordon Wood			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/remembering-gordon-wood/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=volokh-post&#038;p=8386374</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T22:49:40Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T18:29:44Z</published>
					<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Gordon Wood was a towering scholar in every way. He was the best historian of the American Revolution and of&#8230;
The post Remembering Gordon Wood appeared first on Reason.com.
]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/remembering-gordon-wood/">
			<![CDATA[<p>Gordon Wood was a towering scholar in every way. He was the best historian of the American Revolution and of the writing of the Constitution and, in general, of the period from 1760 to 1826, of all time. No-one else in the 237 years since the Constitution went into effect even comes close.</p>
<p>Gordon's two biggest contributions were (1) in expanding our understanding of the American Revolution by defining it as a moment of radical political and societal transformation where an older world rooted in hereditary privilege was rejected in favor of republicanism and the equality of all human beings, and (2) in explaining how Americans came to put their faith in our written and amended Constitution. Gordon knew each of the Framers vividly, and he wrote about all of their lives. He described their virtues and vices with perfect precision. He was as institutionally honest an historian as one will ever find. He did not write hagiographies, but instead painted an accurate portrait of the great men he wrote about. He was as great an historian as Herodotus and Thucydides, which is high praise indeed.</p>
<p>Gordon was also a brave man—a public intellectual who was not afraid to challenge popular errors. He led the effort to denounce the <em>New York Times' </em>1619 Project, which argued that the Framers were all about slavery and the triumph of racism. Gordon earned some heated criticism for his courageous stance against the DEI effort to paint the founders as racist villains. To Gordon, the abolition of slavery, women's right to vote, and the civil rights movement of the 1960's followed from the founding principles in the Declaration of Independence.</p>
<p>He was equally outspoken in criticizing Vice President J.D. Vance for arguing that Americans were defined by their bloodlines and not, as Gordon believed, by their devotion to the principles of the Declaration of Independence and of the Constitution. In a speech within the last year, and an op-ed in the <em>Wall Street Journal</em>, Gordon wrote that the United States has always been a creedal nation. He saw us all as from the start of our history as being defined by believing in the idea that all human beings are created equal and have an inalienable right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. We are Americans because we believe in that idea whether our ancestors were English, French, German, Italian, Irish, Polish, Jewish, or of African or Asian dissent. Gordon was just as adamant in denouncing nativism as he was in denouncing the 1619 Project. Gordon also never overstated or understated his case on any point or person of historical interest.</p>
<p><span id="more-8386374"></span></p>
<p>The four cardinal virtues identified by the Greeks and Romans are practical wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance. Gordon embodied all four of the cardinal virtues. He was firm, sharp, and decisive, but also a deeply humble, modest, and kind man who loved his neighbor as himself. When the meek inherit the earth, Gordon will inherit all the land east of the Mississippi River. I tried to persuade him to let me write a biography of him, and he adamantly refused. He wanted to be known as a great historian, not as a celebrity.</p>
<p>Although Gordon was an agnostic Episcopalian, he embodied the three Christian virtues identified by St. Thomas Aquinas: faith, hope, and love. He lived an exemplary life in every way, down to celebrating the 70th anniversary of his marriage to his wife Louise shortly before he died.</p>
<p>He was also one of my five best friends in the world because he was so much fun to talk to. He had an immense knowledge, having read and remembered more books and articles than anyone else I had ever known. He was cheerful and a wonderful colleague. During two semesters during which he taught at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, he every day ate lunch—a brown bag lunch he had made himself—in the faculty commons, engaging in countless conversations. When I moved to Rhode Island in 2007, I had lunch with him right away, and we became good friends immediately.  I will miss those conversations and treasure their memory for the rest of my life.</p>
<p>Gordon Wood was both the best scholar ever of the American Founding, and a wonderful and virtuous human being.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/remembering-gordon-wood/">Remembering Gordon Wood</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
						</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Eugene Volokh</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/eugene-volokh/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Google Isn't a Common Carrier, Ohio Court of Appeals Rules			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/google-isnt-a-common-carrier-ohio-court-of-appeals-rules/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=volokh-post&#038;p=8386372</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T18:57:11Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T18:27:19Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Free Speech" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Social Media Common Carrier" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[From State ex rel. Yost v. Google, LLC, decided Monday by the Ohio Court of Appeals (Judge Andrew J. King,&#8230;
The post Google Isn&#039;t a Common Carrier, Ohio Court of Appeals Rules appeared first on Reason.com.
]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/google-isnt-a-common-carrier-ohio-court-of-appeals-rules/">
			<![CDATA[<p>From <em><a href="https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/5/2026/2026-Ohio-2148.pdf">State ex rel. Yost v. Google, LLC</a></em>, decided Monday by the Ohio Court of Appeals (Judge Andrew J. King, joined by Judges Craig R. Baldwin and Robert G. Montgomery):</p>
<blockquote><p>On June 8, 2021, the State filed a complaint against Google out of a concern that Google prioritized the information it provided that best boosted its bottom line instead of providing the most useful and relevant information to the public&hellip;. [It] sought a declaration that Google was a &hellip; common carrier under Ohio common law&hellip;.</p></blockquote>
<p>The court concluded:</p>
<blockquote><p>Google Search is not a common carrier under Ohio common law. It fails under either prong of our traditional test. While the Attorney General points to facts such as monopoly power and suggests a more robust judicial intervention is required, we decline to depart from our precedent. Among other reasons, the apparent preemption and free speech issues, together with the expressive character of search outputs under the <em>Munn</em> framework, counsel against departing from our traditional two-prong test.</p>
<p>This conclusion is consistent with the historical limits of the common carrier doctrine, the practical mismatch between traditional rate regulation and modern platform economics, and the judiciary's proper role in deferring complex policy choices involving speech and technology to the legislative branch&hellip;.</p></blockquote>
<p>The court began with a broad historical outline; an excerpt:</p>
<p><span id="more-8386372"></span></p>
<blockquote><p>The common carrier doctrine is one of the oldest bodies of Anglo-American law. Its roots lie in medieval English "public callings" i.e., occupations whose very nature required service to all members of the public without discrimination. The first reported case involved a ferryman in 1348. By the seventeenth century, the obligation extended to innkeepers, farriers, and carriers&hellip;.</p>
<p>In <em>Munn v. Illinois</em> (1876), the Supreme Court upheld an Illinois statute fixing maximum rates for grain storage in Chicago warehouses, holding that when private property is devoted to a use in which the public has an interest, the owner may be forced to submit to regulation. The Court rejected the argument that such regulation violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause, affirming the state's broad police power to regulate businesses "affected with a public interest." &hellip; "Property does become clothed with a public interest when used in a manner to make it of public consequence, and affect the community at large." &hellip; "Common carriers exercise a sort of public office, and have duties to perform in which the public is interested." &hellip;</p>
<p>The Court went on to conclude that since every bushel of grain "pays a toll" that is a common charge, then it ought to be subject to public regulation that only a reasonable toll is to be extracted.  Although the legislature intervened rather than the judiciary, the Court found that to be without consequence; the doctrine applied the same&hellip;.</p>
<p>Thus, after <em>Munn</em>, the doctrine had both established its constitutional blessing and had arguably expanded its reach, allowing for more legislative intervention. As this doctrine was applied in a myriad of contexts and to emerging technologies, the principle of non-discrimination emerged as a frequent judicial explanation for intervention; these courts usually held that common carriers must "serve the public without partiality and without unreasonable discrimination." But it is fair to say that legislation intervention has become more common.</p>
<p>As new technologies and market conditions emerged, the doctrine adapted, primarily through legislative action. Railroads prompted the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887; telegraph and telephone companies were regulated under the Mann-Elkins Act of 1910 and the Communications Act of 1934 (Title II). Consumer protection concerns, particularly the need to curb monopoly power and combination that drove rates to excessive levels, supplied an important justification for rate regulation.</p></blockquote>
<p>It then laid out and applied the Ohio law of common carriers:</p>
<blockquote><p>Ohio's common law definition of a common carrier is well-established. A common carrier is one who, as a regular business, undertakes for hire to transport persons or property from place to place and holds itself out to the public as ready and willing to serve all members of the public indifferently.</p>
<p>Two distinct elements must be satisfied: (1) the carrier element - actual transportation of the property (or persons) of others; and (2) the common element - holding out to serve the public indiscriminately&hellip;.</p>
<p><strong>[A.] Google Does Not "Transport" the Property of Others (The Carrier Prong)</strong></p>
<p>Typically, when we are considering the carrier prong, we are asked to review the transportation of property or people. That is not the case here. As discussed in several of the cases cited above, a carrier handles the property akin to a bailment. It is simply moving it from one place to another. At its most general, the core concern of this prong is receiving the property of another and returning it unaltered after transporting it or transporting a person from one point to another.</p>
<p>Based on the facts before us, we conclude that Google does not transport the unaltered property of others. It affirmatively creates a new expressive product, the SRP, through discretionary crawling, indexing, ranking, filtering, and formatting. This is curation and synthesis, not carriage. The trial court correctly rejected the State's attempt to treat underlying "information" as the transported property. <em>See Richards v. Google LLC</em> (W.D.Va. 2026); <em>Zhang v. Baidu.Com Inc.</em> (S.D.N.Y. 2014).</p>
<p>The State's analogy to telephone service breaks down when one examines the actual flow of data. A user sends a query to Google; that query is a simple request consisting of the user's own words or terms. Even assuming arguendo that Google has some common law duty to transmit the incoming query fairly and unaltered, the State's complaint centers on the return leg - the SRP Google delivers back to the user.</p>
<p>That return data is not the user's property, nor is it third-party content transmitted unaltered. Google receives the query, consults its own proprietary indices, applies its own ranking algorithms, makes relevance and quality judgments, filters results, and assembles a new, curated response that did not previously exist in that form. The SRP is Google's own expressive product, not the user's or any third party's property being carried back unaltered. Traditional common carriers do not create the cargo they transport; they accept the shipper's or speaker's existing goods or message and deliver them substantially as received. Google does neither on the return leg. {Google fails the carrier prong on the undisputed facts.}</p>
<p>We acknowledge the test announced in <em>Munn</em> [as to legislative regulation] is plainly broader than how Ohio courts have looked at the question of judicially regulating a common carrier&hellip;. But here there is &hellip; [no] statute for us to consider &hellip;. Moreover, we observe that the Ninth Circuit questioned the application of the common carrier doctrine to Google Gmail, which appears to function more like a common carrier than Google's search function&hellip;.</p>
<p><strong>[B.] Google Does Not Hold Itself Out to Serve the Public Indifferently (The Common Prong)</strong></p>
<p>Perhaps the most defining characteristic of common carrier status, in all its forms, has been the obligation to serve the public without unjust discrimination, or stated in the affirmative: to provide the service on indifferent terms. Historically, the primary remedy associated with this obligation was judicial or regulatory oversight to ensure that rates were reasonable, properly differentiated according to cost and competitive conditions, and free from unjust or arbitrary discrimination. We turn now to that consideration.</p>
<p>Google's pervasive presence in modern life is undeniable. For many Ohioans, Google Search is the de facto gateway to information. Even assuming for the sake of argument that Google's Terms of Service would not, by themselves, justify refusing certain user inputs (queries), the Attorney General's concern lies primarily with outputs - the ranking, presentation, and curation of search results.</p>
<p>At this point the common carrier doctrine encounters a fundamental mismatch. Traditional common carrier regulation centers on the relationship between price and service. Courts and regulators assess whether rates are just and reasonable.</p>
<p>Google, however, provides its core search service to users at no direct charge. Its revenue comes overwhelmingly from advertising, not from the users whose results the State seeks to regulate. There is no traditional "rate" for the court to review or adjust. Scholarship in this area often concludes classic common carrier rate regulation is poorly suited to two-sided, zero-price-to-user, innovation-driven markets; any nondiscrimination obligation imposed here would necessarily target the content and ordering of outputs rather than prices, raising a distinct and more constitutionally sensitive set of issues.</p>
<p>Thus, even if one were to accept the State's position that Google qualifies as a common carrier, fashioning an appropriate remedy would take this Court far outside the traditional judicial role in common carrier cases. The common law of common carriers does not supply a ready template for regulating the editorial output of a free service whose business model does not depend on user payments. The trial court concluded correctly that Google does not hold itself out to serve the public indifferently in the sense required by the common carrier doctrine.</p>
<p><strong>[C.] Ubiquity, Monopoly Power, and the "Affected with a Public Interest" Doctrine</strong></p>
<p>The State argues that Google's search engine has become so ubiquitous and central to modern life that its business is "affected with a public interest" in the sense articulated by Lord Chief Justice Hale and the Supreme Court in <em>Munn</em>. There is no question that Google Search exerts enormous influence over the flow of information. Consumer protection and monopoly concerns have historically justified regulation of true common carriers.</p>
<p>However, the "affected with a public interest" principle supplies a constitutional justification for legislation and regulation; it does not dispense with the common carrier doctrine's two core requirements for judicial intervention&hellip;.</p>
<p>The essence of the judiciary is to resolve disputes between the parties and not to engage in extensive, top-level policy making that the legislative branch is better equipped to handle&hellip;. [U]biquity and market share do not justify novel judicial intervention here. <em>Munn</em> supplied a constitutional justification for legislative intervention in a natural-monopoly setting; it did not authorize courts to judicially impose common carrier status on new technologies whose core function is editorial curation rather than neutral transport&hellip;.</p></blockquote>
<p>The court also suggested that any common carrier finding might be federally preempted, because "Congress and the FCC have long distinguished 'information services' (a category that includes search engines) from traditional telecommunications services subject to common carrier regulation." And it noted that any common carrier conclusion might violate the First Amendment:</p>
<blockquote><p>[T]he core concern underlying this litigation is the regulation of Google's editorial judgments in curating, ranking, and presenting information. This is, at bottom, an attempt to regulate speech.</p>
<p>We do not discount the legitimate policy concerns that animate the State's position. Google's dominant market position gives it outsized influence over the modern public square. Congressional investigations and disclosures regarding government-platform communications have raised serious questions about content moderation practices, viewpoint discrimination, and the influence of dominant technology platforms. These issues may indeed support a compelling governmental interest in narrowly tailored legislation designed to promote transparency or address demonstrable harms.</p>
<p>But the ancient common carrier doctrine is not the proper vehicle for addressing these concerns. Imposing common carrier obligations on Google's search functions would necessarily compel the company to carry, rank, or display speech it would otherwise choose to de-emphasize or exclude — precisely the type of editorial discretion the First Amendment protects when exercised by private entities compiling and presenting third-party speech&hellip;</p>
<p>Extending common carrier status here would not avoid First Amendment scrutiny; it would trigger it. Because Google's search results are its own expressive product rather than neutral carriage, the common carrier doctrine does not fit this business model. Any broader regulatory response belongs to the legislative branch&hellip;.</p></blockquote>
<p>Michael R. Gladman, Justin E. Herdman, Molly M. Dengler, John E. Schmidtlein, Kenneth C. Smurzynski, and Gloria K. Maier represent Google.</p>
<p>Note that Don Falk and I argued in <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2055364">a 2012 paper commissioned by Google</a> that Google indeed has a First Amendment right to pick and choose what goes in search results; that article was cited in <em><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14043487021439226200">Zhang v. Baidu.com</a></em>, which the Ohio court cited in turn.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/google-isnt-a-common-carrier-ohio-court-of-appeals-rules/">Google Isn&#039;t a Common Carrier, Ohio Court of Appeals Rules</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
						</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Eugene Volokh</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/eugene-volokh/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Prof. Michael Broyde (Emory) on "When Judges Stop Behaving Well"			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/prof-michael-broyde-emory-on-when-judges-stop-behaving-well/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=volokh-post&#038;p=8386367</id>
		<updated>2026-06-11T04:06:13Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T18:19:29Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Legal Ethics" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA["Article III life tenure is not a shield for misconduct in chambers. It is a constitutional trust conditioned on good behavior."]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/prof-michael-broyde-emory-on-when-judges-stop-behaving-well/">
			<![CDATA[<p>I'm delighted to pass along this item from Prof. Broyde, who teaches legal ethics at Emory and who has written about judicial ethics in particular:</p>
<blockquote><p>A federal judge does not lose life tenure merely by becoming embarrassing. Nor should Congress threaten judges because it dislikes their opinions, their interpretive methods, or their politics. Judicial independence is one of the central achievements of the Constitution.</p>
<p>But independence is not impunity. The Constitution does not say that federal judges hold office for life no matter what they do. It says they "shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour." That phrase is not an ornament. It is the condition attached to the extraordinary protection of life tenure.</p>
<p>The recent Eleventh Circuit <a href="https://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/judicial_complaints/11-25-90212%20Judicial%20Council%20Order_0.pdf">judicial misconduct</a> matter shows why that condition still matters. According to the <a href="https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/c.c.d.-no.-26-01-may-22-2026.pdf">judicial misconduct</a> materials, an unnamed district judge engaged in an extramarital relationship with a high-ranking law-enforcement officer, including sexual activity in chambers during business hours and within hearing distance of court staff.</p>
<p>The judge initially denied the relationship to judicial investigators, later admitted it, created a deeply uncomfortable workplace, and generated serious concerns about conflicts of interest and vulnerability to blackmail. The judge also attended a partisan political event.</p>
<p>The sanction was a private reprimand, apology letters to former law clerks, and commitments not to seek certain leadership roles. News organizations <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/eleanor-ross-of-atlanta-is-judge-reprimanded-for-sex-in-chambers-94">have identified</a> the unnamed judge as U.S. District Court Judge Eleanor Ross of the Northern District of Georgia. Resolutions of impeachment <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/republican-lawmaker-seeks-impeach-atlanta-federal-judge-identified-sex-scandal-2026-06-09/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">were introduced</a> by two Georgia Members of Congress.</p>
<p>That identification, and the resulting calls for impeachment, should not obscure the underlying constitutional issue. <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/federal-judge-eleanor-ross-should-resign-or-be-impeached/amp/">Some commentators</a> have treated the case mainly as a question of criminal law: whether the judge's initial denials constituted a federal false-statement offense, or whether the misconduct fits neatly within the familiar impeachment phrase "high Crimes and Misdemeanors." Those questions are not trivial. But they are too narrow.</p>
<p>The deeper question is whether a judge who uses chambers this way has continued to satisfy the constitutional condition on which judicial tenure rests for good behavior. I do not think so.</p></blockquote>
<p><span id="more-8386367"></span></p>
<blockquote><p>Article II and Article III speak in different but related registers. Article II Section 4 identifies the grounds on which civil officers may be impeached and removed: "Treason, Bribery, or other <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/article-3/">high Crimes and Misdemeanors</a>." Article III Section 1 explains why federal judges receive their special tenure protection: they serve during "<a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/article-3/">good Behaviour</a>." Article II supplies the constitutional grounds for impeachment and removal; Article I supplies the House-and-Senate mechanism. Article III supplies the tenure condition: good behavior. Federal judges are not simply employees who may be disciplined only when they commit crimes. They occupy constitutional offices premised on public trust, impartiality, restraint, and self-command.</p>
<p>To say this is not to create a shortcut around impeachment. Congress may not evade the Constitution's impeachment process by inventing an administrative process to remove judges outside the Constitution. Removal still requires impeachment by the House and conviction by the Senate. But it does not follow that Congress may act only when a judge has committed an indictable offense. The constitutional question for judges includes fitness for the judicial office, and "good Behaviour" has to mean more than "not yet convicted of a crime."</p>
<p>Nor is the point prudery. Judges have private lives, and not every personal failing is a constitutional matter. The problem here is the connection between private misconduct and public office. Judicial chambers are not private bedrooms. Law clerks and court staff are not unwilling witnesses to a judge's private life. Chambers are part of the federal workplace and part of the machinery of justice. The people who work there are entitled to professional boundaries, dignity, and a judge who does not make the workplace serve the judge's personal desires.</p>
<p>That is why candor alone would not cure the problem. Imagine a judge announcing that chambers would be unavailable during lunch because the judge was conducting an extramarital affair there with a police commander. The announcement would be honest and would avoid any problem of false statement. It would also be intolerable. The misconduct is not merely the lie to the Chief Judges. It is the use of judicial space, judicial time, and judicial authority in a way incompatible with the office.</p>
<p>The conflict concern is equally serious. A secret relationship between a federal judge and a senior law-enforcement officer in the same community is not a harmless private indiscretion. Federal courts hear criminal cases, civil-rights actions, suppression motions, warrant challenges, police-witness credibility questions, and cases involving government agencies. The judicial materials may not establish that the judge actually ruled in a case involving that officer or that officer's department. But the public should not have to rely on luck to preserve the appearance of impartial justice. A judge has an obligation to avoid not only actual conflicts, but also circumstances that reasonably call the court's neutrality into question.</p>
<p>The judiciary's response exposes the limits of self-policing and as Gabe Roth of <a href="https://fixthecourt.com/2026/05/fix-the-court-calls-on-house-judiciary-to-open-impeachment-inquiry-into-judge-ross/">Fix the Court</a> observed is "underwhelming" and "looks more like judges protecting their own than serious remediation or punishment." A private reprimand may be appropriate for ordinary misconduct. It is inadequate for conduct that used chambers for sexual activity, compromised staff, misled a misconduct inquiry, created conflict-of-interest risks, and damaged public confidence in the courts—conduct that is clearly not "good behavior". The judiciary can admonish, discipline, and—as it sought to do in this case—conceal the violator's identity. But only Congress can decide whether misconduct this grave warrants removal from a life-tenured office.</p>
<p>That congressional role must be exercised with great caution. The failed impeachment of Justice Samuel <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Samuel_Chase">Chase</a> remains an essential warning. Judges must not face removal because legislators dislike their rulings. "good Behaviour" cannot become a partisan trapdoor through which Congress threatens judicial independence whenever the political branches are angry at the courts.</p>
<p>But this case is not Chase. It is not about a controversial opinion, statutory interpretation, constitutional methodology, or ideological disagreement. It is about personal misconduct in chambers, treatment of court staff, dishonesty in a judicial misconduct inquiry, attendance at a partisan event, and the misuse of the judicial workplace. If Congress cannot even consider impeachment in a case like this, then the phrase "good Behaviour" has been drained of most of its practical meaning.</p>
<p>The House should therefore do what the judiciary has not done publicly. The House should open an <a href="https://journals.law.harvard.edu/jlpp/wp-content/uploads/sites/90/2026/03/30_17HarvJLPubPoly1571994.pdf">expedited impeachment inquiry</a>, first confirming whether the judge described in the misconduct orders is Judge Ross, and then deciding whether articles of impeachment are warranted. No facts need to determined other than confirming the identity of the judge. It need not reinvestigate the facts, since they were already determined in a Judicial Council order. Articles of impeachment should be framed carefully, not sensationally, and they should focus on the good behavior standard. The conduct recited in this case certainly seems to be grounds for impeachment in the House.</p>
<p>The Senate, which must hold a trial, should then decide whether the conduct justifies conviction and removal. That decision should be sober, institutional, and constitutional. It should not be a partisan spectacle. It should ask whether life tenure can survive as a public trust if the good-behavior condition is treated as a dead letter.</p>
<p>Life tenure is one of the Constitution's greatest protections for the rule of law. It enables judges to decide cases without fearing presidents, senators, mobs, donors, or editorial pages. But the price of that independence is conduct worthy of confidence. A judicial robe is not a nightgown and chambers are not bedrooms. And "good Behaviour" is not an empty phrase.</p>
<p>When a federal judge stops behaving well in the performance and setting of judicial office, Congress should be willing to say so.</p></blockquote>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/prof-michael-broyde-emory-on-when-judges-stop-behaving-well/">Prof. Michael Broyde (Emory) on &quot;When Judges Stop Behaving Well&quot;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
						</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Eugene Volokh</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/eugene-volokh/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Magistrate Judge Declines to Recuse Herself in Trump v. BBC Libel Lawsuit			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/magistrate-judge-declines-to-recuse-herself-in-trump-v-bbc-libel-lawsuit/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=volokh-post&#038;p=8386362</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T18:03:52Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T18:03:52Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Free Speech" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Libel" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Judicial Ethics" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[The judge had, before she was appointed a judge in 2024, represented an adverse party in a different lawsuit brought by Trump in 2022.]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/magistrate-judge-declines-to-recuse-herself-in-trump-v-bbc-libel-lawsuit/">
			<![CDATA[<p>From today's opinion by Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué A. Lett (S.D. Fla.) in <em><a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.703382/gov.uscourts.flsd.703382.76.0_1.pdf">Trump v. BBC</a></em>:</p>
<blockquote><p>On December 15, 2025, Plaintiff initiated this action, and the Clerk of Court assigned the matter to Judge Roy K. Altman stating, "U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjolique A. Lett is available to handle any or all proceedings in this case." Shortly thereafter, on January 12, 2026, the parties voluntarily elected to have the Undersigned preside over discovery matters in this action. On February 11, 2026, Judge Altman referred this case to the Undersigned for all pretrial non-dispositive and discovery matters&hellip;.</p>
<p>Plaintiff now seeks—over 160 days after the Undersigned's involvement in this case—the Undersigned's recusal, on the eve of the Undersigned setting a discovery hearing. Specifically, Plaintiff asserts the Undersigned's prior representation of Orbis Business Intelligence, Ltd. in <em>Trump v Clinton </em>(S.D. Fla. filed March 24, 2022), warrants recusal and a stay of discovery&hellip;.</p>
<p>Under the catch-all provision of the federal recusal statute on which Plaintiff relies, "[a]ny justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned." "[W]hat matters under § 455(a) 'is not the reality of bias or prejudice but its appearance.'" "This inquiry is an objective one, made from the perspective of a reasonable observer who is informed of all the surrounding facts and circumstances." &hellip;</p></blockquote>
<p><span id="more-8386362"></span></p>
<blockquote><p>As an initial matter, Plaintiff's failure to raise the issue of recusal at the first available opportunity constitutes a waiver. Plaintiff failed to move for recusal from the outset of this action and has only done so when a disputed discovery issue arose. Plaintiff's counsel suggests that this delay was because "[he] was not Plaintiff's counsel in the Adverse Matter, and was not immediately aware of Magistrate Judge Lett's participation in that litigation." However, Plaintiff's counsel did appear on behalf of President Trump, the plaintiff/appellant in the "Adverse Matter," during the appellate phase of the "Adverse Matter." The Undersigned represented Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd. in those proceedings&hellip;. Since, as appellate counsel, Plaintiff's counsel would have been familiar with the underlying proceeding and the appellate docket, counsel knew or should have known of the Undersigned's prior representation of Orbis Business Intelligence,</p>
<p>Even assuming there was not a waiver, the Motion nonetheless fails. The Undersigned's past representation of an unrelated, non-party in this action does not, without more, constitute a circumstance where, objectively, the Undersigned's impartiality might reasonably be questioned. <em>See Rice v. Chief Exam'r of Ala. Dept. of Exam'rs of Pub. Accts.</em> (11th Cir. 2025) (affirming district court's denial of recusal motion because a judge's "former representation of [the defendant] had nothing to do with th[e] [current] action"); <em>see also U.S. v. Page</em> (11th Cir. 2025) (affirming district court's denial of recusal motion because the judge's prior representation of a party related to the current action was unrelated to the current case); <em>Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana v. Harry L. Law Co., Inc.</em> (5th Cir. 1982) (stating "the fact that [the judge] once represented [a defendant] in unrelated matters does not forever prevent him from sitting in a case in which [the former client] is a party")&hellip;.</p>
<p>Plaintiff fails to cite a single case where recusal was required pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 455(a) where the jurist, while in private practice, represented an adverse party&hellip;.</p>
<p><em>Trump v. Clinton—</em>an alleged RICO action—was dismissed at the pleadings stage, and the dismissal was upheld. And since <em>Trump v. Clinton </em>never progressed to discovery, any discovery issues raised by the parties in this case—a defamation action—would not have been issues argued by the Undersigned in the "Adverse Matter."</p>
<p>In short, simply representing a party who was once adverse to a party currently before the court does not "objectively speaking, [make] 'the probability of actual bias on the part of the judge or decisionmaker [] too high to be constitutionally tolerable.'"</p></blockquote>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/magistrate-judge-declines-to-recuse-herself-in-trump-v-bbc-libel-lawsuit/">Magistrate Judge Declines to Recuse Herself in &lt;i&gt;Trump v. BBC&lt;/i&gt; Libel Lawsuit</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
						</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Robby Soave</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/robby-soave/</uri>
						<email>robby.soave@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<author>
			<name>Christian Britschgi</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/christian-britschgi/</uri>
						<email>christian.britschgi@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Graham Platner Wins, Backrooms, and Church and State			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/podcast/2026/06/10/graham-platner-wins-backrooms-and-church-and-state/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=podcast&#038;p=8386263</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T17:51:31Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T17:51:11Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Campaigns/Elections" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Movies" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Freed Up" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Maine" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Reason Podcast" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Politics, religion, movies, and generational gripes collide in a wide-ranging conversation that ends with Robby Soave preparing for his trip to Ukraine. ]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/podcast/2026/06/10/graham-platner-wins-backrooms-and-church-and-state/">
			<![CDATA[<p>Robby Soave and Christian Britschgi start this episode of <em>Freed Up </em>with how Democrats plan to stand by Graham Platner in Maine no matter what. The conversation then moves from politics and mail-in ballots to cultural complaints, consciousness, internet horror, and generational grumbling. It then turns to movies and franchises, including <em data-start="191" data-end="201">Sorcerer</em>, Star Wars, and the new <em data-start="228" data-end="247">Wuthering Heights</em>. Later, they discuss Mormons vs. the Department of War and the inequalities we all face.</p>
<p class="p2">0:00—Democrats don't care that Graham Platner may be a bad person</p>
<p class="p2">12:30—Mailing ballots to everyone is a dumb idea</p>
<p class="p2">18:07—Why do people talk like that?</p>
<p class="p2">21:42—Can we define consciousness?</p>
<p class="p2">23:26— <em>Backrooms</em> was great</p>
<p class="p2">27:20—Kids these days</p>
<p class="p2">31:38—The <em>Sorcerer</em></p>
<p class="p2">33:54—They ruined Star Wars</p>
<p class="p2">41:15—The Department of War starts a war with the Mormons</p>
<p class="p2">50:15—The inequality of religious rights</p>
<p class="p2">58:57—The new <em>Wuthering Heights</em> movie is not good</p>
<p class="p2">1:06:30—Robby is going to Ukraine!</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/podcast/2026/06/10/graham-platner-wins-backrooms-and-church-and-state/">Graham Platner Wins, &lt;em&gt;Backrooms&lt;/em&gt;, and Church and State</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
					<link href="https://reasontv-video.s3.amazonaws.com/FreedUp30.mp3" rel="enclosure" length="68842343" type="audio/mpeg" />
		<media:credit><![CDATA[Illustration: Adani Samat]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[Robby Soave and Christian Britschgi discuss Graham Platner win]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[Freedup-6-10-C]]></media:title>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Eric Boehm</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/eric-boehm/</uri>
						<email>Eric.Boehm@Reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Inflation Reaches 4.2% as Prices Outpace Paychecks			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/inflation-reaches-4-2-percent-as-prices-outpace-paychecks/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386286</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T18:45:37Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T17:15:26Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Economics" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Inflation" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Oil prices" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="War" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Cost" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Iran" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Middle East" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Trump Administration" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[The Iran war and Trump's tariffs are pushing prices higher, and neither will be easy to undo.]]></summary>
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		<p>There is a lot of political discourse about "<a href="https://www.cato.org/handbook-affordability">affordability</a>," but the meaning of the term can be difficult to pin down.</p>
<p>Is it just a jargony way of talking about <a href="https://www.slowboring.com/p/affordability-is-just-high-nominal">high nominal prices</a>? Is it really <a href="https://reason.com/2026/05/11/an-anti-housing-housing-bill/">all about housing</a>? Could it be, as President Donald Trump has suggested, a "<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-says-the-word-affordability-is-a-con-job-by-the-democrats">con job</a>" invented by Democrats to make his administration look bad? Different people will have different answers, and I suspect we will continue to debate those questions through the midterms and into the 2028 presidential cycle.</p>
<p>But probably the most straightforward way to think about the "affordability" question is the relationship between two figures published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS): average hourly earnings and the consumer price index. When the former is rising at a faster rate than the latter, the pay for the average worker is rising faster than prices. For that worker, life is getting more affordable.</p>
<p>When inflation is rising faster than wages, however, the opposite is true. And that's what is happening now.</p>
<p>Wages grew by 3.4 percent over the past year, the BLS <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm">reported last week</a>. On Wednesday morning, the BLS reported that inflation has <a href="https://www.bls.gov/cpi/">climbed by 4.2 percent</a> over the past 12 months, thanks in large part to a sharp increase in prices (<a href="https://www.piie.com/publications/working-papers/2026/global-economic-implications-2026-middle-east-war">fuel prices, in particular</a>) since the start of the Iran war in March.</p>
<p>With prices rising faster than wages, the BLS also <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/realer.nr0.htm">reported</a> on Wednesday that "real average hourly earnings"—that is, wage growth once you account for inflation—were down by 0.3 percent in May.</p>
<p>Averages only get you so far, of course. Some Americans are feeling the sting of inflation more than others, depending on their purchasing habits and lifestyles, and wages are never rising for all workers equally. Still, there's no getting around it: Life is less affordable now than it was a few months ago—before the Trump administration steered the country into a war of choice in the Middle East.</p>
<p>And, yes, the runaway inflation that America experienced during the first part of President Joe Biden's term in office was <em>a lot </em>worse than what the country is seeing now. But since early 2023, wage growth had consistently outpaced inflation even as inflation remained above the Federal Reserve's target annual rate of 2 percent.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Inflation is so high that it&#39;s erasing all wage gains.</p>
<p>Inflation: 4.2% in May for the past year<br />Wage growth: 3.4% in May for the past year.</p>
<p>Americans are getting squeezed financially. This isn&#39;t just &quot;bad vibes&quot; about the economy. There is real pain, especially for middle-class&hellip; <a href="https://t.co/9f7nlSSm3I">pic.twitter.com/9f7nlSSm3I</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) <a href="https://x.com/byHeatherLong/status/2064689032580198480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The fact that those two lines have now crossed again should be setting off alarm bells inside the White House—particularly because Trump is directly responsible for the two most acute causes of rising prices. At this point, both will be difficult to fix quickly.</p>
<p>"The two main causes of rising prices were both avoidable: tariffs and the Iran war," said Ryan Young, a senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, in a statement. "While the president could provide almost immediate relief by scrapping his tariffs, that is unlikely. If the Iran war were to end today, which is also unlikely, that damage would take well into next year to heal."</p>
<p>As was true <a href="https://reason.com/2025/12/31/the-big-lesson-of-the-2020s-dont-ignore-the-economists/">during the Biden years</a>, inflation can be a difficult beast to tame once it has been unleashed. And the affordability discourse is only going to get louder now.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/inflation-reaches-4-2-percent-as-prices-outpace-paychecks/">Inflation Reaches 4.2% as Prices Outpace Paychecks</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[A $100 bill]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[inflation-6-10]]></media:title>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Elizabeth Nolan Brown</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/elizabeth-nolan-brown/</uri>
						<email>elizabeth.brown@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				The Smartphone Theory of Birth Rate Decline Still Doesn't Hold Up			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/the-smartphone-theory-of-birth-rate-decline-still-doesnt-hold-up/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386190</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T17:01:54Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T16:25:44Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Cellphones" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Fertility" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Fertility rates" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Technology" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Disruptive Technologies" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Gen Z" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Internet" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Millennials" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Parenting" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Phones" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Pregnancy" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Reproductive Freedom" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Research" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[A new NBER study suffers from the same flaws plaguing previous research on phones and fertility rates. ]]></summary>
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		<p>iPhones may have slightly exacerbated an already underway drop in unintended pregnancies among teens. That's the big finding in a <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w35310">new working paper</a> published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).</p>
<p>In a more sane environment, this paper would be greeted with somewhere between slightly increased respect for the poor smartphone and a collective shrug. Or perhaps with some skepticism—how exactly did the authors reach this conclusion anyway? Does it hold up?</p>

<p>Alas, we live in a period of total paranoia and doom about smartphones. So the NBER paper is being heralded as a sign <a href="https://x.com/PTBwrites/status/2063930888174420055">that smartphones are to blame</a> <a href="https://x.com/BradWilcoxIFS/status/2063913115507474492">for birth rates falling generally</a> and a big, tragic harbinger of population doom.</p>
<p>Today, I want to look (<a href="https://reason.com/2026/05/18/the-smartphone-theory-of-birth-rate-decline-doesnt-hold-up/">once again</a>) at why this fatalistic view is unwarranted and how the hype about phones and fertility doesn't hold up.</p>
<h1><b>Should We Really Mourn a Drop in Unintended Births to Teens?</b></h1>
<p>Let's start with the study itself. Authors Caitlin K. Myers and Ezekiel Hooper attempt to look at the iPhone's effect on childbearing by assessing U.S. fertility rates in places where AT&amp;T provided mobile broadband coverage between 2003 and 2011 and places where it didn't. The iPhone was available only on AT&amp;T networks during the period between June 2007 and February 2011.</p>
<p>From this, they conclude that iPhones did, indeed, lead to birth rates dropping. But even taking their calculations and explanations at face value, we're mainly looking at a phenomenon involving teen girls and, to a lesser extent, women in their early 20s. The results suggest "the fertility drop is concentrated among young populations and largely operates through declines in unintended births," the authors write, adding that one of the methods of suppression may have involved greater access to information about birth control.</p>
<p>Per Myers' and Hooper's calculations, "access to the iPhone reduced births by 4.5–8.0% at ages 15–19 and 3.2–6.6% at ages 20–24." But among 25- to 29-year-olds, the reduction was just between 1 percent and 1.3 percent; among 30- to 34-year-olds, it was as little as 2.7 percent; and among 35- to 39-year-olds, it was just 1.4 percent.</p>
<p>Is alarm really quite the right response here? Because even if we accept the underlying premises and conclusions of the study—and that's a big <em>if</em>, as we'll get to in a minute—what we're looking at here seems to be more girls and women avoiding unintended pregnancy at young ages or choosing to wait until they're more emotionally, financially, or professionally ready to have kids. If the iPhone really did depress fertility in this way, I'm not convinced that's a bad thing.</p>
<h1><b>But About That Study Design</b></h1>
<p>I'm also not convinced that there's really an iPhone-to-fertility-drop pipeline at play here. Remember, this whole experiment is based on studying "counties with near-universal AT&amp;T coverage to counties with little or none over 2003–2011," as the authors put it.</p>
<p>The authors didn't measure how many people in their study areas actually had iPhones or whether birth rates actually dropped more among iPhone users. They just measured overall birth rates in areas with more or less AT&amp;T coverage.</p>
<p>There are likely <i>many</i> differences between places where A&amp;T coverage was extremely high and those where it was extremely low. More remote or rural areas would have had less coverage, while densely populated urban and suburban areas would have had more coverage. The former tend to be places where people are poorer, more religious, more isolated (including from access to birth control), have different norms, and so on. And keep in mind these were also the years of the Great Recession, which could have hit people in big cities and in small towns quite differently.</p>
<p>In short, there are all sorts of reasons independent of phones why births might have continued more apace in places with low AT&amp;T coverage.</p>
<p>The authors attempt to control for this by "reweight[ing] control counties to match treated counties on observable demographics." But even if you control for certain aspects—income and education, say—it's hard to control for differences in cultural attitudes, community norms, economic and psychological effects of the recession, political leanings, access to contraception, and everything else that sets these areas apart.</p>
<p>It becomes really unclear: Are we looking at iPhone effects, or just urban vs. rural fertility trends during the Great Recession?</p>
<p>Even the study authors admit that it may be the latter. "Given that [high coverage] counties are systematically more urban than control counties, any other forces causing urban fertility to decline relatively more than rural fertility over this period could generate the same pattern."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Some problems with this study:</p>
<p>1.) There was already a pretrend in evidence.  So they&#39;re claiming smartphones caused a pattern already in evidence.<br />2.) As others pointed out, there&#39;s confounding rural/urban issues in this analysis (it&#39;s geographic, not behavioral).<br />3.) Models&hellip;</p>
<p>&mdash; Chris Ferguson <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/17.0.2/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png" alt="🇺🇸" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/17.0.2/72x72/1f387.png" alt="🎇" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/17.0.2/72x72/1f386.png" alt="🎆" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> (@CJFerguson1111) <a href="https://x.com/CJFerguson1111/status/2064430707124978168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h1><b>Casting More Doubt on the Phones Narrative  </b></h1>
<p>The broad contours of this study just don't lend themselves to a simple and causal phones-to-fertility-drop explanation. And this becomes even more clear when you drill down a little on birth trends and phone ownership demographics.</p>
<p>For instance: There was "no effect" for black women of any age. Should we take from this that black women are somehow impervious to the effects of smartphones? Or does it perhaps suggest that maybe something else was at play? (Black women in urban areas are also more likely than white peers to be low income, so this could again hint at a socioeconomic component to all of this.)</p>
<p>Then there's the fact that birth rates began dropping before the iPhone's introduction, positioning their post-iPhone drop as a continuation of a trend. Or the fact that teen and young adult birth rates still dropped significantly in areas with low AT&amp;T coverage. For instance, "births to women in their twenties fell by 10.0% in counties without coverage but by 14.6% in counties with extensive coverage." And "teen births declined by 13.8% in counties without AT&amp;T coverage, compared to&hellip;26.0% in counties with near-universal coverage."</p>
<p>We should also think about the demographics of iPhone or smartphone ownership. Just because AT&amp;T coverage was high in a given area does not mean that ownership was high among teens or people in their early 20s, the groups for which birth rates dropped the most.</p>
<p>According to Pew Research Center data, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2013/03/13/main-findings-5/">just 23 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds had smartphones</a> in 2011. About <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/media/59657F2B8DA440A4960C0AF578EACC29.JPG">49 percent</a> of 18- to 24-year-olds did. "Smartphone ownership [was] highest among Americans in their mid-twenties through mid-thirties, as fully 58% of 25-34 year olds own a smartphone," <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2011/07/11/overview-of-smartphone-adoption/">Pew reported</a>.</p>
<p>So, smartphone ownership was highly concentrated among the groups with the lowest birth rate declines.</p>
<h1><b>Zooming Out</b></h1>
<p>It seems we're destined to discuss phones and fertility every month now. Last month, this discussion was spawned by a <i>Financial Times</i> article positing that "the most recent [birth rate] plunge appears connected with our use of technology." But <a href="https://reason.com/2026/05/18/the-smartphone-theory-of-birth-rate-decline-doesnt-hold-up/">as I pointed out then</a>, a recent <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6676839">paper on phones and fertility</a> (different than the one discussed in this post) found a depressing effect for teens, not for women generally. Also, <i>birth rates have been falling for centuries</i>.</p>
<p>Proponents of the smartphone theory of fertility decline have an answer to that second objection: Sure, fertility rates have been falling for a long time—but this time it's different.</p>
<p>"One set of factors best describes why birthrates declined toward 2 around the world in the last few decades—modernization, contraception, women's education and social freedom, etc.," <a href="https://x.com/DKThomp/status/2063968513044177104">suggests</a> Derek Thompson. "But another set of factors seems to better describe why birthrates have fallen toward 1 and below one in many places and among many groups. And smartphones belong in the second category."</p>
<p>I don't think that's entirely implausible. But it's also just conjecture; we don't have data to back this up.</p>
<p>We should also contend with the fact that in many places birth rates started falling below two in the 1970s. In the U.S., for instance, <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN?locations=US">the total fertility rate went</a> from 2.5 in 1970 to 1.9 in 1973, not rising above 2 again until 1990.</p>
<p>And late–20th century declines were often much steeper than those we've seen in recent decades. Korea's total fertility rate dropped by three whole children per woman between 1971 (when it was 4.5) and 1987 (when it was 1.5), <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN?locations=KR">according to World Bank data</a>. Since 2007, it's gone from 1.3 to 0.7 (in 2024). In the United Kingdom, the <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN?locations=GB">fertility rate went</a> from 2.9 in 1964 to 1.7 in 1977—down 1.2 kids per woman. In the most recent data, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgzdq23xpgo">it was 1.4</a>—a decline, yes, but nowhere near as steep as in the '60s to the '70s.</p>
<p>What's more, recent declines don't always line up neatly with smartphone introduction or adoption. In Italy, for instance, <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN?locations=IT">the total fertility rate went</a> from 2.4 in 1971 to 1.2 in 1995 before rising slightly, reaching 1.4, and only falling below that threshold in 2017. In Japan, <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN?locations=JP">the fertility rate went</a> from 2.2 in 1971 to 1.3 in 2005. After that, it rose again, hitting 1.4 in 2008 and remaining there until 2020, when it began to fall again (to 1.1 in 2024).</p>
<p>Around the world, birth rate data present a very murky picture, and not one easily mapped onto the smartphone-first theory of fertility decline.</p>
<h1><b>If It Is the Phones, Then Why?</b></h1>
<p>I'm not ruling out the possibility that phones have in some ways contributed to people having fewer babies. But if phones have played some role, it's worth thinking about <i>why</i>—and whether this <i>why</i> is a cause for alarm. Because there is a positive explanation, and a negative explanation.</p>
<p>In the negative scenario, we have fewer babies because phones have displaced social interactions. People are just sitting at home on social media instead of going out and <a href="https://x.com/CharlesFLehman/status/2063974128101609806">watching porn instead</a> of trying to pick up sex partners in real life. This means they have fewer opportunities to meet people and start a relationship that might lead to marriage and children, or to have an ill-planned hookup that inadvertently leads to children. And when they do meet people, they're less trusting and less receptive to them because of online toxicity and gender wars. Decreased fertility rates <a href="https://x.com/benryanwriter/status/2064137286518771733">are downstream of people being lonely, disagreeable hermits</a>.</p>
<p>It's worth noting that even in the negative scenario, not <i>all</i> of it is negative. Fewer teens hooking up out of boredom is not bad. Fewer college students having unintended pregnancies is not bad. Fewer drunken hookups that lead to oops-babies is not a bad thing.</p>
<p>In any event, there's another theory: Phones have led to <a href="https://x.com/jordanmcgillis/status/2064336507155128437">what Jordan McGillis called</a> "high-speed norm diffusion."</p>
<p>In this more positive scenario, phones have provided young people—including young people in conservative communities and countries, isolated locales, etc.—a glimpse of lives that don't follow a traditional path and still turn out just fine. They have provided women with access to feminist movements and ideals, reinforcing the idea that one need not settle for poor treatment from a partner or marriage to an unloved person just for the sake of following the script before it's too late. They have provided access to countless tales of women who have waited until their 30s or later to have children and still had children—perhaps fewer than they would have if they'd started earlier, but still, enough. They have empowered people around the world to feel like they have more of a choice about when and whether to marry and have kids. And they have provided teens and young adults in previously sheltered communities access to information about contraception and abortion.</p>
<p>Which narrative you prefer is basically just a choose-your-own-adventure-book at this point, because the data we have can't really tell us. But taken all together, I think four things about the phones and fertility debate are clear:</p>
<p>1) Any theory that tries to pin phones as the <i>primary</i> cause of the birth rate falling below replacement level (2.1) is wrong. It simply doesn't square with the trajectories of the declines.</p>
<p>2) To the extent that phones have played a role in very recent declines, it's not at all clear that the mechanism of action is negative, a cause for alarm, or something we would necessarily want to tamp back. People who say it obviously comes down to porn, or polarization, or isolation, are not magically right just because their version of events is more alarming. And any attempt to bolster support for age-verification measures, greater government suppression of online content, or other internet control regulation is opportunistic at best.</p>
<p>3) The data we have to "prove" phones have caused fertility declines do no such thing. Areas did not get high-speed connectivity at random, and people did not start adopting smartphones at random. Differences between these areas and these people are highly confounding. And there's nothing to say that smartphone users in these areas were the same ones having fewer babies.</p>
<p>4) To the extent that the data suggest phones have played a role in very recent declines, it's mostly been among the youngest cohorts, with the largest effect on teenagers—again, not necessarily something we should want to undo.</p>
<hr />
<h1>In the News</h1>
<p><b>Shrexting is not a crime. </b>"An Ohio courtroom may soon have to determine whether a blogger should face jail time for texting an image of Shrek's penis to a public official," <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/nude-shrek-text-to-ohio-state-senator-reportedly-lands-blogger-in-jail/">notes</a> <em>Reason</em>'s Meagan O'Rourke. <i></i>He was charged with telecommunications harassment. Harassment is not protected by the First Amendment. Neither is obscenity.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.fire.org/news/ohio-man-jailed-texting-shreks-penis-state-senator-your-questions-about-shrexting-answered">this does not rise to the level of harassment</a> or obscenity, argues the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). "A handful of afternoon texts—including a single image—from one easily blockable number, looks like protected speech, not criminal harassment. Especially absent any apparent request to stop." And while "the Shrek image may have been crude or vulgar&hellip;there is no serious argument Byrnes sent it to arouse anyone's sexual interest, let alone that it satisfies the <a href="https://www.fire.org/supreme-court/miller-v-california"><i>Miller</i> test</a>."</p>
<hr />
<h1>On Substack</h1>
<p><b>Should preschoolers be using iPads in the classroom?</b> Many schools seem smitten but parents are pushing back, <a href="https://www.persuasion.community/p/inside-the-anti-tech-rebellion-in">notes</a> Nicholas Smyth at Persuasion.</p>
<blockquote><p>The average parent of a young American child is now a Millennial. They remember growing up with technology, with computer class, with laptops in high school. They have cellphones, use the internet, and may even work in tech or communications. They have concerns about technology but are happy to incorporate it into their family life when it makes sense.</p>
<p>However, they are often deeply shocked when they find out that their 4 year-old is about to be given a Chromebook or an iPad upon entry to kindergarten. They think: isn't that a little young?</p>
<p>They discover that this is now common practice. According to 2022 data, 73% of K-2 classrooms have a 1-to-1 device policy. They ask: Who made this decision?</p>
<p>They discover that COVID-era tech policies, which may have been necessary during the pandemic, have not just been continued, but mysteriously ramped up. They start to ask more questions. They quickly learn that their school boards, technology directors, and superintendents have enthusiastically overseen all of this with virtually no opposition.</p></blockquote>
<p>The pushback from parents is spawning some reform, notes Smyth. In Vermont, a "right to opt out" of digital instruction and assignments is being considered in the Legislature, and Iowa approved a screen-time maximum for kindergarten through fifth graders.</p>
<hr />
<h1>Read This Thread</h1>
<p>Usually this section is reserved for things where I mean: "Read this thread because it's insightful or otherwise great." Today's is&hellip; not that. I'm Team Taylor.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Recently, Magdalene J. Taylor declared in the New York 'Times': "There has still never been a better time in human history to happily and successfully pursue heterosexuality." Despite all the grim headlines, straight Americans "have greater freedom than ever before to become whom&hellip; <a href="https://t.co/hfBm3Mqk6q">pic.twitter.com/hfBm3Mqk6q</a></p>
<p>&mdash; New York Magazine (@NYMag) <a href="https://x.com/NYMag/status/2064346942512181324?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Contrast that with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/31/opinion/heteropessimism-straight-dating-love.html">Taylor's take</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>We have all the choice in the world, including the choice to never marry, date or have sex again. We have the choice to date younger, date older, date around or date one person forever. These should be <i>our</i> personal choices, informed by our own experiences, not the product of political pressure or online rhetoric.</p>
<p>Forget the gender wars: Let's go forth with the excitement and fun we deserve. Now is the time to be hetero-optimists.</p></blockquote>
<hr />
<h1>More Sex &amp; Tech News</h1>
<p>• "The next Internet crisis may start with age verification," <a href="https://www.inc.com/heather-wilde/the-next-internet-crisis-might-start-with-age-verification/91355406">suggests</a> <em>Inc.</em> "Apps and even governments are surprisingly vulnerable to hackers, and they only become more appealing targets as they collect more identity verification data." And "as more websites that collect sensitive information are hacked and data is exposed, it can ultimately create a new internet trust crisis."</p>
<p>• "We know from experience that sex workers are the beta testers for taking away people's digital rights." Ana Ornelas of the European Sex Workers' Rights Alliance nails it in <a href="https://mashable.com/life/adult-workers-are-fighting-for-digital-privacy-security">this <i>Mashable</i> piece</a> on how sex workers are fighting against bad tech policy.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/the-smartphone-theory-of-birth-rate-decline-still-doesnt-hold-up/">The Smartphone Theory of Birth Rate Decline &lt;em&gt;Still&lt;/em&gt; Doesn&#039;t Hold Up</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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							<media:credit><![CDATA[Illustration: Midjourney/Axstokes/Dreamstime]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[An illustration of a woman walking down stairs]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[fertility-drop-cell-phones-v1]]></media:title>
		<media:thumbnail url="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2026/06/fertility-drop-cell-phones-v1-1200x675.jpg" width="1200" height="675" />
	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Gene Epstein</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/gene-epstein/</uri>
						<email>gene@thesohoforum.org</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Should ICE Deport All Illegal Aliens?			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/podcast/2026/06/10/should-ice-deport-all-illegal-aliens/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=podcast&#038;p=8385964</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T16:07:45Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T16:10:53Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Criminal Justice" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Immigration" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Migrants" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Open Borders" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="The Soho Forum Debates" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Simon Hankinson and Bryan Caplan debate immigration enforcement.]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/podcast/2026/06/10/should-ice-deport-all-illegal-aliens/">
			<![CDATA[<p>The Heritage Foundation's Simon Hankinson and George Mason University's Bryan Caplan debate the resolution, "Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should complete its mandate to deport all illegal aliens currently residing in the United States."</p>
<p>Taking the affirmative is <a href="https://www.heritage.org/staff/simon-hankinson">Hankinson</a>, a senior research fellow at the <a href="https://www.heritage.org/about-heritage/mission">Heritage Foundation</a>'s Border Security and Immigration Center and author of <a title="https://www.academicapress.com/node/703" href="https://www.academicapress.com/node/703" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>The Ten Woke Commandments—You Must Not Obey</em></a>.</p>
<p>Taking the negative is <a href="http://bcaplan.com/">Caplan</a>, a professor of economics at George Mason University. He is the author of 12 books, including the graphic novel <a title="https://openborderscomic.com/" href="https://openborderscomic.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration</em></a>.</p>
<p>The debate is moderated by Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/podcast/2026/06/10/should-ice-deport-all-illegal-aliens/">Should ICE Deport All Illegal Aliens?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		<media:credit><![CDATA[Graphic by Adani Samat]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[The Heritage Foundation's Simon Hankinson and George Mason University's Bryan Caplan]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[Deportation-Debate-Soho-Forum-26Billionaire_]]></media:title>
		<media:thumbnail url="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2026/06/Deportation-Debate-Soho-Forum-26Billionaire_-1200x675.jpg" width="1200" height="675" />
	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Eugene Volokh</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/eugene-volokh/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				No Pseudonymity for Accountant Challenging Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Disciplinary Proceedings			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/no-pseudonymity-for-accountant-challenging-public-company-accounting-oversight-board-disciplinary-proceedings/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=volokh-post&#038;p=8386303</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T16:07:22Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T15:46:58Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Free Speech" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Right of Access" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[From yesterday's D.C. Circuit decision in Doe v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson, Justin Walker, and&#8230;
The post No Pseudonymity for Accountant Challenging Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Disciplinary Proceedings appeared first on Reason.com.
]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/no-pseudonymity-for-accountant-challenging-public-company-accounting-oversight-board-disciplinary-proceedings/">
			<![CDATA[<p>From yesterday's D.C. Circuit decision in <a href="https://media.cadc.uscourts.gov/judgments/docs/2026/06/24-5195-2177656.pdf"><em>Doe v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board</em></a> (Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson, Justin Walker, and Bradley Garcia):</p>
<blockquote><p>Plaintiff John Doe—an accountant facing disciplinary proceedings before the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board—brought suit in district court, raising wide-ranging challenges to the Board's structure and operations. As part of that action, Doe sought leave to proceed under a pseudonym. The district court denied the motion. We affirm&hellip;.</p>
<p>Doe asserts a privacy interest in the fact that he is the subject of a Board disciplinary proceeding because disclosure of that fact would harm his professional reputation by "brand[ing] him an outlier—'damaged goods'—among accounting professionals." Doe's privacy concerns are different in kind from those that "traditionally warrant pseudonymity," which typically involve " 'intimate issues such as sexual activities, reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, medical concerns, or the identity of abused minors.'" &hellip;</p>
<p>[And, a]s the district court explained, Doe relied only on general statements about the potential harms of public charges, and he did not submit any declarations to support those claims. The district court's approach is consistent with our precedents, which underscore that movants must make a "colorable showing of injury to a privacy interest" by offering something "concrete to establish that revealing [their] identity would cause" some "cognizable harm." That showing could take the form, for instance, of a declaration explaining the "substantial risk" that a "privacy injury" "<em>would</em> occur." The district court reasonably concluded that Doe's motion was insufficient on this front, as Doe "merely asserted" he would suffer a privacy injury without "specifically explain[ing] why harm was likely to result." &hellip;</p></blockquote>
<p><span id="more-8386303"></span></p>
<blockquote><p>[Courts should also] "look[] to the identity of the opposing party"—whether the defendant is a private or governmental actor—"as a tool for measuring the public interest in transparent litigation." Both sides agree that the Board should be considered a governmental actor for purposes of the pseudonymity analysis, and the district court in turn found this factor to cut against Doe because the presence of a governmental defendant "favor[s] pseudonymity only when plaintiffs request individualized relief." Doe contends that he seeks only "modest, individualized, and self-protective relief" because he requests an injunction preventing the Board from proceeding against him.</p>
<p>The district court correctly explained, however, that Doe's arguments would clearly apply beyond this case: Doe raises sweeping challenges to the Board's operations and existence that are "not grounded in his specific circumstances." &hellip; [P]seudonymity is less likely to be appropriate where "the party asking to proceed anonymously seeks to alter the operation of public law both as applied to it and, by virtue of the legal arguments presented, to other parties going forward." &hellip;</p>
<p>{Doe argues that pseudonymity is proper because disclosure of his identity could "chill or discourage people from exercising their core First Amendment rights" to challenge government actions in court. The district court reasonably rejected that argument, as it would "make just about any plaintiff entitled to pseudonym status." We have similarly not been swayed by suggestions that the fourth factor should favor pseudonymity where disclosure could "chill litigants from suing the government for constitutional violations."} &hellip;</p>
<p>Next, Doe argues that the district court erred in declining to weigh his likelihood of success on the merits in the pseudonymity analysis&hellip;. [But o]ur published opinions on the subject have never suggested that merits questions are relevant to the pseudonymity issue. Privacy concerns—not the underlying merits—drive the pseudonymity analysis, and requiring courts to delve into the merits to resolve a pseudonymity motion would be exceedingly burdensome&hellip;.</p>
<p>Finally, Doe points to provisions of the Board's organic statute that, in his view, guarantee the confidentiality of Board investigations and disciplinary proceedings. On Doe's theory, those provisions "weigh heavily in favor" of pseudonymity because they reflect a congressional judgment that the subjects of Board adjudications face "irreparable reputational and career damage" if their identities are publicly disclosed. <em>See Doe v. MIT</em> (1st Cir. 2022) (observing that pseudonymity is "ordinarily" appropriate in "suits that are bound up with a prior proceeding made confidential by law").</p>
<p>Several provisions of 15 U.S.C. § 7215—which governs Board investigations and adjudications—address confidentiality. Section 7215(c)(2) provides that "[h]earings under this section shall not be public, unless otherwise ordered by the Board for good cause shown, with the consent of the parties to such hearing." Section 7215(b)(5)(A) further directs that</p>
<p>all documents and information prepared or received by or specifically for the Board, and deliberations of the Board and its employees and agents, in connection with &hellip; an investigation under this section, shall be confidential and privileged as an evidentiary matter (and shall not be subject to civil discovery or other legal process) in any proceeding in any Federal or State court or administrative agency, and shall be exempt from disclosure, in the hands of an agency or establishment of the Federal Government, under [FOIA], or otherwise, unless and until presented in connection with a public proceeding or released in accordance with subsection (c).</p>
<p>Last, Section 7215(d)(1) explains that if the Board "imposes a disciplinary sanction," it "shall report the sanction to" "the public." {If the target of a Board proceeding seeks SEC review, the sanction is automatically stayed, so there is no public disclosure of the sanction unless and until the SEC affirms the Board's decision.}</p>
<p>We conclude, however, that these provisions do not cover the identities of subjects of Board proceedings but instead the documents and information generated in the Board's investigations and the contents of Board hearings. As noted, Section 7215(c)(2) makes Board "[h]earings" presumptively confidential, while Section 7215(b)(5)(A) extends confidentiality protections to certain "documents and information." It is hardly natural to regard a person's name and the fact of a Board proceeding against him as "documents and information prepared or received by or specifically for the Board." And although in the abstract a name might fall within the "dictionary definition" of "information," "the context"—Section 7215(b)(5)(A)'s focus on information "prepared or received by" the Board "in connection with &hellip; an investigation"—"tugs strongly in favor of a narrower reading."</p>
<p>The title of Section 7215(b)(5)—"Use of documents"—also fits that narrower reading. And our conclusion is reinforced by the contrast between Section 7215(b)(5)(A) and other statutory confidentiality protections—such as those in the SEC whistleblower scheme, which Doe suggests is analogous—that explicitly refer to protecting individual identities. <em>See</em> 15 U.S.C. § 78u-6(h)(2)(A) (providing that "the Commission shall not disclose any information &hellip; which could reasonably be expected to reveal the identity of a whistleblower"). The text and context of Section 7215 thus demonstrate that parties like Doe do not enjoy a statutory right to pseudonymity&hellip;.</p></blockquote>
<p>Jeffrey A. Lamken and Robert K. Kry (MoloLamken LLP) and Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., Elaine J. Goldenberg, Ginger D. Anders, and Rachel G. Miller-Ziegler (Munger, Tolles &amp; Olson LLP) represent PCAOB.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/no-pseudonymity-for-accountant-challenging-public-company-accounting-oversight-board-disciplinary-proceedings/">No Pseudonymity for Accountant Challenging Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Disciplinary Proceedings</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
						</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Jeff Luse</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/jeff-luse/</uri>
						<email>jeff.luse@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				The Next AI Success Story Might Be Nepal			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/the-next-ai-success-story-might-be-nepal/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386265</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T15:33:14Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T15:35:01Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Artificial Intelligence" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Communism" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Economic Development" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Electricity" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Energy &amp; Environment" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Technology" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="China" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Foreign Aid" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="India" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Nepal" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[A market-friendly ruling party, abundant energy, and ample talent could jumpstart a new tech hub in the Himalayas. ]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/the-next-ai-success-story-might-be-nepal/">
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		<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the United States, the AI boom is bringing on unprecedented levels of wealth and productivity. It appears that a similar trend is happening in other parts of the world.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 2025, Nepal exported more than $1 billion in I.T. services for the first time, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Kathmandu Post</span></i> <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/national/2026/02/25/nepal-s-it-exports-near-1-billion-can-the-momentum-be-sustained"><span style="font-weight: 400;">reported</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> earlier this year. This is more than double the amount it exported only three years ago, according to the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Post</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, with growth driven by an influx of software development, I.T. and AI services, and "home loan data processing for Australian companies."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">By Western standards, $1 billion in I.T. services is not especially impressive and is comparable to the value of a small tech startup. But for Nepal, whose GDP is about $45 billion (or </span><a href="https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDPDPC@WEO/NPL"><span style="font-weight: 400;">$1,550 per capita</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">) and whose top economic sectors are tourism and remittance payments from expats, the feat is impressive. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The growth of the country's tech sector is not surprising to Pukar Hamal, CEO of SecurityPal. "I think we're at the very early parts of a hockey stick curve here," he tells </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reason</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Entrepreneurs like Hamal, a Nepali immigrant now living in San Francisco, are an important factor in the country's upward trajectory. Since launching in 2020, SecurityPal—which helps automate the due diligence process of commercial transactions—has quickly found success with an impressive roster of clients, including </span><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2025/01/29/this-ai-startup-in-nepal-is-helping-figma-and-openai-close-their-biggest-sales/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">OpenAI</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><a href="https://www.securitypalhq.com/case-studies/grammarly-saves-hours-on-security-questionnaires"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Grammarly</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. In 2025, Hamal decided to expand the company's operations by opening an office in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital city, which employs close to 200 people.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite the country's success in 2025, Hamal says Nepal "is a little bit behind" and needs "to play catch-up." </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some of this catching up is underway through an initiative called Silicon Peaks. This "ecosystem," as Hamal calls it, aims to attract investment into Nepalese tech companies, give Western firms a faster path to access Nepal's talent market, and recruit outside corporations to expand their footprint in Nepal, which can be very beneficial to their operations. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">By opening an office in Nepal, companies can tap into a rich pipeline of workers who have received a Western education—many students from the country's STEM-focused education system go on to study at American universities. And with </span><a href="https://siliconpeaks.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">42 percent of the global population and 35 percent of its GDP</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> only a direct flight away from Kathmandu, the country's location is hard to beat.  </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nepal's natural resources also give firms an answer to some of the energy and water concerns, </span><a href="https://reason.com/2026/05/20/data-centers-use-less-water-than-almond-farms-and-do-more-good/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">however unfounded they might be</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, that dominate the data center discussion in the U.S. and </span><a href="https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/backlash-against-data-centres-is-spilling-into-french-municipal-election-races-2026-03-13/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">other Western nations</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Thanks to its unique topography and climate, Nepal's power grid </span><a href="https://www.iea.org/countries/nepal/electricity"><span style="font-weight: 400;">runs almost exclusively on carbon-free hydropower</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which is a </span><a href="https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/Nepal/electricity_prices/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">fraction of the cost </span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">of electricity produced in the United States.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"It's a country that's sort of flush with water," says Hamal. "It almost has too much water." </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Regardless of these factors, Nepal's data center industry is still in its infancy. Kathmandu currently has 10 operational data centers, </span><a href="https://www.datacentermap.com/nepal/kathmandu/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">according</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to Data Center Map, all of which are only a couple of megawatts in size. Given Nepal's lack of computing power or need, the growth of its data centers will probably be contingent on satisfying regional demand from its neighbors, China and India.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Still, Nepal's potential seems to be resonating with investors and </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fortune </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">500 firms such as Coca-Cola and Mastercard, which have tech operations there today. Meanwhile, over $200 million "has been deployed directly into Silicon Peaks companies," </span><a href="https://siliconpeaks.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">according</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to the initiative's website. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tech investments aside, the country's transition to a more market-oriented economy is reason enough to feel optimistic about its future. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Last year, the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency </span><a href="https://kathmandupost.com/national/2025/03/12/in-nepal-us-pulls-the-plug-on-aid-projects-worth-rs46-12-billion"><span style="font-weight: 400;">severed nearly $330 million worth of USAID funding to the country</span></a>, a large chunk of which had gone to sexual health nonprofits and farming projects<span style="font-weight: 400;">. While the funding cuts have had <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/u-s-reneged-aid-commitments-nepal-s-malnourished-children-are-paying-price">real, negative impacts</a> on some people, the economy as a whole seems to be responding positively: </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">From July 2025 to April 2026, average inflation reached 2.39 percent, down from 4.57 percent over the same period a year prior, </span><a href="https://english.nepalnews.com/s/business/everything-you-need-to-know-about-nepals-economy-in-the-first-nine-months-of-fy-2025-26/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">according</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nepal News</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Exports and imports also increased, but so too did prices, which rose to 4.47 percent (up from 3.39 percent a year earlier). </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As its economy is looking up, Nepal's political future is too. In March 2026, the country </span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c178jq791w4o"><span style="font-weight: 400;">voted out</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the ruling communist party—one of many leftist parties that have had a grip on Nepalese politics for years. In its place, the more market-friendly, left-of-center Rastriya Swatantra Party has come into power, promising to weed out corruption and </span><a href="https://risingnepaldaily.com/news/76932"><span style="font-weight: 400;">increase</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Nepal's exports of tech services. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I'm hoping that the taste of [the] free market, compounding growth, [and] technology-driven economic growth—which can happen quite rapidly, if you play your cards right—will help the country see that they don't need to embrace this communist system," says Hamal. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Indeed, if you ask any entrepreneur—or almost any historian—they'll tell you that when a country embraces free markets and shuns central planning, its citizens and economy benefit. Nepal's not a tech giant—at least not yet—but its trajectory is encouraging and seems to indicate the tiny country could punch well above its weight in the AI era. </span></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/the-next-ai-success-story-might-be-nepal/">The Next AI Success Story Might Be Nepal</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
							<media:credit><![CDATA[Silicon Peaks/Midjourney]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[A data center, with the Himalayas in the background]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[Silicon-peaks-Data-Center-6-8]]></media:title>
		<media:thumbnail url="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2026/06/Silicon-peaks-Data-Center-6-8-1200x675.jpg" width="1200" height="675" />
	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Ilya Somin</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/ilya-somin/</uri>
						<email>isomin@gmu.edu</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				My New Lawfare Article on "Why Callais Doesn't Justify Court-Packing"			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/my-new-lawfare-article-on-why-callais-doesnt-justify-court-packing/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=volokh-post&#038;p=8386294</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T16:06:18Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T15:22:48Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Voting Rights" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Court Packing" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Donald Trump" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Race Discrimination" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Supreme Court" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Court-packing would cause great harm, including by boosting power-grabbing presidents like Trump. Callais's flaws are better addressed by other means.]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/my-new-lawfare-article-on-why-callais-doesnt-justify-court-packing/">
			<![CDATA[<p>Today, <em>Lawfare</em> published my article "<a href="https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/why-callais-doesn-t-justify-court-packing">Callais Doesn't Justify Court-Packing</a>." Here is an excerpt summarizing key points:</p>
<blockquote><p>The Supreme Court's recent decision in <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-109_21o3.pdf" data-sf-ec-immutable=""><em>Louisiana v. Callais</em></a>—barring nearly all use of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) to create majority-minority congressional districts—has been met with outrage by many on the political left and led to <a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/democrats-renew-calls-us-supreme-court-overhaul-after-voting-rights-decision" data-sf-ec-immutable="">renewed calls for court-packing</a>. For example Rep. <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/reform-supreme-court" data-sf-ec-immutable="">Ro Khanna</a> (D-Calif.) has said that "[w]e need to expand this morally bankrupt court from nine to 13." House Minority Leader <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/reform-supreme-court" data-sf-ec-immutable="">Hakeem Jeffries</a> (D-N.Y.) has said that "everything should be on the table," presumably including court-packing. Former vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kamala-harris-supreme-court-redistricting-b2978011.html" data-sf-ec-immutable="">expressed similar sentiments</a>. A number of other Democrats <a href="https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/05/16/2023/sen-markey-rep-johnson-announce-legislation-to-expand-supreme-court-restore-its-legitimacy-alongside-sen-smith-reps-bush-and-schiff" data-sf-ec-immutable="">advanced court-packing plans</a> even before <em>Callais</em>.</p>
<p>The <em>Callais</em> decision has some flaws. And the conservative majority on the Supreme Court has made some serious errors in other cases, such as <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2024/07/03/thoughts-on-the-trump-immunity-decision/" data-sf-ec-immutable="">the Trump presidential immunity decision</a>. But court-packing remains a dangerous idea that Americans across the political spectrum should reject. <em>Callais</em> is not without merit, and—at the very least—not as bad as its most strident critics claim. More generally, the Supreme Court is far from being a pure "MAGA" Court and has, in fact, constrained the Trump administration's abuses on several important fronts, and has allowed lower courts to constrain it elsewhere. Court-packing would create a slippery slope to the destruction of judicial review, thereby benefiting power-grabbing presidents like Trump, and imperiling constitutional rights, particularly those of minority groups. To the extent <em>Callais </em>is a problem, it can be better addressed by steps such as banning gerrymandering. There are also better remedies for various other shortcomings of the Court, such as enacting term limits and imposing an ethics code.</p></blockquote>
<p>The rest of the article covers these issues in greater detail.</p>
<p>By coincidence, this is my second popular media article this week that is likely to annoy the left more than the right (along with yesterday's <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/06/09/mamdani-housing-plan-has-fifth-amendment-problem/"><em>Washington Post</em> article</a> critiquing NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani's badly flawed and unconstitutional housing policy). I'm sure I will get back to the business of annoying the right soon enough!</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/my-new-lawfare-article-on-why-callais-doesnt-justify-court-packing/">My New Lawfare Article on &quot;Why Callais Doesn&#039;t Justify Court-Packing&quot;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
						</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Nick Gillespie</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/nick-gillespie/</uri>
						<email>gillespie@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Why So Many People Feel Lost			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/podcast/2026/06/10/why-so-many-people-feel-lost/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=podcast&#038;p=8384391</id>
		<updated>2026-06-09T19:53:09Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T15:00:32Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Freedom" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Religion" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="F.A. Hayek" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Happiness" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Individualism" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Philosophy" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Pluralism" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Secular Humanism" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Rebecca Goldstein discusses the search for meaning, the roots of modern discontent, and how people build purpose in a secular age.]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/podcast/2026/06/10/why-so-many-people-feel-lost/">
			<![CDATA[<p>Human beings are "creatures <i>of</i> matter who long <i>to</i> matter," says novelist and philosopher <a href="https://rebeccagoldstein.com/">Rebecca Goldstein</a>, whose new book is <i><span draggable="true"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1324096853/reasonmagazinea-20/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us</a></span></i>. She talks with Nick Gillespie about how all humans struggle to figure out how to lead lives that justify our existence, both in the eyes of others and ourselves, and she describes remarkable cases of people who rescued children discarded during China's one-child policy era, atheists who led leper colonies so the afflicted could die with dignity, and former neo-Nazis who seek to reform racist skinheads.</p>
<p>A MacArthur "genius" award winner who has taught at Harvard University, New York University, and Rutgers University, among other places, Goldstein has published highly acclaimed novels such as <i>The Mind-Body Problem</i> and <i>36 Arguments for the Existence of God,</i> and nonfiction works including <i>Plato at the Googleplex</i> and <i>Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity. </i></p>
<p><i>The Mattering Instinct </i>investigates what happens when inherited authorities—church, state, family, tribe—lose their power to dictate meaning and individuals must fend for themselves, typically employing strategies she calls transcendence, competition, social belonging, and heroic striving. She invokes Friedrich Hayek's <span draggable="true"><a href="https://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/hykKnw.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">"knowledge problem"</a></span> to illuminate the dispersed and dynamic qualities of how we all create "mattering projects"—lives worth living—in a world that offers us more and more choice across virtually all areas of activity. Drawing deeply on the philosophical roots of individualism and liberalism, Goldstein offers a moral psychology of freedom, a way to think about individual dignity, pluralism, and self-authorship without devolving into either nihilism or top-down moralism.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>0:00—What is the mattering instinct?</p>
<p>4:30—Age, class, and the crisis of meaning</p>
<p>8:46—How do history and technology affect mattering?</p>
<p>10:59—Secularism and mattering</p>
<p>15:00—The four archetypes</p>
<p>27:14—Pursuit of flourishing</p>
<p>32:43—Psychology of freedom</p>
<p>35:43—Frank Meeink</p>
<p>42:50—Lou Xiaoying</p>
<p>51:29—Existential angst</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/podcast/2026/06/10/why-so-many-people-feel-lost/">Why So Many People Feel Lost</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
					<link href="https://reasontv-video.s3.amazonaws.com/reasontv_audio_8384391.mp3" rel="enclosure" length="84319692" type="audio/mpeg" />
		<media:credit><![CDATA[Illustration: Adani Samat]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[Rebecca Newberger Goldstein is on the left. Nick Gillespie is on the right. Bold text in between them reads "Crisis of Meaning."]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[TRI-Rebecca-6-4-B_]]></media:title>
		<media:thumbnail url="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2026/05/TRI-Rebecca-6-4-B_-1200x675.jpg" width="1200" height="675" />
	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Tosin Akintola</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/tosin-akintola/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Mitch McConnell's Hemp Ban Betrays the Industry He Helped Create			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/mitch-mcconnells-hemp-ban-betrays-the-industry-he-helped-create/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386171</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T22:26:27Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T14:45:07Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Cannabinomics" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Drug Legalization" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Drug Policy" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Drugs" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Synthetic Drugs" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Hemp" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Mitch McConnell" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Federal prohibition of hemp-derived THC products would destroy a $37.5 billion industry to solve a problem states are already handling.]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/mitch-mcconnells-hemp-ban-betrays-the-industry-he-helped-create/">
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										alt="A sign banning hemp | Illustration: Midjourney"
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		<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When Sen. Mitch McConnell (R–Ky.) introduced the Hemp Farming Act of 2018, which legalized hemp nationwide, he </span><a href="https://www.kyfb.com/federation/newsroom/senators-introduce-bipartisan-bill-to-legalize-hemp/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">claimed</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the legislation would allow states to "conduct their own oversight plans" and "give the hemp industry the tools" to "create jobs and new opportunities" across the nation. McConnell neglected to mention that those jobs and opportunities had to align with his narrow definition of acceptable hemp uses.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Last November, McConnell codified his disapproval of the hemp industry's success with an amendment to the </span><a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5371/text"><span style="font-weight: 400;">government funding bill</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> passed that month. The provision <a href="https://reason.com/2025/11/24/psychoactive-hemp-products-will-be-federally-prohibited-in-a-year-unless-congress-intervenes/">bans</a> the sale of any "hemp-derived cannabinoid product" with more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container. The ban, which takes effect this November, will prohibit the sale of edibles, tinctures, beverages, and vape cartridges containing hemp-derived THC.</span></p>
<p>The 2018 farm bill's <a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48637">definition</a> of hemp includes any part of the cannabis plant containing less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. The definition also includes "all hemp derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers," as long as they contain less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC. That legalized a variety of <a href="https://reason.com/2025/05/23/texas-bans-delta-8-thc-which-is-only-popular-because-of-prohibition/" data-mrf-link="https://reason.com/2025/05/23/texas-bans-delta-8-thc-which-is-only-popular-because-of-prohibition/">hemp-derived products</a> containing delta-8 THC, an isomer with effects similar to those of delta-9 THC, or tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, which converts to delta-9 THC when heated.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For years, such products, including drinks sold by liquor stores and other retailers, have been widely available across the country, accounting for a large share of the hemp industry's sales</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">. McConnell's ban is expected to wipe out </span><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/13/congress-thc-hemp-ban.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">95 percent</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of the hemp industry's </span><a href="https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/A-Preliminary-Assessment-of-U.S.-Cannabinoid-Market-Growth-03-15-26-public-facing.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400;">$37.5 billion</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> retail market. It is also sure to significantly reduce jobs in an industry that, according to the cannabis and hemp research firm Whitney Economics, <a href="https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/A-Preliminary-Assessment-of-U.S.-Cannabinoid-Market-Growth-03-15-26-public-facing.pdf">employs</a> more than 375,000 people.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture <a href="https://esmis.nal.usda.gov/sites/default/release-files/795862/hempan26.pdf">reports</a>, the value of industrial hemp production reached $739 million, a 64 percent increase over 2024 and a record high.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Thanks to the ban on hemp-derived THC, farmers and manufacturers will have a lot of inventory and fewer avenues to offload their product.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In an effort to keep the multibillion-dollar industry from collapsing, lawmakers have proposed amendments to various bills that would "postpone implementation" of the ban or "create an entirely new regulatory and tax structure for hemp-derived THC products," <em>The Hill</em> </span><a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5912845-hemp-derived-intoxicants-congress/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">reports</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rep. Andy Barr (R–Ky.), who is heavily favored to replace the retiring McConnell in the Senate, has announced his own legislation to regulate the industry, aptly called the </span><a href="https://amendments-rules.house.gov/amendments/BARR_144_xml260529091653809.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lawful Hemp Protection Act</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. The bill would ban synthetic cannabinoids and direct the Food and Drug Administration to set serving size and potency limits for hemp-derived products.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Facing the threat of extinction, the hemp industry has </span><a href="https://hempsupporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Hemp-365-Release-11.13.25.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400;">signaled</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> its willingness to submit to federal regulation. It supports bills—including the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3474">Cannabinoid Safety and Regulation Act</a>, introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden (D–Ore.) in December, and the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7212">Hemp Enforcement, Modernization, and Protection Act</a>, introduced by Rep. Morgan Griffith (R–Va.) in January—that would set minimum age requirements, establish standards for manufacturing and labeling, and ban synthetic products.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">McConnell has defended his opposition to psychoactive hemp derivatives as an attempt to "keep these dangerous products out of the hands of children," </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Louisville Public Media <a href="https://www.lpm.org/news/2025-11-11/mcconnell-paul-clash-over-senate-provision-that-critics-say-will-destroy-us-hemp-industry">reports</a>. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">As evidence of the threat posed by these products, he <a href="https://nkytribune.com/2025/08/mcconnell-speaks-on-senate-floor-about-protecting-childrens-health-and-support-for-industrial-hemp/">has argued</a> that the colorful packaging and "candy-like products"</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong> </strong>are misleading, leading kids to ingest synthetic THC that's often "more potent than marijuana."</span></p>
<p>There's also <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/2022/07/study-shows-widespread-mislabeling-of-cbd-content-occurs-for-over-the-counter-products">concern</a> that dosage, labelling, and ingredients vary across the industry, leaving consumers unaware of what they're taking.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That concern seems to be well founded. According to a 2023 </span><a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10369762/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">study</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Journal of Cannabis Research</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">,</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> 96 percent of hemp products were under the legal limit for delta-9 THC, but 66 percent listed the wrong dosage. The study also found that manufacturers provided lab reports for 85 percent of the products, although 71 percent of the analyses did not "check for impurities."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Such issues, of course, won't be resolved by driving intoxicating hemp products underground. To the contrary, the black market is notorious for uncertain quality and purity. And like marijuana prohibition, McConnell's crusade against hemp will likely create a black market for the products he wants to ban.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In any event, a federal ban is a heavy-handed way to protect consumers from the small percentage of potentially harmful products. Hemp products with any detectable amount of THC are already regulated at the state level, the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University <a href="https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/mapping-hemp-products-legal-status-across-us-states">notes</a>, and several states have age and advertising restrictions</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Even in states with less stringent laws, such as North Carolina, the industry tends to regulate itself. In Raleigh, many breweries, pubs, and restaurants </span><a href="https://raleighmag.com/2025/03/27/thc-cbd-beverages/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">choose</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to restrict the sale of THC-infused products to customers 21 or older, despite a state law that sets a minimum age of 18.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead of creating a new regulatory regime, federal lawmakers could recognize the rights of adults to choose what they consume. But it seems that lawmakers have learned little from the misadventures of marijuana prohibition.</span></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/mitch-mcconnells-hemp-ban-betrays-the-industry-he-helped-create/">Mitch McConnell&#039;s Hemp Ban Betrays the Industry He Helped Create</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
							<media:credit><![CDATA[Illustration: Midjourney]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[A sign banning hemp]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[06.08.26-v1]]></media:title>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Robby Soave</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/robby-soave/</uri>
						<email>robby.soave@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<author>
			<name>Amber Duke</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/amber-duke2/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Scott Pelley Goes Off on Bari Weiss: 'CBS News Is on Fire'			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/video/2026/06/10/scott-pelley-goes-off-on-bari-weiss-cbs-news-is-on-fire/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=video&#038;p=8386229</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T18:00:40Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T14:00:53Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Free Speech" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Media" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Media Criticism" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Robby Soave and Amber Duke discuss the recent drama between Scott Pelley and Bari Weiss at CBS. ]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/video/2026/06/10/scott-pelley-goes-off-on-bari-weiss-cbs-news-is-on-fire/">
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										alt="Robby Soave and Amber Duke talk about the feud at CBS with Scott Pelley | Illustration: Adani Samat"
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		<p>On this segment of <em><a href="https://youtu.be/y9U7X0VB8MQ">Free Media</a>, </em>Senior Editor Robby Soave and <em>Daily Caller </em>Editor in Chief Amber Duke discuss the turmoil at CBS surrounding its flagship news program, <em>60 Minutes</em>, as the network faces internal backlash and questions about editorial independence after Bari Weiss took over the network.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/video/2026/06/10/scott-pelley-goes-off-on-bari-weiss-cbs-news-is-on-fire/">Scott Pelley Goes Off on Bari Weiss: &#039;CBS News Is on Fire&#039;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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							<media:credit><![CDATA[Illustration: Adani Samat]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[Robby Soave and Amber Duke talk about the feud at CBS with Scott Pelley]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[FM-6-9-C]]></media:title>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Robby Soave</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/robby-soave/</uri>
						<email>robby.soave@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<author>
			<name>Amber Duke</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/amber-duke2/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				President Trump Storms Out of NBC Interview			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/video/2026/06/10/president-trump-storms-out-of-nbc-interview/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=video&#038;p=8386213</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T18:00:30Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T13:45:20Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Endless War" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Donald Trump" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Iran" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Media" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Media Criticism" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Pressed on election fraud claims and a proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, the president abruptly ended a tense exchange with NBC’s Kristen Welker.]]></summary>
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										alt="Robby Soave and Amber Duke discuss how Trump stormed out of an interview with NBC | Illustration: Adani Samat"
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		<p>On this segment of <em><a href="https://youtu.be/THx71ki2Yt8" data-mrf-link="https://youtu.be/xbYyAcLwSi4" data-mrf-recirculation-id="Article Body_0">Free Media</a>, </em>Senior Editor Robby Soave and <em>Daily Caller </em>Editor in Chief Amber Duke react to Donald Trump storming out of an NBC interview after clashing with host Kristen Welker. Before calling it quits, the two discussed how the president did not keep his promise of "no new wars," and he called Welker "crooked."</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/video/2026/06/10/president-trump-storms-out-of-nbc-interview/">President Trump Storms Out of NBC Interview</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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							<media:credit><![CDATA[Illustration: Adani Samat]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[Robby Soave and Amber Duke discuss how Trump stormed out of an interview with NBC]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[FM-6-9-B]]></media:title>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Liz Wolfe</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/liz-wolfe/</uri>
						<email>liz.wolfe@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Maine Kampf			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/maine-kampf/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386078</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T13:26:46Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T13:30:27Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Politics" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Iran" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Maine" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Reason Roundup" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Trump Administration" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Plus: Risky play, strikes on Iran, Steve Hilton advances, and more...]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/maine-kampf/">
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										alt="Graham Platner | Graham Platner/Facebook"
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		<p><strong>Apparently neither party has any standards: </strong>Graham Platner, a Democrat, won his primary for Senate up in Maine and will now face sitting Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, this November.</p>

<p>Platner has tried to paint himself as an everyman oyster farmer and Marine combat veteran (both technically true), but he is perhaps better described as a "<a href="https://www.joshbarro.com/p/low-conscientiousness-losers-are">low-conscientiousness loser</a>," in the words of <em>Very Serious </em>writer Josh Barro.</p>
<p>It would be one thing if Platner's nascent political career had been plagued by just one scandal. Or just two scandals. You might take issue with his Nazi tattoo—a skull-and-crossbones design called a Totenkopf, that he got with other Marines in Croatia back in 2007, that he has repeatedly claimed he didn't know the significance of. (His former girlfriend, Lyndsey Fifield, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/04/us/politics/platner-maine-senate-girlfriends-relationships.html">begs to differ</a>, saying Platner used to frequently joke about his Nazi tattoo.) Or maybe the fact that he has a history of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/04/us/politics/platner-maine-senate-girlfriends-relationships.html">roughing up his girlfriends</a> a bit. Or <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/graham-platners-wife-flagged-sexually-explicit-texts-to-his-senate-campaign-628ec832">cheating on his wife</a> by sexting other women. Or his weird Reddit comments, ("<a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/01/us-news/graham-platner-still-has-an-active-account-on-kik-app-where-he-allegedly-sexted-while-married/">You don't have much experience with Latin American hookers, do you?</a>") <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/graham-platners-wife-flagged-sexually-explicit-texts-to-his-senate-campaign-628ec832">per</a> <em>The Wall Street Journal.</em> Or the fact that he was a Redditor at all.</p>
<p>"Graham Platner doesn't work for a living," <a href="https://www.joshbarro.com/p/low-conscientiousness-losers-are">notes</a> Barro. "As <em><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/15/us/politics/platner-maine-senate-working-class.html">The New York Times</a></em><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/15/us/politics/platner-maine-senate-working-class.html"> reports</a>, the bulk of his income comes from a military disability pension of approximately $60,000 a year. The pension doesn't mean he's too disabled to work—he is, after all, currently seeking the job of U.S. Senator—but his recent non-campaign endeavors seem more like hobbies than a career. He runs an oyster farm that principally sells oysters to his mother's restaurant. He earned a small stipend as his town's harbor master: $3,000 last year. He lives in a $205,000 house that he bought with a $200,000 loan from his father."</p>
<p>It's kind of wild that Democratic strategists think Platner is their guy. The one to beat Collins, the one to appeal to Maine's regular voters, the one who can—potentially as early as next year—effectively work in the Senate. (No wonder Congress can't get anything smart done.) But this formula appears to be working again and again: "Jay Jones, another similarly 'imperfect' candidate, managed to get elected attorney general of Virginia last year despite <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/virginia-residents-jail-time-reckless-driving-jay-jones-community-service-virginia-democrat-attorney-general-candidate-new-kent-county-speeding">revelations that he was arrested for driving 46 miles an hour over the speed limit</a> and wished death on the children of one of his Republican colleagues," <a href="https://www.joshbarro.com/p/low-conscientiousness-losers-are">adds</a> Barro.</p>
<p>We're in a bit of an era of the young, underqualified candidates who haven't worked so many real jobs—Zohran Mamdani, Spencer Pratt, Graham Platner, Beto O'Rourke—doing better than expected. (Other scrappy young upstarts, like James Talarico and Jon Ossoff, seem wiser, intent on racking up experience in government before advancing.) It seems like the success of the Mamdanis and Platners of the world has more to do with the unpopularity of their opponents than anything they themselves did right. As well as, in Mamdani's case, the fact that his upper-middle-class champagne socialist energy is rather welcome among many New York City voters who see themselves in him. And in Platner's case, he's just an actual Democrat running in a pretty blue state against a squishy Republican. Any warm body would probably do.</p>
<hr />
<p><strong><em>Scenes from New York: </em></strong>Highly recommend riding the ferry to Governors Island if you have little kids and a thirst for E.R. visits (as I do).</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">What if we returned some risk—and some old-skool adventure!—to our playgrounds? The Yard, on Governor&#39;s Island, experiments w this concept. (&quot;What is the cost to making things as safe as possible rather than as safe as needed?&quot; &quot;Children are fine without advice/suggestions.&quot;) <a href="https://t.co/lAgfbcjWlu">pic.twitter.com/lAgfbcjWlu</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Liz Wolfe (@LizWolfeReason) <a href="https://x.com/LizWolfeReason/status/2064664683580211669?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<hr />
<h2>QUICK HITS</h2>
<ul>
<li>Inflation ticks up higher:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING: May CPI inflation rises to 4.2%, the highest level since April 2023.</p>
<p>Core CPI inflation also rises to 2.9%, the highest since September 2025.</p>
<p>Inflation in the US is officially back above 4% and more than double the Fed&#39;s target.</p>
<p>Odds of Fed rate hikes are rising.</p>
<p>&mdash; The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) <a href="https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2064686855317041300?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<ul>
<li>That helicopter I mentioned yesterday that was <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/apache-helicopter-crash-coast-oman-4de26c6d">downed near Oman</a>? The U.S. is blaming it on Iran and striking in retribution. "Iran said it had launched attack drones against U.S. naval targets in Bahrain and fired missiles at American military facilities in Jordan," <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/06/10/world/iran-war-trump-us/heres-the-latest?smid=url-share">reports</a> <em>The New York Times.</em></li>
<li>I went on <em>The Reason Roundtable </em>and talked crime, Spencer Pratt, AI use cases, and Martin Scorsese's <em>Mean Streets </em>(1973). Something for everyone:</li>
</ul>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="Do Democrats Still Have a Big City Crime Problem?" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2OHwuPNkpZ0?start=6&feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<ul>
<li>"The $31 trillion Treasury market has an unequivocal message for Kevin Warsh's Federal Reserve: Interest rates aren't high enough," <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-09/treasury-market-is-telling-kevin-warsh-rates-need-to-be-higher?srnd=homepage-americas">reports</a> <em>Bloomberg. "</em>Yields on policy-sensitive <a class="media-ui-Link_link-tVkXhPLPofs-" style="background-color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/USGG2YR:Ind" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-component="link">US two-year notes</a> have surged to their highest level in more than a year after a trove of economic data led traders to price in at least one quarter-point rate hike as soon as October. At around 4.15%, the two-year yield trades well above the Fed's current policy band of 3.5% to 3.75%, a divergence that began in March."</li>
<li>Anon writer Cremieux explores the premise that people who hold beliefs that are considered far-right today actually just hold the beliefs of <a href="https://www.cremieux.xyz/p/a-normal-person-30-years-ago">a normal person from 30 years ago</a>. "To figure out the answers to my questions, I opened up the General Social Survey and had a look around," he <a href="https://archive.ph/xnZKq#selection-589.0-589.402">writes</a>. "To get started, I defined a few sets of political views: Institutional Confidence, Criminal Justice &amp; Guns, Political Tolerance, Economic/Pro-Government, Racial Liberalism/Civil Rights, Gender-Role Egalitarianism, and Sexual &amp; Moral Liberalism, and then I outlined a set of important social views."</li>
<li>"Former Fox News host Steve Hilton advanced to the general election to succeed <a class="ekxajjj0 css-i0lbhy-OverridedLink" href="https://www.wsj.com/topics/place/california" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-type="place">California</a> Gov. Gavin Newsom in November, according to the Associated Press," <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/republican-steve-hilton-to-face-off-against-xavier-becerra-for-california-governor-ab2ee64f?mod=hp_lead_pos3">notes</a> <em>The Wall Street Journal. </em>"He will face-off against former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, a Democrat."</li>
<li>Interesting. Those who complain about childcare are&hellip;primarily upper-middle-class:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Families making six figures are twice as likely to pay for child care as those who don&#39;t <a href="https://t.co/EEWrrSqMjN">pic.twitter.com/EEWrrSqMjN</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Patrick T. Brown (@PTBwrites) <a href="https://x.com/PTBwrites/status/2064311545753157848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<ul>
<li>Dark:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">I wouldn't say this is "the most common question I get" because that is either "who are you" or "are you flirting with me or just like this" but the sentiment about "should I have kids even with climate" is unfortunately common in progressive circles. <a href="https://t.co/S8jT7iepNe">https://t.co/S8jT7iepNe</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Ben Dreyfuss (@bendreyfuss) <a href="https://x.com/bendreyfuss/status/2064513912452837570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/maine-kampf/">Maine Kampf</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
							<media:credit><![CDATA[Graham Platner/Facebook]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[Graham Platner]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[Graham Platner-6-10]]></media:title>
		<media:thumbnail url="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2026/06/Graham-Platner-6-10-1200x675.jpg" width="1200" height="675" />
	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Eugene Volokh</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/eugene-volokh/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Author Matt Taibbi's Libel Claim Over House Member's Social Media Posts Dismissed			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/author-matt-taibbis-libel-claim-over-house-members-social-media-posts-dismissed/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=volokh-post&#038;p=8386235</id>
		<updated>2026-06-09T23:27:38Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T12:01:54Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Congress" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Free Speech" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Libel" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[From Taibbi v. Kamlager-Dove, decided Monday by Judge Evelyn Padin (D.N.J.): Representative Kamlager-Dove &#8230; is &#8230; the Ranking Member of&#8230;
The post Author Matt Taibbi&#039;s Libel Claim Over House Member&#039;s Social Media Posts Dismissed appeared first on Reason.com.
]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/author-matt-taibbis-libel-claim-over-house-members-social-media-posts-dismissed/">
			<![CDATA[<p>From <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.njd.565250/gov.uscourts.njd.565250.35.0.pdf"><em>Taibbi v. Kamlager-Dove</em></a>, decided Monday by Judge Evelyn Padin (D.N.J.):</p>
<blockquote><p>Representative Kamlager-Dove &hellip; is &hellip; the Ranking Member of the South and Central Asia Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee &hellip;. The Subcommittee held a hearing on April 1, 2025, titled "Censorship Industrial Complex: The Need for First Amendment Safeguards at the State Department" &hellip;. Taibbi was invited to testify at the Hearing. At the start of the Hearing, Representative Kamlager-Dove delivered her prepared remarks, which included the following statements:</p>
<blockquote><p>Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for being here for our first South and Central Asia Subcommittee hearing. I look forward to working with the Chair in a bipartisan way on the critical issues we are charged with overseeing.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, we're not having a hearing about any of those. Instead, this Subcommittee is wasting taxpayer time and resources on the fifth such hearing Republicans have held across multiple committees on the so-called "censorship-industrial complex."</p>
<p>The majority is relitigating a made-up conspiracy theory about a part of the State Department that no longer exists to distract from the dumpster fire foreign policy this Administration is pursuing—<em>and elevating a serial sexual harasser as their star witness in the process.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>The same day of the Hearing, Representative Kamlager-Dove reposted a video of the Statements on two social media platforms: X (formerly Twitter) and BlueSky. Both posts contained the same statement: "After this, Republicans gave Matt Taibbi time to defend himself. It's telling that he didn't." &hellip; Representative Kamlager-Dove also posted the Statements on her official House.gov website&hellip;.</p>
<p>Taibbi alleges that the "serial sexual harasser" comment by Representative Kamlager-Dove was directed at him and that it is "demonstrably false" and "made with actual malice." Taibbi claims that the republications of the Statements—the X, BlueSky, and Website Posts—were defamatory &hellip;.</p></blockquote>
<p><span id="more-8386235"></span></p>
<p>Members of Congress, like other employees, are covered by the Westfall Act, under which, if "the defendant qualifies as an 'employee of the government,' and the Attorney General certifies that the employee 'was acting within the scope of his office or employment,'" the U.S. government is substituted as defendant for the employee. And though the AG's certification is reviewable, here the court agreed that "Representative Kamlager-Dove's statements were within the scope of her employment." Some excerpts:</p>
<blockquote><p>Here, Taibbi challenges Representative Kamlager-Dove's statements "made during a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C." which allegedly "became actionable defamatory statements" when they were "republished &hellip; on social media sites." Taibbi argues that "crowing to voters, and self-aggrandizement to voters on X and Bluesky is not official congressional work but partisan communication." Taibbi claims the Statements were republished to "bolster [Representative Kamlager-Dove's] political standing."</p>
<p>Representative Kamlager-Dove's Statements and republications, however, are precisely the kind of conduct that is "a central part of the job for members of Congress." Indeed, a "primary obligation of a [m]ember of Congress in a representative democracy is to serve and respond to his or her constituents." As the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee holding the Hearing, Representative Kamlager-Dove's remarks mentioned "taxpayer time and resources" and "foreign policy"—topics that are important to members of Congress and that are top-of-mind for their constituents.</p>
<p>Republishing the statements online does not change the analysis. Taibbi claims that the "republications on X, BlueSky, and [Representative Kamlager-Dove's] website were not legislative work, [and] occurred outside the legislative setting." But members of Congress routinely engage with the public on social media and on the internet as part of their jobs. As Taibbi concedes, Representative Kamlager-Dove was simply "talking to voters on Twitter." &hellip;</p>
<p>As a member of Congress, Representative Kamlager-Dove has a "proper duty" to "look diligently into every affair of government and to talk much about what [she] sees." And she did so at the Hearing. In addition to the allegedly defamatory statement, Representative Kamlager-Dove discussed taxes, foreign policy, and immigration policy. She explicitly stated political disagreement with the opposing party in her social media posts, writing: "Republicans gave Matt Taibbi time to defend himself. It's telling that he didn't." Political statements by members of Congress—such as Representative Kamlager-Dove's here—are made within their scope of employment.</p>
<p>Representative Kamlager-Dove's statements "were calculated to serve the interests of [her] constituents (i.e., employers) by informing them of [her] views regarding" certain issues, laws, and policies. Put simply, Representative Kamlager-Dove's statements were "out of an interest in serving the public [and her constituents]—even if [s]he was partially motivated" by other political reasons.</p></blockquote>
<p>So the U.S. government was properly substituted for Rep. Kamlager-Dove—and that doomed Taibbi's defamation claim, because the Federal Tort Claims Act, under which the U.S. government waived its sovereign immunity as to many tort claims, "expressly excludes defamation claims from the federal government's immunity waiver." So because of the Westfall Act, Taibbi loses against Rep. Kamlager-Dove; and because of the FTCA exclusion of defamation claims, he loses against the federal government.</p>
<p>Note that the Speech or Debate Clause bars defamation lawsuits over statements made in Congressional hearings or related official proceedings. It by itself doesn't cover members' republication of those statements on social media.</p>
<p>Stephen Terrell of the DoJ Civil Division represents defendant.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/author-matt-taibbis-libel-claim-over-house-members-social-media-posts-dismissed/">Author Matt Taibbi&#039;s Libel Claim Over House Member&#039;s Social Media Posts Dismissed</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
						</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Josh Blackman</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/josh-blackman/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Today in Supreme Court History: June 10, 1916			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/today-in-supreme-court-history-june-10-1916-7/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=volokh-post&#038;p=8365768</id>
		<updated>2026-01-26T15:30:09Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T11:00:55Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Politics" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Today in Supreme Court History" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[6/10/1916: Justice Charles Evans Hughes resigns. &#160;
The post Today in Supreme Court History: June 10, 1916 appeared first on Reason.com.
]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/today-in-supreme-court-history-june-10-1916-7/">
			<![CDATA[<p>6/10/1916: <a href="https://conlaw.us/justices/charles-evans-hughes/">Justice Charles Evans Hughes</a> resigns.</p> <figure id="attachment_8030383" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-8030383" style="width: 234px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-8030383" src="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2019/10/1930-Hughes-234x300.jpg" alt="" width="234" height="300" srcset="https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/1930-Hughes-234x300.jpg 234w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/1930-Hughes-768x985.jpg 768w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/1930-Hughes-798x1024.jpg 798w, https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/1930-Hughes.jpg 1153w" sizes="(max-width: 234px) 100vw, 234px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-8030383" class="wp-caption-text">Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes</figcaption></figure> <p>&nbsp;</p><p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/today-in-supreme-court-history-june-10-1916-7/">Today in Supreme Court History: June 10, 1916</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
						</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>J.D. Tuccille</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/jd-tuccille/</uri>
						<email>jtuccille@gmail.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Illinois Just Adopted a Half-Baked Scheme to Tax Social Media			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/illinois-just-adopted-a-half-baked-scheme-to-tax-social-media/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386167</id>
		<updated>2026-06-09T19:05:06Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T11:00:14Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Social Media" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="State Governments" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Illinois" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Internet" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Taxes" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[A lack of comprehension and sloppy language make a mess of a new tax scheme.]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/illinois-just-adopted-a-half-baked-scheme-to-tax-social-media/">
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		<p>Government officials may not fully understand what social media is, but they damned well plan to do something about the ills it may or may not inflict on our society. They'll happily start with extracting some money from the companies behind social media, though it may take a few tries, given politicians' complete lack of understanding of the thing they want to tax. Illinois is a good example, where legislators just passed an attempt at a social media levy that runs afoul of its authors' ignorance.</p>

<h1>Illinois Hopes for Big Revenue From New Social Media Tax</h1>
<p>"A nearly $56 billion state spending plan is headed to Gov. JB Pritzker's desk after the Democratic-controlled Illinois legislature approved it in the early-morning hours of another overtime spring session," the <em>Chicago Tribune</em>'s Dan Petrella <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/05/jb-pritzker-budget-tax-breakdown/">noted</a> last week. "The biggest source of new revenue is a new per-user tax on large social media companies."</p>
<p>The governor's signature is essentially guaranteed, since the budget proposal and social media tax <a href="https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/pritzker-proposes-56b-budget-with-minimal-new-spending-tax-on-social-media-companies/">originated</a> in his office. Pritzker hopes to raise $200 million per year from the scheme. But the plan faces challenges, not least of which is that a similar tax passed by Chicago is <a href="https://news.wttw.com/2026/03/13/tech-group-sues-chicago-over-first-nation-social-media-tax">tied up in court</a>. Another and potentially more serious problem, as <a href="https://san.com/cc/can-you-tax-social-media-illinois-faces-legal-questions-over-proposed-law/">pointed out</a> by Dan Levin of <em>Straight Arrow News,</em> is that "one of the elements that remains the most unclear is what exactly is being taxed? The language in the bill does not answer that question directly and is, frankly, confusing."</p>
<p>As passed, the <a href="https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/104/SB/PDF/10400SB3019enr.pdf">budget plan</a> imposes a tax on social media companies based on "the average number of monthly users of the platform located in the State of Illinois." Platforms with 100,000 to 500,000 "Illinois users" will have to pay $0.10 per user each month; platforms with 500,000 to 1 million "shall pay $40,000, plus $0.25 per month" per user; and platforms with over 1 million users will pay $165,000, plus $0.50 per user, each month on the number of users over 1 million. A provision adjusts the tax for inflation starting in 2028. Companies that fail or refuse to pay will be punished with a fee of "an amount equal to 100% of the unpaid fee and any penalties each month until the fee is paid."</p>
<p>That's an awful lot of numbers backed by dire threats. But it still doesn't clarify how to tally up the bill.</p>
<h1>Legislators Don't Seem To Understand What They're Taxing</h1>
<p>"Let's begin here: what is a user?" <a href="https://taxfoundation.org/blog/illinois-social-media-tax/">asks</a> Jared Walczak of the Tax Foundation. "Is a user a person or an account? If a person has multiple accounts on the same social media platform, does each account constitute a separate user, or is the person one user? To the extent that those accounts are not linked and social media companies lack identifying information on the owners of free accounts, what information, if any, may they use to associate multiple accounts with a single person?"</p>
<p>And what if a person uses multiple platforms owned by the same company, like Meta's Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp? How is that counted?</p>
<p>"Indeed, is an account even required?" adds Walczak. "If someone reads a Reddit thread without an account, do they count as a user?"</p>
<p>More particularly, the budget plan purports to tax "Illinois users" without specifying how that term is defined even beyond its failure to define "user." It doesn't say whether an Illinois user is a person or account resident in the state, or if it counts anybody using a social media platform while physically present in the state—say, posting on TikTok while passing through the airport. Is an Illinois resident still an Illinois user if posting on social media while out of state?</p>
<p>And in the era of shifting IP addresses and VPNs, how do you nail down people's physical locations?</p>
<p>The budget plan also has a sloppy definition of "social media platform," which it defines as "a website or internet medium that&hellip;permits a person to become a registered user, establish an account, or create a profile for the purpose of allowing users to create, share, and view user-generated content through that account or profile." That captures the big platforms—Facebook, LinkedIn, and the like—that we traditionally think of as social media. But it could also scoop up review sites, messaging services, email services, and publishing platforms.</p>
<h1>The Tax Scheme May Violate Federal Law</h1>
<p>Walczak raises other objections to the social media tax, some of which are based on lawmakers' seeming lack of understanding of how the world works, and others rooted in what appears to be lazy cutting and pasting of language from other legislation without appropriate changes. Another important point he and others raise is that the whole tax scheme looks to be illegal under federal law.</p>
<p>"The federal Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act prohibits discriminatory taxes on e-commerce," <a href="https://www.illinoispolicy.org/pritzkers-social-media-fee-could-be-costly-legal-disaster/">point out</a> Bryce Hill and Ravi Mishra of the Illinois Policy Institute. "Opponents of the governor's plan would likely argue it violates that law, as it targets large online platforms without a comparable tax on offline media or communication services."</p>
<p>Passed in 2014, the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/114/plaws/publ125/PLAW-114publ125.htm">Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act</a> extended the expiring <a href="https://www.congress.gov/105/plaws/publ277/PLAW-105publ277.pdf">Internet Tax Freedom Act</a> of 1998. As explained by a House of Representatives <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-passes-permanent-internet-tax-freedom-act-pitfa-to-ban-internet-access">press release</a> at the time, "this<em> </em>broadly bipartisan legislation permanently bans states from taxing Internet access or placing multiple or discriminatory taxes on e-commerce."</p>
<p>The governor of Illinois and his enablers in the state legislature may be salivating over revenues from a measure that is so poorly drafted as to leave it to the courts to determine what is being taxed and how that tax should be calculated, and in its intent, prohibited by a nearly 30-year-old federal law.</p>
<p>"The policy also could raise Commerce Clause concerns if courts conclude that it shifts burdens across state lines, pushes companies to adopt nationwide pricing adjustments, or restricts their freedom to impose different prices in other states," add Hill and Mishra.</p>
<p>There are also free speech implications in taxes specifically targeted at <em>some</em> media platforms—specifically, those that enable the public to communicate and share information—and excluding others.</p>
<p>"It would be hard to take the new tax seriously, except that it's now Illinois law," concludes Walczak.</p>
<p>The planned social media tax in Illinois is a great example of why government officials shouldn't meddle in things they don't understand. To be honest, the category of things beyond politicians' comprehension includes most of the world around us. But the point remains.</p>
<p>Illinoisans concerned about lawmakers' efforts to tax social media platforms should spread the word. Perhaps, before it's taxed, they could share their worries on the internet.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/illinois-just-adopted-a-half-baked-scheme-to-tax-social-media/">Illinois Just Adopted a Half-Baked Scheme to Tax Social Media</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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							<media:credit><![CDATA[Illustration: Midjourney/Alexey Boldin/Dreamstime]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[A smartphone is plugged into a sack of money with a dollar sign on it.]]></media:description>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Charles Oliver</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/charles-oliver/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Brickbat: Rats and Roosters			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/brickbat-rats-and-roosters/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386063</id>
		<updated>2026-06-09T13:38:31Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T08:00:25Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Police" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Police Abuse" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Brickbats" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Louisiana" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Denver Golmon, a police officer in Hammond, Louisiana, is facing federal charges for allegedly exposing the identity of a confidential informant&#8230;
The post Brickbat: Rats and Roosters appeared first on Reason.com.
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		<p>Denver Golmon, a police officer in Hammond, Louisiana, is facing <a href="https://www.fox8live.com/2026/05/29/hammond-officer-accused-retaliating-against-cockfighting-informant/">federal charges</a> for allegedly exposing the identity of a confidential informant in a cockfighting investigation. Golmon's uncle was indicted as part of the investigation, which was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security. According to court records, Golmon shared videos of the informant that were provided to his uncle's attorneys during discovery, telling the recipients not to share where they'd gotten them. He also asked another officer to arrest the informant at his workplace and to conceal his own involvement. Authorities say the informant has since been labeled a "rat" and may now be in danger because his identity was exposed.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/brickbat-rats-and-roosters/">Brickbat: Rats and Roosters</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Eugene Volokh</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/eugene-volokh/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Open Thread			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/open-thread-231/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=volokh-post&#038;p=8386070</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T07:00:00Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T07:00:00Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Politics" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[What’s on your mind?]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/open-thread-231/">
			<![CDATA[<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/10/open-thread-231/">Open Thread</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
						</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Jacob Sullum</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/jacob-sullum/</uri>
						<email>jsullum@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Trump's Position in the White House Ballroom Case Reflects His General Resistance to Judicial Review			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/trumps-position-in-the-white-house-ballroom-case-reflects-his-general-resistance-to-judicial-review/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386101</id>
		<updated>2026-06-09T16:15:38Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-10T04:01:15Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Congress" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Deportation" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Due Process" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Executive overreach" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Executive Power" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Military" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Rule of law" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Separation of Powers" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Tariffs" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Alien Enemies Act" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Department of Justice" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Donald Trump" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Federal Courts" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="First Amendment" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="IEEPA" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Judges" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Judicial deference" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="National Security" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Supreme Court" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Trump Administration" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="White House" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[The president has repeatedly argued that courts have no business deciding whether his actions are legal.]]></summary>
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		<p>Even if President Donald Trump's White House ballroom project is illegal, the Justice Department <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/05/even-if-trumps-ballroom-project-is-illegal-a-doj-lawyer-says-the-courts-cannot-stop-it/">argued</a> last week, federal courts are powerless to stop it. That assertion was consistent with Trump's <a href="https://reason.com/2026/03/20/judges-and-justices-should-be-independent-trump-says-as-long-as-they-side-with-him/">general attitude</a> toward judicial review, which he considers legitimate only when it allows him to do what he wants.</p>
<p>Last October, Trump demolished the East Wing of the White House, which he plans to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/03/29/upshot/white-house-ballroom.html">replace</a> with a building that would be 60 percent bigger than the Executive Residence in square footage and three times as big in cubic volume. In March, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, <a href="https://reason.com/2026/04/06/with-his-grandiose-white-house-ballroom-plan-trump-again-asserts-the-power-to-do-as-he-pleases/">said</a> the project required congressional approval because "no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims."</p>
<p>On Friday, Justice Department attorney Yaakov Roth <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-appeals-court-hear-challenge-trumps-white-house-ballroom-2026-06-05/">urged</a> the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to override Leon's preliminary injunction. Since the project is "well on its way" and serves national security interests, Roth said, it would be an "abuse of discretion" to order that it be halted even if the appeals court agrees with Leon on the merits.</p>
<p>Because Congress controls federal property and has not approved anything like Trump's plan, Leon <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.287645/gov.uscourts.dcd.287645.60.0_3.pdf">ruled</a>, "the ballroom construction project must stop until Congress authorizes its completion." Roth turned that reasoning on its head, saying only an act of Congress can thwart Trump's will.</p>
<p>The Justice Department took <a href="https://reason.com/2025/07/01/trump-says-the-courts-have-no-business-questioning-his-dubious-definition-of-alien-enemies/">a similar position</a> while defending Trump's <a href="https://reason.com/2025/04/25/trumps-understanding-of-due-process-is-just-as-farcical-as-his-definition-of-alien-enemies/">invocation</a> of the <a href="https://loveman.sdsu.edu/docs/1798AlienAct.pdf">Alien Enemies Act</a> (AEA) to justify sending alleged Venezuelan gang members to a Salvadoran prison. Trump's use of the AEA "would not be subject to review," Roth et al. <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cadc.41844/gov.uscourts.cadc.41844.01208720416.0_3.pdf">told</a> the D.C. Circuit in March 2025. In deciding who qualifies as an "alien enemy" subject to summary deportation, they <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436/gov.uscourts.dcd.278436.26.0_3.pdf">told</a> a federal judge two days later, Trump was making "national security judgments, which are not subject to judicial second-guessing."</p>
<p>The Supreme Court unanimously <a href="https://reason.com/2025/04/08/the-supreme-court-rejects-trumps-claim-that-he-can-summarily-deport-anyone-he-describes-as-an-alien-enemy/">disagreed</a>, ruling that AEA detainees have a due process right to challenge their treatment via habeas corpus petitions. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit also <a href="https://reason.com/2025/09/03/the-5th-circuit-rejects-trumps-invocation-of-the-alien-enemies-act/">rejected</a> the government's position, ruling that there was "no invasion or predatory incursion" to justify Trump's invocation of the AEA.</p>
<p>Trump likewise <a href="https://reason.com/2025/06/18/trump-argues-that-he-can-take-over-a-states-national-guard-whenever-he-feels-like-it/">claimed</a> he had unreviewable authority to deploy National Guard members in cities across the country. The <a href="https://reason.com/2025/06/20/the-9th-circuit-rejects-trumps-audacious-claim-that-he-can-use-the-national-guard-however-he-likes/">9th Circuit</a> and the <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2025/10/17/seventh-circuit-rules-against-trumps-use-of-national-guard-in-chicago/">7th Circuit</a> disagreed, and so did the Supreme Court, which <a href="https://reason.com/2025/12/24/refusing-to-let-trump-deploy-the-national-guard-in-chicago-scotus-adds-a-new-wrinkle-to-the-debate/">concluded</a> that Trump had probably misinterpreted the statute on which he was relying.</p>
<p>Trump also thought the courts had no business second-guessing his blanket suspension of security clearances for lawyers at firms that had offended him by representing clients or causes he despises. But while individualized decisions regarding security clearances might be unreviewable, Leon <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.278933/gov.uscourts.dcd.278933.110.0_2.pdf">ruled</a> last year, Trump's broad <a href="https://reason.com/2025/05/28/a-federal-judge-lists-8-ways-that-trump-violated-the-constitution-by-punishing-a-disfavored-law-firm/">retaliation</a> against disfavored law firms violated the First Amendment.</p>
<p>The courts also consistently ruled against Trump's <a href="https://reason.com/2025/09/01/the-federal-circuits-tariff-ruling-highlights-the-audacity-of-trumps-power-grab/">assertion</a> of sweeping tariff powers under the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/chapter-35">International Emergency Economic Powers Act</a> (IEEPA). That law, he <a href="https://reason.com/2025/11/05/trumps-attorney-concedes-his-legal-theory-would-let-a-president-tax-foreign-cars-to-combat-climate-change/">claimed</a>, authorized him to completely rewrite the tariff schedule approved by Congress based on his unilateral declaration of an "emergency" created by an "unusual and extraordinary threat" from abroad.</p>
<p>Since the Supreme Court <a href="https://reason.com/2026/02/20/the-supreme-court-just-struck-down-trumps-emergency-tariffs/">concluded</a> that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs at all, there was no need to address the question of whether an "unusual and extraordinary threat" exists whenever the president says it does. But Trump's <a href="https://reason.com/2026/02/23/trumps-tantrum-over-the-tariff-decision-highlights-his-narcissistic-authoritarianism/">reaction</a> to that decision reflected his general complaint about courts that get in his way.</p>
<p>The Democratic appointees who voted against the tariffs are a "disgrace to our nation," Trump <a href="https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-press-conference-supreme-court-tariffs-february-20-2026/">said</a>, because "they will automatically vote no." He added that the two Trump-nominated justices in the majority were "an embarrassment to their families" because they had revealed themselves as "fools and lapdogs for the RINOs and the radical-left Democrats."</p>
<p>In their eagerness to demonstrate their independence, a still-seething Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116236559151421767">complained</a> a month later, such justices "openly disrespect the Presidents who nominate them." Trump, in short, thinks judges <em>should</em> be independent—as long as they side with him.</p>
<p><strong>© Copyright 2026 by Creators Syndicate Inc.</strong></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/10/trumps-position-in-the-white-house-ballroom-case-reflects-his-general-resistance-to-judicial-review/">Trump&#039;s Position in the White House Ballroom Case Reflects His General Resistance to Judicial Review</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
							<media:credit><![CDATA[Sipa USA/Newscom]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[President Donald Trump]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[Donald-Trump-6-9-26-Newscom]]></media:title>
		<media:thumbnail url="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2026/06/Donald-Trump-6-9-26-Newscom-1200x675.jpg" width="1200" height="675" />
	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Eugene Volokh</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/eugene-volokh/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				"Desire to Undo the Past" Can't Justify Libel Claim Over "Indisputably Truthful" Articles About Criminal Charges + Expungement			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/09/desire-to-undo-the-past-cant-justify-libel-claim-over-indisputably-truthful-articles-about-criminal-charges-expungement/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=volokh-post&#038;p=8386225</id>
		<updated>2026-06-09T21:40:21Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-09T21:40:21Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Free Speech" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Libel" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[An excerpt from Sunar v. Gray Local Media, Inc., decided today by Judge Kenneth Bell (W.D.N.C.): Defendants Gray Local Media,&#8230;
The post &#34;Desire to Undo the Past&#34; Can&#039;t Justify Libel Claim Over &#34;Indisputably Truthful&#34; Articles About Criminal Charges + Expungement appeared first on Reason.com.
]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/09/desire-to-undo-the-past-cant-justify-libel-claim-over-indisputably-truthful-articles-about-criminal-charges-expungement/">
			<![CDATA[<p>An excerpt from <em><a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ncwd.122669/gov.uscourts.ncwd.122669.23.0.pdf">Sunar v. Gray Local Media, Inc.</a></em>, decided today by Judge Kenneth Bell (W.D.N.C.):</p>
<blockquote><p>Defendants Gray Local Media, Inc. and Gray Media, Inc., (together, "WBTV") accurately reported on Dr. Sunar's arrest and then, at the request (and with the approval) of his lawyer, on the dismissal and expungement. WBTV declined, however, to delete its reporting, preserving the historical record.</p>
<p>Claiming that he has been defamed by WBTV's coverage, Dr. Sunar filed this action seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages and removal of the WBTV articles from its archives&hellip;. While Dr. Sunar's desire to undo the past is understandable, his legal claims against WBTV fail &hellip; because the articles are indisputably truthful and well within the long-established privilege of the media to accurately report on criminal proceedings&hellip;..</p>
<p>On September 11, 2024, Dr. Sunar, who has been practicing dentistry in Charlotte since 2002, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor child abuse and communicating threats. The next day, WBTV published an article to its website regarding the arrest titled "Charlotte dentist charged with child abuse, records show." In relevant part, the text of the article read:</p>
<blockquote><p>A Charlotte dentist is facing child abuse charges after he was arrested last week, court records show. Jail records revealed 61-year-old Ramesh Kumar Sunar was arrested on Tuesday, Sept. 10, and was charged with misdemeanor child abuse and communicating threats. An arrest warrant said Sunar 'inflicted physical injury' on a child younger than 16 years old. The injury allegedly caused bruising on the child's torso and neck, and was not caused by 'accidental means.' The warrant further stated that Sunar told a man 'he would beat the [expletive] out of him.' According to the warrant, both incidents happened on Sept. 2&hellip;. Sunar is listed as the lead doctor on Charlotte Dental Implant Center's website.</p></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<p><span id="more-8386225"></span></p>
<blockquote><p>WBTV also aired a broadcast about the arrest, which included similar information and Dr. Sunar's mugshot. Dr. Sunar's mugshot was also posted on WBTV's social media pages alongside a link to the First Report<em>. </em>Dr. Sunar acknowledges that the First Report was accurate at the time of publication.</p>
<p>Over a year later, in October 2025, Dr. Sunar's attorney notified WBTV that the charges had been dismissed and expunged from Sunar's record. Counsel requested that either a) the First Report be removed or b) that an addendum be posted disclosing the dismissal and expungement of the charges. WBTV responded that it could "offer [Dr. Sunar] a new article that states the outcome of the case," but that they would not remove or otherwise alter the original post due to its accuracy. Dr. Sunar's attorney's response to WBTV's offer was "Yes please."</p>
<p>On November 11, 2025, WBTV published the requested second article with the title "Charges dropped against Charlotte dentist accused of child abuse in 2024," and the subheading "Charges expunged in October 2025, officials confirm." The Second Report summarized Dr. Sunar's charges and confirmed that the charges had "been expunged on Oct. 10, 2025," explaining that the expungement of Dr. Sunar's charges meant he "was cleared of the charges, and they were dropped from his public record entirely." WBTV provided Dr. Sunar's attorney with a link to the Second Report. Dr. Sunar's attorney replied, "Thank you!"</p></blockquote>
<p>Nonetheless, the following month Sunar sued for defamation and related claims. The court held that any claims arising from the First Report and related social media posts were barred by North Carolina's one-year statute of limitations in defamation claims. As to the Second Report, the court held,</p>
<blockquote><p>Dr. Sunar does not contend, nor could he, that any statement in the Second Report is inaccurate. Moreover, the substance of the report is not even defamatory, stating that Dr. Sunar had been cleared of the charges against him and his public record expunged. And finally, the Second Report was prepared at the request of Dr. Sunar's attorney, who responded positively to its publication. In other words, Dr. Sunar seeks to recover on a defamation claim for a truthful publication put out at his request. The law cannot support such a result.</p>
<p>{Also, the media's fair report privilege would support dismissal of Dr. Sunar's defamation claim. The privilege flows from "the absolute privilege which attaches to statements made in the due course of a judicial proceeding." Thus, with respect to reporting on Court proceedings, "[p]laintiff must prove by the greater weight of the evidence that the statement was materially false. If a statement is substantially true, it is not materially false. It is not required that the statement was literally true in every respect. Slight inaccuracies of expression are immaterial provided that the statement was substantially true." Again, here there is no claim of falsity.}</p></blockquote>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/09/desire-to-undo-the-past-cant-justify-libel-claim-over-indisputably-truthful-articles-about-criminal-charges-expungement/">&quot;Desire to Undo the Past&quot; Can&#039;t Justify Libel Claim Over &quot;Indisputably Truthful&quot; Articles About Criminal Charges + Expungement</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
						</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Rainer Zitelmann</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/rainer-zitelmann/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Why You Can't Settle Mars or Colonize the Moon Without Real Property Rights			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/why-you-cant-settle-mars-or-colonize-the-moon-without-real-property-rights/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386202</id>
		<updated>2026-06-09T20:45:52Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-09T21:00:23Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Mars" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Mars Landing" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Planet" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Science" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Science &amp; Technology" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Space" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Technology" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Moon" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="NASA" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Property Rights" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[The Outer Space Treaty and other legal obstacles could block our sci-fi future.]]></summary>
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		<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Imagine you start </span><a href="https://reason.com/2016/03/01/profits-in-space/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">an asteroid mining company</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. It's tough at first. You know that profits are uncertain and, if they do ever materialize, it will be in five years at the earliest, maybe even ten. It takes a long time to find investors willing to trust you because several similar ventures with almost identical business models have already gone bust and the investment horizon is far too long for many. Nevertheless, you persevere, and you manage to convince a few investors.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You hire astronomers to identify asteroids with valuable metals such as platinum. You send unmanned probes to several near-Earth asteroids to collect samples. The first few turn out to be of little value. The costs are too high and outweigh any potential profits.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Then comes the breakthrough: You find a suitable asteroid, and you succeed in bringing platinum group metals all the way back to Earth. But then a group of countries files a lawsuit against you. They are all signatories to </span><a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/intromoon-agreement.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">the so-called Moon Agreement of 1979</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, formally known as the "Agreement Governing the Activities of States in the Moon and other Celestial Bodies," which came into effect in 1984. The treaty applies not only to the moon, but to all celestial bodies, including asteroids.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some of these countries are now demanding that you hand over a significant share of your profits to people who have never had anything to do with asteroid mining—many of whom couldn't even say exactly what an asteroid is, let alone launch rockets into orbit. They invoke Article IV, Paragraph 1, and Article XI, Paragraphs 1 and 3, of the Moon Agreement, which state: "The exploration and use of the Moon shall be the province of all mankind and shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interest of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic and scientific development. Due regard shall be paid to the interests of present and future generations as well as to the need to promote higher standards of living and conditions of economic and social progress and development in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations." So much for Article IV. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Article XI states: "The Moon and its natural resources are the common heritage of mankind. Neither the surface nor the subsurface of the Moon, nor any part thereof or natural resources in place, shall become property of any State, international intergovernmental or non-governmental organization, national organization or non-governmental entity or of any natural person."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Moon Agreement, since signed by 22 countries and ratified by 18, was developed to </span><a href="https://reason.com/1974/07/01/the-seabed-power-struggle/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">work in the same way as seabed law</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and a delegate from Sri Lanka explained in simple terms what the intention was: "If you touch the nodules [valuable mineral deposits on the seabed] at the bottom of the sea, you touch my property. If you take them away, you take away my property." </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The plaintiffs now demand their "rightful share" of your profits, arguing that the platinum belongs not to you, but to all of humanity—and especially to developing countries, many of which are not yet engaged in space exploration. Should the plaintiffs win, neither you nor any other company would ever be able to attract investors again. Asteroid mining would be dead and buried after this very first attempt.</span></p>
<h1><b>Mars Without Property Rights</b></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Suffice it to say: Investors can remain confident, as a lawsuit based on a treaty signed by only a small number of countries is unlikely to succeed. But consider a second thought experiment: </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It is the year 2075. The first settlements on Mars have been successfully established, housing several thousand people and many more robots. The settlers are busy building underground houses and domed communities, a hospital, and other facilities. But there is a problem: Unlike on Earth, there is no private property ownership on Mars. The settlers have repeatedly attempted to establish private property rights and even create a digital land registry, but legal experts keep putting a stop to their efforts. This time, the problem is not the 1984 Moon Agreement, but </span><a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (OST)</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Article II of which states: "Outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And Article I of the treaty states that the use of outer space "shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interest of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all mankind."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this case, the argument that the Moon Agreement has limited signatories cannot be made, as 117 countries are parties to the Outer Space Treaty—including all major spacefaring nations, such as the United States, China, and Russia—and another 22 are signatories. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The plaintiffs assert that Article II of the Treaty prohibits not only the national appropriation of celestial bodies, but also any form of private property ownership. They further contend that Article I should be interpreted as mandating the equitable sharing of proceeds from resource extraction among all nations—an interpretation that has sometimes been put forward in the real world.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For now, let us assume their interpretation is correct. There are no property rights: Nations cannot own land (which they could potentially lease), nor can private entities, since any form of appropriation by states or private individuals is prohibited. Could such a society exist, let alone be economically successful? Of course not. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Most successful countries permit the private ownership of land. Where this right does not exist, it is at least possible to buy usage rights from the state for 50–99 years, which can also be resold—as in Vietnam and China, for example, or (regarding the 99 years) in Singapore. North Korea is the only country where even that is not possible. Property ownership on Mars would therefore be most comparable to that in North Korea, </span><a href="https://reason.com/2011/12/20/the-atlantic-on-why-north-koreans-dont-h/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">a country plagued by widespread poverty where people go hungry</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> after every poor harvest. Do you believe a settlement on Mars could be successful if its economic model mirrored that of North Korea?</span></p>
<h1><b>The Legal Debate Over Private Ownership in Space</b></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The decisive factor in determining whether private property rights apply is Article II of the OST. Legal scholars have put forward differing viewpoints over its interpretation. The primary area of contention revolves around the "prohibition of appropriation" and whether this applies only to the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">states</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> expressly mentioned in the treaty or also to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">private individuals and companies</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> not mentioned in Article II.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0813366801/reasonmagazinea-20/"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Outer Space: Problems of Law and Policy</span></i></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Glenn H. Reynolds and Robert P. Merges contend that: "Being prevented from claiming sovereignty and exclusive property rights located in the space environment for themselves, it will be argued that States are also prohibited from granting quasi-sovereign and exclusive property rights over such areas and resources to those natural and juridical persons which are subject to national jurisdiction and which are created through international agreements."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Those who argue that appropriation by private individuals is prohibited, also assert that private ownership would infringe upon the freedoms of access, exploration, and use guaranteed to all states in Article I. If private property rights existed, argues space law expert Marcus Schladebach, this would impinge upon the freedoms granted to all states, and the legal status of outer space as a "global commons" beyond territorial sovereignty would be jeopardized. If national appropriation is prohibited, Schladebach maintains, then private appropriation must be prohibited all the more. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In contrast, other legal scholars argue the exact opposite: National sovereignty stops where outer space begins, which means that national appropriation of the moon, other planets, and asteroids is forbidden—but not the private ownership of celestial bodies. This interpretation rests on the legal doctrine </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">expressio unius est exclusio alterius</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: the explicit mention of one thing implies the exclusion of others. If, for example, a statute or treaty expressly mentions one or more things of a class, it is only reasonable to conclude that others of the same class remain unrestricted by that statute or treaty. This principle serves to interpret legal norms and supports the assumption that things not mentioned were excluded by deliberate choice, not inadvertence.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Other legal scholars, however, argue that while it is not forbidden for private individuals or companies to claim property, it is a crime for a nation to recognize such a claim publicly. This interpretation, however, confuses the terms "recognize" and "confer," as the legal scholars Alan Wasser and Douglas Jobes explain: "'To recognize' means to 'acknowledge the existence, validity, or legality of' or 'accepts, acquiesces to, decides not to contest.' In contrast, 'to confer' means to 'grant (a title, degree, benefit, or right).'"</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They go on: "If a nation claims the right to confer, give, or grant title to lunar land, it could be violating the ban on national appropriation. But if a settlement is established and the settlers claim private ownership of land around their settlement, and a dozen of Earth's nations recognize the settlers' claim, it is not reasonable to say that all dozen nations are trying to appropriate the land and thus are violating the Outer Space Treaty."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Still others argue based on various provisions of the Outer Space Treaty, which, for example, hold states liable if a rocket launched by a private company from their territory crashes in another country. Furthermore, they claim, states are obligated to authorize and supervise the activities of private companies located within their territories. From this, they conclude that, even if not explicitly stated, the Outer Space Treaty prohibits private appropriation. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wasser and Jobes rightly object to this: "But the treaty clearly does not contain any language explicitly saying that states may not authorize their citizens to do anything that they themselves cannot do, contrary to what some authors appear to assume. The treaty does not say that what is prohibited to states is therefore prohibited to private entities, nor that what is prohibited to the regulator is therefore always prohibited to the regulated. A baseball coach gives 'authorization and continuing supervision' to his players. Does the fact that the coach is not allowed to run onto the field to catch a fly ball mean the players he supervises cannot either?"</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The wording of Article I of the Outer Space Treaty states that outer space is "the province of all mankind" and that celestial bodies should be "free for exploration and use by all States without discrimination of any kind on basis of equality" and "there shall be free access to all areas of celestial bodies." Critics argue that this turns space into a public good whose owner is everybody and nobody. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The only relatively undisputed point is that the OST is ambiguous in several areas, particularly concerning private property ownership and the role of private companies. This ambiguity stems from the priorities of the United States and the Soviet Union at the time of the OST's drafting. Their primary focus was on preventing an arms race in space and the deployment of weapons of mass destruction there. The concept of private space companies, including business models that would allow private companies to engage in asteroid mining, was a distant prospect in 1967. Consequently, the issue of private ownership was secondary for both nations. However, the Soviet Union would have preferred to prohibit private companies in space during the treaty negotiations, a proposal the United States rejected. So, they did what national governments sometimes do in joint international declarations or treaties: The language was kept vague and omitted contentious issues, which is what leads to the difficulties interpreting it today.</span></p>
<h1><b>How Nations Are Writing Their Own Rules</b></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Many years later, some countries felt the need to clarify the issues that had remained ambiguous at the time. We have seen that—unlike Article II of the Outer Space Treaty—Article 11, paragraph 3 of the Moon Agreement explicitly prohibits private ownership in outer space. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Moon Agreement, which not only explicitly prohibits private property but, according to some interpretations, even demands an egalitarian distribution of the profits generated by private users, breathes the spirit of socialism. "At its heart," says space analyst and consultant Rand Simberg, "the Moon Treaty was redistributionist in nature, taking from those who were willing to take risk and invest capital in developing new resources and giving to those who did not."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Most countries refused to sign it, albeit for different reasons. This raises the question: If the Moon Agreement merely precisely regulated exactly what the Outer Space Treaty intended—that is, if the Moon Agreement simply served as a concretization of the Outer Space Treaty—then why did 121 of the 139 states that signed the Outer Space Treaty refuse to sign the Moon Agreement? Oddly enough, this question is rarely asked.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">What can be done when a treaty, in this case the OST, is open to so many different interpretations? First, it could be renegotiated. For example, in 1999, Ezra Reinstein argued: "What is needed is an amendment to the Outer Space Treaty, one that both clarifies and expands property rights in space." First, Reinstein insists, it must be clarified in the amendment that the formulation, "'for the benefit&hellip;of all countries' is a moral exhortation and not a loophole through which the United Nations can dispossess a private party of his site." The fact that Reinstein considered these clarifications important enough to include in an amendment once again underscores the vagueness and legal uncertainty of the Outer Space Treaty. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, this is just one potential avenue and probably not a likely one. In recent years, the U.S. has adopted a different strategy, one that is certainly a step in the right direction: If a treaty is subject to varied interpretations by different countries, it increasingly becomes the responsibility of national legislators to interpret the treaty. And this is what has happened in recent years, especially in the United States, where Sen. Ted Cruz (R–Texas) and then-Sen. Marco Rubio (R–Fla.) championed a </span><a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2262"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2015. This gave all U.S. citizens and companies the right "to possess, own, transport, use, and sell [any] asteroid resource or space resource obtained in accordance with applicable law, including the international obligations of the United States."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In April 2020, President Donald Trump went a step further than Obama by signing an "</span><a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-encouraging-international-support-recovery-use-space-resources/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Executive Order on Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">," explicitly rejecting the notion of space as a "global commons." The Moon Agreement, which the U.S. had never signed anyway, was also explicitly dismissed.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This executive order was followed just one month later by NASA announcing the </span><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Artemis Accords</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, officially called "Principles for Cooperation in the Civil Exploration and Use of the Moon, Mars, Comets and Asteroids for Peaceful Purposes." One key element of the Accords is the introduction of what are referred to as "safety zones"—geographically defined areas around a station or activity on the moon or another celestial body. These zones are not intended to contradict territorial appropriation, but rather to serve the practical implementation of the principle of peaceful use and to prevent potential conflicts arising from activities that are too close to one another. Section 10 of the Accords explicitly states: "The Signatories affirm that the extraction of space resources does not inherently constitute national appropriation under Article II of the Outer Space Treaty, and that contracts and other legal instruments relating to space resources should be consistent with that Treaty."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Accords were initially signed by eight nations: the United States, Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. Since then, the number of signatories has expanded to 67. Russia and China, however, have rejected the accords and criticized their interpretation of the Outer Space Treaty. China, in particular, is concerned that the United States may be using the Artemis Accords to assert sovereignty over lunar resources.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While the Artemis Accords were a step forward, the language suggesting that space mining does "not inherently" violate Article II—which prohibits "national appropriation"—has again created ambiguity, as space law scholars Michael Byers and Aaron Boley point out in their book </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1108721877/reasonmagazinea-20/"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Who Owns Outer Space?</span></i></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">: "Is Space mining sometimes 'national appropriation' and sometimes not? Was Space mining originally not 'national appropriation,' but capable of becoming understood as 'national appropriation' as understandings and interests change? Can a term such as 'national appropriation,' which has no 'ordinary meaning' because it is not used outside the Outer Space Treaty, 'inherently' mean anything?"</span></p>
<h1><b>Designing a Space Economy That Actually Works </b></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">What should the goal be? Without full private ownership, there will be no colonization of Mars, and </span><a href="https://reason.com/2022/11/15/space-is-an-opportunity-to-rethink-property-rights/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">the economic exploitation of asteroids and the moon</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> will also be difficult. And who should own land on Mars or the moon first? Various people, including the American Dennis Hope, have </span><a href="https://reason.com/1998/11/01/a-little-piece-of-heaven/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">made a business out of selling land on the moon</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> without being able to clearly explain why they consider themselves entitled to do so. Space law expert Virgiliu Pop has written an entire book with the delightfully evocative title </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1411674545/reasonmagazinea-20/"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Unreal Estate: The Men Who Sold the Moon</span></i></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, in which he establishes that from the 1890s to the present day, numerous individuals have claimed ownership of the moon or other celestial bodies—and found plenty of buyers for their properties. It should be clear, he writes, "that claims to extraterrestrial real estate unsubstantiated by physical acts of possession are not valid means of acquiring ownership&hellip;.A mere claim is not tantamount with ownership—or, in plain language, claiming does not mean owning."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But apparently, the desire to claim ownership of property in space is so strong for some that it overrides their reason. At the same time, it's also good news to see so much interest in plots on the moon. Six million customers are said to have bought from Hope. T</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">hese transactions offer hope that there will be sufficient interest when plots of land do actually become available on the moon or Mars, although they will be much more expensive than Hope's offerings. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So, who should have the right to acquire property in space? My answer: those who have the financial means to get there, develop, and use the land. For instance, if SpaceX succeeds in reaching Mars and </span><a href="https://reason.com/2024/02/02/millionaire-mars-missions/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">starts to build permanent settlements on the red planet</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, then the ownership of land should go to SpaceX first. Not of the entire planet, of course, but of a practicable area, for example the size of Singapore. The surface area of Mars is 200,000 times that of Singapore, so SpaceX would initially only own 0.0005 percent of Mars. That would be enough to develop multiple settlements, but not so many that others would no longer have a chance.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">SpaceX could fund its flight and development costs by listing the land on Mars in a real estate investment trust (REIT). The price would then be determined by the market. Most people would buy shares not to live there themselves, but in the hope of value appreciation. As an incentive for people to settle on and develop Mars, colonists could be offered stocks at a preferential price as a "golden hello" once they reach Mars and spend at least five years there.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When the Chinese reach Mars, they may assert their claim to plots of land on the planet according to the idea outlined above, and this would probably remain the property of the Chinese state. But it is likely that they would adopt the customary practice in China of selling hereditary building rights for a period of 50–70 years. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, we would need to tread carefully: If the Chinese were the first to reach Mars, it is possible they would declare the entire planet as belonging to China. This would constitute a clear violation of Article II of the Outer Space Treaty, but according to Article XVI, the treaty can be terminated with one year's notice. The potential response from the United States in such a scenario raises concerns—would it lead to war? Or sanctions? Therefore, it would be prudent to negotiate a new space treaty before it is clear who wins the new space race. Moreover, competition for premium real estate on Mars, such as in areas with anticipated water sources or suitable lava caves for settlement, would likely ensue. It could be similar on the moon.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As far as asteroids are concerned, at least in the case of smaller celestial bodies, ownership could be granted to those capable of mining and extracting resources such as water and platinum. The best option would probably be to list the entire asteroid on the stock exchange as a REIT, which would fund mining operations and enable shareholders to receive dividends from the extraction of raw materials. Even before a single dollar was earned, or a single penny in dividends could be paid out, this would allow a market for trading in such stocks to develop. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While this is all just a thought experiment, it illustrates the direction things would need to go in. Whether these ideas are realistic or if different concepts will prevail is something no one can know today.</span></p>
<h1><b>Why the Case for Space Socialism Doesn't Work</b></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One thing, however, is absolutely clear: As long as there is no legal certainty for investors, they will not invest. To return to the starting point: Who will invest in asteroid mining if, as some envision, they are expected to share the profits with others who have taken no risk themselves but simply want to profit as free riders?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The best-selling authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith cite the Moon Agreement as a model in their book </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1984881728/reasonmagazinea-20/"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">A City on Mars</span></i></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">: "The Moon Agreement would have set up the solar system as a particularly communal form of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">res communis</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, known in international law as 'common heritage of mankind' or just 'CHM'&hellip;a commons collectively owned by all of humanity. If the Moon were under a CHM framework and you wanted to use Moon water, you would have to compensate </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">all of humanity</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by some means." </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They envision something like a large international planning authority to regulate how the proceeds are distributed: "An international regime to oversee exploitation&hellip;a big entity established by states that were parties to the Moon Agreement looking over things, and in particular making sure developing nations got a fair cut." This international regime would regulate both "where people are allowed to set up shop and what they're allowed to do with the local resources once they get there. It wouldn't be dynamic, it wouldn't be like a science fiction novel, and frankly it would be very slow and bureaucratic and boring." In this vision, there would be no room for private companies, no room for the formation of fair prices in the market, no room for entrepreneurial ingenuity. It is space socialism, doomed from the start. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On Earth, only capitalism has worked, but for a few decades, socialist systems without private property were also able to survive, albeit at the cost of widespread poverty, authoritarian rule, and famine. In space, where the challenges are immensely greater and living conditions infinitely harsher, socialism would be doomed from the outset. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The question of whether establishing private property rights on celestial bodies will be possible, and whether Martians will opt for a capitalist or socialist system, is essentially the same as asking whether colonization is possible at all. Even if Martian settlers were initially prohibited from establishing property ownership and introducing a capitalist system, they would inevitably have to do so sooner rather than later anyway, because they simply couldn't exist on the red planet otherwise. I'm sure the Martian settlers won't care all that much about a space treaty signed over 100 years ago and would establish private property rights. And how would Earth's governments respond? Would they wage war against the Martian settlers, or kill them with sanctions?</span></p>
<p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">This article is adapted from </span></i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1510788212/reasonmagazinea-20/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">New Space Capitalism: The Entrepreneurial Path to the Stars</span></a><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by permission of Skyhorse.</span></i></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/why-you-cant-settle-mars-or-colonize-the-moon-without-real-property-rights/">Why You Can&#039;t Settle Mars or Colonize the Moon Without Real Property Rights</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Robby Soave</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/robby-soave/</uri>
						<email>robby.soave@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<author>
			<name>Amber Duke</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/amber-duke2/</uri>
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					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				J.D. Vance and Mike Johnson Slam L.A. Mayoral Primary Outcome			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/video/2026/06/09/j-d-vance-and-mike-johnson-slam-l-a-mayoral-primary-outcome/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=video&#038;p=8386196</id>
		<updated>2026-06-10T18:00:15Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-09T21:00:10Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Campaigns/Elections" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Elections" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Politics" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Voting" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="California" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="J.D. Vance" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Local Government" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Los Angeles" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Robby Soave and Amber Duke discuss renewed Republican criticism of California's slow election results.]]></summary>
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										alt="Amber Duke discuss JD Vance recent remarks about CA elections | Illustration: Adani Samat"
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		<p>On this segment of <em><a href="https://youtu.be/xbYyAcLwSi4">Free Media</a>, </em>Senior Editor Robby Soave and <em>Daily Caller</em> Editor in Chief Amber Duke discuss recent comments by Vice President J.D. Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R–La.) questioning California's vote-counting process. Their skepticism comes amid renewed Republican criticism of the state's slow election results, which California officials say are largely due to mail-in ballots, signature verification, and rules allowing properly postmarked ballots to arrive after Election Day.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/video/2026/06/09/j-d-vance-and-mike-johnson-slam-l-a-mayoral-primary-outcome/">J.D. Vance and Mike Johnson Slam L.A. Mayoral Primary Outcome</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[Amber Duke discuss JD Vance recent remarks about CA elections]]></media:description>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Jacob Sullum</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/jacob-sullum/</uri>
						<email>jsullum@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Trump's $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee Is an Unconstitutional Tax, a Federal Judge Rules			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/trumps-100000-h-1b-visa-fee-is-an-unconstitutional-tax-a-federal-judge-rules/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386131</id>
		<updated>2026-06-09T20:10:32Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-09T20:15:09Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Executive overreach" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Executive Power" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="H-1B visas" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Immigration" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Rule of law" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Separation of Powers" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Donald Trump" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Federal Courts" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Regulation" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Statutory Interpretation" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Taxes" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Trump Administration" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin struck down the fee, saying it exceeds the president's statutory authority and violates the separation of powers.]]></summary>
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		<p>President Donald Trump violated the separation of powers when he <a href="https://reason.com/2025/09/22/the-100000-visa/">announced</a> a new $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications last September, a federal judge in Boston <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/06/09/nx-s1-5851474/federal-judge-fee-h1b-visa">ruled</a> on Monday. Trump's policy "imposes a tax on H-1B petitions without the requisite delegation by Congress," <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.293201/gov.uscourts.mad.293201.106.0_1.pdf">wrote</a> U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin, a Barack Obama appointee. He also concluded that the policy violated the Administrative Procedure Act because it exceeded the president's statutory authority and was implemented in an "arbitrary and capricious" manner.</p>
<p>Sorokin's decision, which completely vacates the visa fee, contrasts with a December 23 <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.285953/gov.uscourts.dcd.285953.54.0.pdf">ruling</a> by a federal judge in Washington, D.C. Beryl Howell, also an Obama appointee, thought the visa fee was justified by "a straightforward reading of congressional statutes giving the President broad authority to regulate entry into the United States."</p>
<p>Sorokin was responding to a <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.293201/gov.uscourts.mad.293201.1.0.pdf">lawsuit</a> by California and 19 other states, while Howell was assessing <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.285953/gov.uscourts.dcd.285953.1.0.pdf">claims</a> by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Unsurprisingly, the disagreement between the two judges hinges mainly on statutory interpretation. But it also involves a constitutional question: whether Trump's visa fee usurped the tax power that Article I assigns to Congress.</p>
<p>In 1990, Congress amended the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to create the H-1B program, which is <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/h-1b-specialty-occupations">designed</a> to accommodate employers who want to hire foreign workers for jobs requiring "theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge." The workers must have at least a bachelor's degree (or the equivalent) in a relevant field. H-1B visas are capped at 85,000 a year, and employers previously could expect to pay fees <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/federal-judge-blocks-trump-100-000-h-1b-visa-fee-2026-6?utm_source=chatgpt.com">up to $5,000</a> for each one.</p>
<p>That changed in September, when Trump issued a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/restriction-on-entry-of-certain-nonimmigrant-workers/">proclamation</a> that prohibited entry under H-1B visas "except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000." He presented that fee, which he said would be in effect for a year "absent extension," as a response to abuse of the program, which he said "has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor."</p>
<p>Trump averred that "the large-scale replacement of American workers through systemic abuse of the program has undermined both our economic and national security." Allowing employers to hire high-skilled foreign workers without shelling out $100,000 for the privilege, he declared, "would be detrimental to the interests of the United States because such entry would harm American workers, including by undercutting their wages." The proclamation authorized the secretary of homeland security to make exceptions he determines are "in the national interest."</p>
<p>As Howell <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.285953/gov.uscourts.dcd.285953.54.0.pdf">saw it</a>, that new policy fit comfortably within "the executive's broad authority under the INA." The main INA provision on which Trump relied, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1182">8 USC 1182(f)</a>, says: "Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate." Another provision, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1185">8 USC 1185(a)(1)</a>, authorizes the president to issue "reasonable rules, regulations, and orders" regarding the entry and removal of aliens.</p>
<p>The interaction between those two provisions, Howell said, "illuminates the full breadth of the authority handed to the President over time by Congress to regulate entry into the United States." Whether interpreted as a "restriction" under Section 1182(f) or a "regulation" under Section 1185(a)(1), she concluded, the new requirement for H-1B visas was clearly authorized by the INA.</p>
<p>Howell rejected the argument that the new visa fee amounts to an unauthorized tax. "The Taxing Clause does not impose on Congress a heightened requirement to make a valid delegation to the President, and Congress was clear in its delegation," she wrote. "Section 1182(f) uses exceeding[ly] broad language, including that the regulation might occur 'for such period as he shall deem necessary' and may entail 'any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.'" That language, she said, "is sufficiently broad to encompass a regulation requiring an additional payment obligation for entry of a nonimmigrant H-1B visa worker."</p>
<p>Howell acknowledged the Chamber of Commerce's complaint that the $100,000 fee "would inflict significant harm on American businesses and institutions of higher education, which would be forced to either dramatically increase their labor costs or hire fewer highly skilled employees for whom domestic replacements are not readily available." She said there was also "some force" to the trade group's argument that Trump failed to consider that "these harms to American businesses and higher education will also be a boon to America's economic rivals, who will surely welcome the talent no longer able to accept work in the United States." But she noted that "the relevant analysis focuses on constitutional and statutory <em>powers</em>, not economic <em>policy</em>."</p>
<p>Sorokin applied the same analysis but came to dramatically different conclusions. The relevant Supreme Court precedents support "a finding that the $100,000 payment requirement amounts to a tax, not a penalty," he <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.293201/gov.uscourts.mad.293201.106.0_1.pdf">wrote</a>. And last February in <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-1287_4gcj.pdf"><em>Learning Resources v. Trump</em></a>, he noted, the Court <a href="https://reason.com/2026/02/20/the-supreme-court-just-struck-down-trumps-emergency-tariffs/">held</a> that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) did not authorize Trump to impose tariffs, rejecting his argument that the power to "regulate&hellip;importation" included the power to tax imports.</p>
<p>The INA provisions cited by Trump "allow the President to impose 'restrictions,' 'rules,' 'regulations,' 'orders,' 'limitations,' and 'exceptions' to the entry of noncitizens to the United States," Sorokin noted. "Like the powers delineated in the IEEPA, none of<br />
these terms, by their ordinary meaning, include the power to tax."</p>
<p>Although Section 1182(f) "arguably contains sweeping, discretion-conferring language," Sorokin said, "Defendants point to no other provision in the INA or elsewhere making it clear that Congress intended to delegate the taxing power." He added that "Defendants' miscellaneous arguments that the President has the authority to impose the $100,000 tax based on his 'immigration and commerce powers' are nowhere to be found in the authorities they cite."</p>
<p>Sorokin acknowledged that Trump's proclamation "can be understood as creating an entry restriction—a type of measure that Congress committed to the President's discretion." But that appearance is deceptive, he said, because "the Proclamation's payment requirement amounts to a tax, which exceeds the scope of the President's discretionary authority under the INA."</p>
<p>The INA allows the Department of Homeland Security to charge "adjudication fees" that "may be set at a level that will ensure recovery of the full costs of providing all such services" and of "any additional costs associated with the administration of the fees collected," Sorokin noted. "The $100,000 payment requirement plainly does not constitute an adjudication fee under this statutory provision. As Defendants concede, the Proclamation 'does not impose a fee to cover costs, does not displace that fee, and is not collected or used in the same manner.' Defendants point to no other statute empowering agencies to impose a tax on H-1B petitions."</p>
<p>The Administrative Procedure Act instructs courts to "set aside" agency actions that are contrary to law. Accordingly, Sorokin's order vacates "the Policy materials" implementing the $100,000 fee.</p>
<p>Trump was not pleased. "These federal judges are really giving us a hard time," he <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5916116-donald-trump-court-blocking-100k-h1b-visa-fees-response/">complained</a> on Tuesday. "It is really crazy what's going on with the court system."</p>
<p>The Trump administration presumably will ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit to review Sorokin's decision. Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce is <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72095497/chamber-of-commerce-of-the-united-states-of-ameri-v-dhs/">asking</a> the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reverse Howell's contrary ruling.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/trumps-100000-h-1b-visa-fee-is-an-unconstitutional-tax-a-federal-judge-rules/">Trump&#039;s $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee Is an Unconstitutional Tax, a Federal Judge Rules</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
							<media:credit><![CDATA[Dimarik16/Dreamstime/Aaron Schwartz/Pool via CNP/Mega/RSSIL/Newscom]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[President Donald Trump against a red-tinted visa in the background]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[Trump-H-1B-visa-fee]]></media:title>
		<media:thumbnail url="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2026/06/Trump-H-1B-visa-fee-1200x675.jpg" width="1200" height="675" />
	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Josh Blackman</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/josh-blackman/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Office of Legal Counsel Concludes That Disparate Impact Liability Under Title VII Is Unconstitutional			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/09/office-of-legal-counsel-concludes-that-disparate-impact-liability-under-title-vii-is-unconstitutional/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=volokh-post&#038;p=8386181</id>
		<updated>2026-06-09T20:02:15Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-09T20:02:15Z</published>
					<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Two decades after Justice Scalia's Ricci concurrence, the "war between disparate impact and equal protection will be waged" very soon.]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/09/office-of-legal-counsel-concludes-that-disparate-impact-liability-under-title-vii-is-unconstitutional/">
			<![CDATA[<p>In 2009, the Supreme Court decided <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/557/557/"><em>Ricci v. DeStefano</em></a>. The Justices reversed Judge Sonia Sotomayor's indefensible ruling against the Frank Ricci and the other firefighters. But the Court stopped short of deciding whether New Haven's attempt to avoid liability for disparate impact violated the Equal Protection Clause. Justice Scalia concurred to explain the Court was merely postponing the inevitable question:</p>
<blockquote><p>But the war between disparate impact and equal protection will be waged sooner or later, and it behooves us to begin thinking about how—and on what terms—to make peace between them.</p></blockquote>
<p>Nearly two decades later,  with a very different Supreme Court, this question is now primed for resolution.</p>
<p>Today the Office of Legal Counsel issued an <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-concludes-eeoc-disparate-impact-guidelines-violate-constitution">opinion</a> finding that the EEOC's Title VII guidelines are unconstitutional.</p>
<blockquote><p>EEOC's existing interpretations, including the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures ("Guidelines"), embrace an unconstitutional reading of Title VII. Rather than treating disparate impact as an evidentiary mechanism to smoke out intentional discrimination—imposing liability only when disproportionate adverse effects give rise to a strong inference of intentional discrimination—EEOC's historic interpretations contemplate liability based on disproportionately adverse effects alone, without regard to an employer's likely intent. Because EEOC's historic approach divorces liability from circumstances giving rise to a strong inference that intentional discrimination occurred, it functions as a qualified racial-proportionality mandate and spurs employers to engage in race-based decisionmaking to avoid liability. That approach is unlawful and unconstitutional.</p></blockquote>
<p>The opinion relies on <em>Allen v. Milligan</em>, which declared for the first time that our Constitution is "color-blind."</p>
<blockquote><p>Three corrections to that approach are necessary "to resolve the ten-sion between [disparate-impact] claims under [Title VII] and our color-blind Constitution." Allen v. Milligan, No. 25A1314, 2026 WL 1552756, at *1 (U.S. June 2, 2026) (per curiam).</p></blockquote>
<p>As I <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/03/the-supreme-court-for-the-first-time-refers-to-our-colorblind-constitution/">observed</a>, this emergency docket opinion may become more significant than <em>Callais, </em>a theme that the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/notable-quotable-colorblind-constitution-5edbd321">Wall Street Journal picked up</a>. <em>Allen</em> made clear that <em>Callais</em> applies to the Equal Protection context. Indeed, the Opinion links <em>Callais</em> back to the Justice Alito's TJ dissental.</p>
<blockquote><p>Even facially race-neutral actions, when mo-tivated by the purpose of altering racial balance, constitute intentional discrimination against the members of the racial group who are balanced down. After all, "if race played a role in a decision made by a govern-ment actor," or at the behest of a government actor, then race discrimi-nation has occurred and "strict scrutiny applie[s]." Louisiana v. Callais, 146 S. Ct. 1131, 1146 (2026); see also Coal. for TJ v. Fairfax Cnty. Sch. Bd., 146 S. Ct. 541, 545 (2024) (Alito, J., dissenting from denial of certiorari).</p></blockquote>
<p>This opinion is earth-shattering. The Department of Justice ruled that disparate-impact compels employers to engage in unconstitutional race discrimination.</p>
<blockquote><p>Just as "the Federal Government is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race," so too is it "prohibited from enacting laws mandating that third parties—e.g., employers, whether private, State, or munici-pal—discriminate on the basis of race," unless those laws survive strict scrutiny. Ricci, 557 U.S. at 594 (Scalia, J., concurring) (first citing Bol-ling, 347 U.S. at 500; and then citing Buchanan v. Warley, 245 U.S. 60, 78–82 (1917)). And just as it is unconstitutional for the federal govern-ment to "force[] States to engage in the very race-based discrimination that the Constitution forbids," Callais, 146 S. Ct. at 1142; see also Miller v. Johnson, 515 U.S. 900, 926–27 (1995), so too it is unconstitutional for the federal government to coerce employers to adopt employment policies or make employment decisions motivated by race. Disparate-impact liability does not just raise constitutional doubt in occasional cases; unless narrowly circumscribed, it structurally compels the very racial discrimination that the Constitution forbids.</p></blockquote>
<p>In the same way that <em>Callais</em> "updated" <em>Gingles</em>, this opinion calls on the Court to "update" <em>Griggs</em>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="p1">Reading <i>Griggs </i>in context and together with the Supreme Court's more recent precedent requires "updat[ing] the framework" for dispar-ate-impact liability "to ensure a constitutional reading and application of" Title VII. <i>Callais</i>, 146 S. Ct. at 1157, 1161 (updating the framework for claims under section 2 of the Voting Rights Act). As Justice Scalia suggested in <i>Ricci</i>, a properly tailored disparate-impact scheme might constitutionally operate as "an evidentiary tool" to "smoke out" practices that present a significant likelihood of intentional discrimination. 557 U.S. at 595 (Scalia, J., concurring); <i>see also City of Rome v. United States</i>, 446 U.S. 156, 177–78 (1980).</p>
<p class="p1">This is a similar approach to the one that the Supreme Court took in <i>Callais</i>, which held that section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Pub. L. No. 89-110, 79 Stat. 437, "imposes liability only when the circum-stances give rise to a strong inference that intentional discrimination occurred." . . . Applying Griggs, Wards Cove, Inclusive Communities, and Callais, we identify three limiting principles on disparate-impact liability that prevent a constitutional collision under current Supreme Court prece-dent. We emphasize, as the Supreme Court has, that no single limiting principle is wholly sufficient; rather, each caveat is essential to avoid the conclusion</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I suspect the EEOC will bring suit against firms that have made race-conscious decisions to avoid disparate impact suits (or more likely because they agree with separating people based on race). At that point, the constitutionality of disparate-impact is squarely teed up.</p>
<p>Kudos to Assistant Attorney General Elliot Gaiser and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Josh Craddock for putting forth this remarkable opinion. I also have to give credit to my Manhattan Institute colleague, Gail Heriot, who is cited throughout the opinion. Gail has been beating this sometimes-lonely drum for decades. And she has been right for decades.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/09/office-of-legal-counsel-concludes-that-disparate-impact-liability-under-title-vii-is-unconstitutional/">Office of Legal Counsel Concludes That Disparate Impact Liability Under Title VII Is Unconstitutional</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
						</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Ilya Somin</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/ilya-somin/</uri>
						<email>isomin@gmu.edu</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				My New Washington Post Op ed on NYC Mayor Mamdani's Unconstitutional Housing Policy			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/09/my-new-washington-post-op-ed-on-nyc-mayor-mamdanis-unconstitutional-housing-policy/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=volokh-post&#038;p=8386174</id>
		<updated>2026-06-09T22:29:21Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-09T19:08:09Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Affordable Housing" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Housing Policy" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Takings" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Fifth Amendment" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="New York City" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Property Rights" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Zohran Mamdani" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[His plan to expropriate rental housing violates the Takings Clause, and would exacerbate the City's housing crisis rather than alleviate it.]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/09/my-new-washington-post-op-ed-on-nyc-mayor-mamdanis-unconstitutional-housing-policy/">
			<![CDATA[<p>The <em>Washington Post</em> just published my article "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/06/09/mamdani-housing-plan-has-fifth-amendment-problem/">Build Homes, Don't Seize Them, Mayor Mamdani</a>." Here is an excerpt:</p>
<blockquote><p>"Block by Block," Zohran Mamdani's "<a title="https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/05/mayor-mamdani-releases--block-by-block--the-housing-plan-for-a-n" href="https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/05/mayor-mamdani-releases--block-by-block--the-housing-plan-for-a-n" target="_self" rel="">sweeping blueprint</a>" to reduce housing prices in New York City, comes with a dangerous promise. "When necessary," the mayor <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/05/transcript--mayor-mamdani-releases--block-by-block--the-housing-" rel="">said on May 26</a>, "we will take aggressive legal action to remove negligent owners and property managers" and transfer ownership to "responsible stewards." The problem: The proposal is an unconstitutional power grab that would exacerbate the city's housing crisis.</p>
<p>The Fifth Amendment's <a title="https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/amendments/amendment-v/clauses/634" href="https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/amendments/amendment-v/clauses/634" target="_self" rel="">takings clause</a> stipulates that the government may not take "private property" for public use without "just compensation." There is a long-standing debate over the extent to which regulations that constrain the use of property but don't seize it outright qualify as takings. Virtually all jurists and legal scholars, however, agree that outright confiscation does&hellip;.</p>
<div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body type-text" data-qa="article-body">
<p class="wpds-c-heFNVF wpds-c-heFNVF-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" dir="null" data-apitype="text" data-contentid="JXWI5FRAX5HYRCYIKAFFNNPJGA" data-el="text" data-scroll-pos="4" data-scroll-measured="true">If the government could expropriate property at will, it could pursue widespread seizure from anyone using property in ways the party in power disapproves of, or for purposes of transferring it to cronies and favored constituencies. Such abuses are common in authoritarian states, which is one reason the founders inserted the clause into the Bill of Rights in 1791. James Madison and others supported it in part because of arbitrary confiscation by British authorities.</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body type-text" data-qa="article-body">
<blockquote>
<p class="wpds-c-heFNVF wpds-c-heFNVF-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" dir="null" data-apitype="text" data-contentid="BXXDGD6BHJE6DEGAWGL6EDY7RU" data-el="text" data-scroll-pos="5" data-scroll-measured="true">The mayor's proposal doesn't just violate the federal and state constitutions, which have nearly identical restrictions on takings. It would also make the city's shortages worse. Faced with the prospect of potential expropriation, many owners would likely withdraw properties from the market or not list them in the first place. New York's rent-stabilization laws have already <a title="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/opinion/rent-freeze-empty-apartments.html" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/opinion/rent-freeze-empty-apartments.html" target="_self" rel="">induced owners</a> to abandon thousands of apartments that can't be profitably maintained or upgraded. The mayor seeks to make city policy <a title="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/nyregion/mamdani-freeze-rent-guidelines-board.html" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/nyregion/mamdani-freeze-rent-guidelines-board.html" target="_self" rel="">more severe</a> by "freezing" rents for hundreds of thousands of units, preventing even the modest increases permitted under current law&hellip;.</p>
<p dir="null" data-apitype="text" data-contentid="BXXDGD6BHJE6DEGAWGL6EDY7RU" data-el="text" data-scroll-pos="5" data-scroll-measured="true">The mayor often decries the city's "systemic inequities" that have made living there more onerous. A great opportunity to make good on that rhetoric would be to target the real barriers to access: the exclusionary zoning rules that severely limit the amount and types of housing that can be built on most of the city's residential land&hellip;.</p>
<p dir="null" data-apitype="text" data-contentid="BXXDGD6BHJE6DEGAWGL6EDY7RU" data-el="text" data-scroll-pos="5" data-scroll-measured="true">Mamdani <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/new-york-mayor-zohran-mamdani-inspired-by-aucklands-residential-zoning/IIAFJJROIRE6NOW22XUDIYZZK4/" rel="">has rightly praised</a> cities like <a href="https://www.pew.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2026/03/18/austins-surge-of-new-housing-construction-drove-down-rents" rel="">Austin</a>, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5347083" rel="">Minneapolis</a> and <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2024/04/03/new-zealands-yimby-success-and-how-we-can-learn-from-it/" rel="">Auckland, New Zealand</a>, which have seen the virtue in empowering private owners to build new housing. Such YIMBY — or "yes in my backyard" — zoning deregulation reliably increases supply and reduces prices. The "Block by Block" plan includes a few steps in this direction&hellip;. But the effect of such measures would be muted by expropriation and expanded rent control&hellip;..</p>
<div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body type-text" data-qa="article-body">
<p class="wpds-c-heFNVF wpds-c-heFNVF-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" dir="null" data-apitype="text" data-contentid="VRDGC2T6MNGDRDWIRF3CXCCKWM" data-el="text" data-scroll-pos="9" data-scroll-measured="true">The political right has its own snake-oil housing policies. Tariffs and mass deportation of immigrants make housing <a title="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/business/3902519/foot-voting-housing-affordability/" href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/business/3902519/foot-voting-housing-affordability/" target="_self" rel="">more expensive</a> by increasing the price of building materials and the costs of construction, respectively&hellip;.</p>
</div>
<div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body type-text" data-qa="article-body">
<p class="wpds-c-heFNVF wpds-c-heFNVF-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" dir="null" data-apitype="text" data-contentid="46T5JYPKINFE3J532CUL76GTGA" data-el="text" data-scroll-pos="10" data-scroll-measured="true">But counterproductive right-wing policies don't justify Mamdani's. To alleviate the "deepening housing crisis," stop digging a hole with more government control of the kind that caused it in the first place.</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/09/my-new-washington-post-op-ed-on-nyc-mayor-mamdanis-unconstitutional-housing-policy/">My New Washington Post Op ed on NYC Mayor Mamdani&#039;s Unconstitutional Housing Policy</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
						</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>C.J. Ciaramella</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/cj-ciaramella/</uri>
						<email>cj.ciaramella@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Evidence Destroyed or Lost in Death of ICE Detainee That Was Ruled a Homicide			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/evidence-destroyed-or-lost-in-death-of-ice-detainee-that-was-ruled-a-homicide/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386151</id>
		<updated>2026-06-09T18:29:02Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-09T18:29:02Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Excessive Force" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Immigration" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Prisons" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Department of Homeland Security" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="DHS" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Federal government" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Homeland security" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="ICE" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Texas" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Trump Administration" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[A medical examiner ruled Geraldo Lunas Campos' death a homicide by asphyxiation. Witnesses say guards choked him to death. Now a government report says evidence is missing.]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/evidence-destroyed-or-lost-in-death-of-ice-detainee-that-was-ruled-a-homicide/">
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										alt="An immigrant detention camp on the left, Geraldo Lunas Campos on the right | U.S. Government Accountability Office/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement"
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		<p>A Government Accountability Office (GAO) <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-26-108886.pdf">audit</a> released today said evidence was destroyed or went missing regarding the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a federal immigration detainee whose death a medical examiner later ruled a homicide by asphyxiation.</p>
<p>The GAO reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) filed a "discrepancy report" in February noting that the private contractor that previously operated the Camp East Montana detention facility in Texas had failed to provide the agency with use-of-force and death reports regarding a January death of a detainee by use of force. The GAO report does not name the detainee, but the details match Lunas Campos, who died on January 3 after an altercation with guards at the camp.</p>
<p>"In addition, evidence associated with the incident was missing or destroyed," the GAO report said.</p>
<p>The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initially <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/01/23/ice-detainee-death-911-calls/">claimed</a> that Lunas Campos had attempted to commit suicide and died during a struggle in which "guards were trying to save him." However, the El Paso Medical Examiner's Office <a href="https://cdn.muckrock.com/foia_files/2026/02/17/Autopsy_Report_ME_26-0007_Geraldo_Lunas_Campos.pdf">ruled</a> his death a homicide by asphyxiation. Multiple detainee witnesses <a href="https://zeteo.com/p/texas-ice-homicide-choking-guards">told</a> news outlets that guards choked Lunas Campos to death after he refused to stop asking for his medication.</p>
<p>"The officers entered, grabbed him," one detainee <a href="https://zeteo.com/p/texas-ice-homicide-choking-guards">told</a> <em>Zeteo</em>, "and the last thing we could hear him say was: 'They are choking me, they are choking me.'"</p>
<p>An internal ICE inspection of Camp East Montana earlier this year <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ice-detention-facility-inspection-immigration-1f83cd2f12ba64f74fb20e46720377d7">uncovered dozens</a> of violations of national detention standards, including failures to document use-of-force and medical care, and failure to respond to grievances about lack of medical care. A detainee with tuberculosis wasn't isolated; another detainee escaped.</p>
<p>The GAO report also found that ICE wasted millions of dollars expediting the awarding of the contract and the opening of Camp East Montana. ICE terminated its contract and switched to a new private contractor in April.</p>
<p>DHS did not respond to an inquiry for additional details regarding the missing or destroyed evidence. However, a DHS spokesperson says the new contractor will "allow Camp East Montana to continue abiding by the highest detention standards WITH the ability to provide MORE medical care on-site."</p>
<p>"This contract also allows more on-site staff and a PRECISE quality assurance surveillance plan," the spokesperson continued. "ICE will have even more oversight of the contractors at this facility. Far from closing, Camp East Montana is upgrading."</p>
<p>Allegations of medical neglect, brutality, and lack of due process have <a href="https://reason.com/2026/04/22/reports-of-abuse-pour-out-of-federal-immigration-detention-centers/">poured</a> out of federal immigration detention centers since the Trump administration launched its mass deportation program. Another medical examiner's report recently obtained by <em>Reason</em> <a href="https://reason.com/2026/05/21/an-ice-detainee-died-from-a-tooth-infection-autopsy-report-says/">found</a> that an ICE detainee died of complications from a severe tooth infection.</p>
<p>Since Trump's second inauguration, <a href="https://abcnews.com/US/georgian-migrant-50th-person-die-ice-detention-immigration/story?id=133685397">50 people</a> have died in ICE custody.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/evidence-destroyed-or-lost-in-death-of-ice-detainee-that-was-ruled-a-homicide/">Evidence Destroyed or Lost in Death of ICE Detainee That Was Ruled a Homicide</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
							<media:credit><![CDATA[U.S. Government Accountability Office/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[An immigrant detention camp on the left, Geraldo Lunas Campos on the right]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[GAO-Campos-6-9]]></media:title>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Meagan O'Rourke</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/meagan-orourke/</uri>
						<email>meagan.orourke@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Nude Shrek Text to Ohio State Senator Reportedly Lands Blogger in Jail			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/nude-shrek-text-to-ohio-state-senator-reportedly-lands-blogger-in-jail/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386143</id>
		<updated>2026-06-09T18:00:17Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-09T18:00:17Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Censorship" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Civil Liberties" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Crime" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Free Speech" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Ohio" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Free speech experts say the “Shrext” is protected by the First Amendment.]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/nude-shrek-text-to-ohio-state-senator-reportedly-lands-blogger-in-jail/">
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		<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">An Ohio courtroom may soon have to determine whether a blogger should face jail time for texting an image of Shrek's penis to a public official.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Last week, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Columbus Dispatch </span></i><a href="https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2026/06/01/rooster-arrest-ohio-statehouse/90358157007/?gnt-cfr=1&amp;gca-cat=p&amp;gca-uir=true&amp;gca-epti=z116601p119250n00----l000150c00----e1151xxv116601d--64--b--64--&amp;gca-ft=182&amp;gca-ds=sophi"><span style="font-weight: 400;">reported</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that D.J. Byrnes—an Ohio blogger who runs a Statehouse gossip Substack called </span><a href="https://www.rooster.info/"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Rooster</span></i></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">—was arrested on a misdemeanor warrant at the Ohio Statehouse. Byrnes' arrest, according to reporting by </span><a href="https://signalohio.org/ohio-republican-senator-called-cops-seeking-charges-against-blogger/"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Signal Ohio</span></i></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, likely stems from a picture he texted to state Sen. Jerry Cirino (R–Kirtland) on May 6. The offending image? A "digitally altered version of Shrek, the ogre with a titular children's movie franchise, with his penis exposed," according to </span><a href="https://signalohio.org/ohio-republican-senator-called-cops-seeking-charges-against-blogger/"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Signal Ohio</span></i></a><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Police records did not identify Cirino by name, but the outlet confirmed he was the "recipient of the text messages based on the text messages themselves and other details within the police report."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">An affidavit with Byrnes' arrest report described the ogre as "fully nude with an exposed and erect humanlike penis engaged in an act of masturbation," according to the outlet. The </span><a href="https://www.fire.org/news/ohio-man-jailed-texting-shreks-penis-state-senator-your-questions-about-shrexting-answered"><span style="font-weight: 400;">text exchange</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> also included a message calling Cirino "Young Mussolini."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On May 8, Cirino reportedly </span><a href="https://signalohio.org/ohio-republican-senator-called-cops-seeking-charges-against-blogger/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">emailed</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the Kirtland Police Department asking officers to file charges against Byrnes.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Not only is the message harassing but the disgusting picture is pornographic in nature and not something I want to see on any of my devices," said the email sent to Kirtland police.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After his arrest on June 1, Byrnes </span><a href="https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/columbus/columbus-political-blogger-arrested-on-telecommunications-harassment-charge/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">was booked</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> into the Franklin County Jail, where he </span><a href="https://substack.com/home/post/p-200382737"><span style="font-weight: 400;">says</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> he spent 23 hours in custody, according to a statement </span><a href="https://substack.com/home/post/p-200382737"><span style="font-weight: 400;">posted</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Rooster</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span><a href="https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2026/06/02/rooster-released-after-night-in-jail/90369185007/"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Columbus Dispatch</span></i></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">reported that he was released on bond on June 2. Byrnes wrote that he would not comment on the specifics of the allegations, but he says he believes he will be found innocent in court. He was arrested on telecommunications harassment charges, according to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Signal Ohio, </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">and could face up to six months in jail.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In its </span><a href="https://www.fire.org/news/ohio-man-jailed-texting-shreks-penis-state-senator-your-questions-about-shrexting-answered"><span style="font-weight: 400;">analysis</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of the case, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a pro–free speech organization, cautioned that, "as in essentially all First Amendment cases, context and details matter." Based on the available facts, however, the organization wrote that "Byrnes should not be facing telecommunications harassment charges."</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br />
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">FIRE argues that Byrnes' "shrexting" did not amount to obscenity because the image fails to pass </span><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/obscenity"><span style="font-weight: 400;">the three-prong obscenity test</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> set by </span><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/413/15"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Miller. v. California</span></i></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">: Would the average person see the work as appealing "to the prurient interest"? Does it depict sexual conduct in a "patently offensive way" as defined by state laws? And finally, </span><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/obscenity"><span style="font-weight: 400;">does</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the work lack "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value"? The text was clearly a piece of "political mockery," and it was not intended to "arouse anyone's sexual interest," FIRE wrote, meaning it fails the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Miller</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> test. The "handful of afternoon texts," from what FIRE reviewed, did not constitute harassment either.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">More details about Byrnes' case may emerge when he appears in court, but if a public official did in fact direct the police department to arrest Byrnes because of his texts, that poses a clear threat to free speech. The Shrek image may be absurd, shocking, and hilarious (depending on your sense of humor), but being punished for exercising your free speech right to criticize and troll (or ogre) public officials is no laughing matter. </span></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/nude-shrek-text-to-ohio-state-senator-reportedly-lands-blogger-in-jail/">Nude Shrek Text to Ohio State Senator Reportedly Lands Blogger in Jail</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
							<media:credit><![CDATA[Midjourney]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[Shrek holding a smartphone]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[06.08.26-v1]]></media:title>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Christian Britschgi</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/christian-britschgi/</uri>
						<email>christian.britschgi@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Streamlining and Taxes			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/streamlining-and-taxes/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386082</id>
		<updated>2026-06-09T17:32:03Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-09T17:35:24Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Affordable Housing" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Environmental Law" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Housing Policy" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Rent control" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Minnesota" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="New York City" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[New York lawmakers exempt some housing from the state's environmental review law while piling taxes on second homes.]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/streamlining-and-taxes/">
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		<p>Happy Tuesday and welcome to another edition of <em>Rent Free</em>.</p>
<p>This week's newsletter takes a look at some recent state-level policy changes in New York, where lawmakers passed streamlining reforms to the state's environmental review law for the first time in decades while also layering on new taxes on second homes.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in Portland, Oregon, city-sponsored affordable housing approaches financial collapse, and rent control continues to suppress new development in Saint Paul, Minnesota.</p>
<hr />
<h1>In New York, Some Streamlining&hellip;</h1>
<p>At the tail end of last month, the New York Legislature belatedly passed a state budget bill that includes a handful of housing policy changes.</p>
<p>That includes some streamlining reforms to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). Like the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, SEQRA requires governments to review the environmental impacts of discretionary actions they take.</p>
<p><code></code></p>
<p>Housing projects that require a rezoning, public subsidy, or special permit may be required to perform SEQRA reviews. Study periods can last anywhere from <a href="https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5684&amp;context=faculty_scholarship&amp;ref=vitalcitynyc.org">six months</a> for smaller projects that are subject to a lesser level of review to <a href="https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/how-seqra-slows-housing-development-new-york/">close to three years</a> for more significant rezonings.</p>
<p>Like other environmental review laws, SEQRA also allows third parties to sue when they believe a project was approved without a thorough enough environmental review.</p>
<p>In 2024, state courts <a href="https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5684&amp;context=faculty_scholarship&amp;ref=vitalcitynyc.org">decided 43 SEQRA lawsuits</a>. Only 10 of those involved housing projects, and of those, only one housing project was ultimately stopped by the courts.</p>
<p>Even so, lawsuits are expensive, particularly SEQRA lawsuits that can last years.</p>
<p>"The mere threat of legal challenges increases the time, cost and uncertainty for projects that already undergo extensive environmental review," <a href="https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/how-seqra-slows-housing-development-new-york/">writes</a> Sean Campion, the director of housing and economic development studies at the Citizens Budget Commission, for <em>Vital City.</em></p>
<p>Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul had proposed excluding some housing projects from SEQRA review as part of her Let Them Build plan.</p>
<p>The reforms passed as part of the budget in late May exempt rezonings, site plan approvals, and other land use actions done to allow denser housing projects of up to 500 units on infill lots.</p>
<p>You can read more detailed summaries <a href="https://www.bclplaw.com/en-US/events-insights-news/new-york-state-budget-law-narrows-seqra.html">here</a> and <a href="https://www.woh.com/blog/277/The-State-Environmental-Quality-Review-Act-2026-Reforms-to-Streamline-Residential-Housing-Projects-/">here</a> of which particular projects and parcels qualify for SEQRA exemptions.</p>
<p>The reforms also impose new deadlines for projects that still need to undergo SEQRA review. Environmental Impact Statements, the most demanding level of SEQRA review, <a href="https://www.gtlaw-environmentalandenergy.com/2026/06/articles/state-local/new-yorks-2026-enacted-budget-advances-seqra-reforms-promoting-housing-construction-and-streamlining-environmental-review-timelines/">must generally be completed</a> within two years.</p>
<p>Increasingly, the view among wonks and policymakers is that open-ended environmental review laws have been a mistake. They can add years to the delivery of housing and infrastructure while providing few substantive environmental protections.</p>
<p>All but seven states and the federal government manage to get by without these laws. Where these laws do exist, the trend has <a href="https://reason.com/2025/07/01/california-enacts-sweeping-exemption-to-development-killing-environmental-law/">been</a> to <a href="https://reason.com/2024/08/13/tim-walzs-other-stolen-valor-scandal/">exclude</a> more and more projects from their purview.</p>
<p>New York now joins the ranks of the reformers by exempting some types of discretionary land use actions from its environmental review law when they result in more housing. A deeper reform would be to allow more housing to be built without needing a discretionary process in the first place.</p>
<h2>&hellip;And Some Taxes</h2>
<p>New York's budget also includes the so-called pied-à-terre tax on second homes worth more than $1 million in New York City that Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani had been agitating for as part of his "tax the rich" agenda.</p>
<p>The tax, which will be implemented in stages, is anticipated to bring in $500 million, although revenue estimates are complicated by New York's <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/nyregion/nyc-second-home-tax-rates.html">arcane property tax system</a> that, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/nyregion/nyc-second-home-tax-rates.html">per</a> <em>The New York Times</em>, undervalues high-end real estate.</p>
<p>The politics of taxing rich nonresidents' second homes is pretty straightforward for the city's socialist mayor and the state's liberal governor.</p>
<p>As a revenue raiser, the policy has some problems, argued tax experts Ken Girardin and Jared Walczak in an April <em>City Journal </em><a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/new-york-mamdani-pied-a-terre-tax">article</a>.</p>
<p>While property tax revenues are usually quite stable, New York's second-home tax "over-indexes on a small number of high-value properties, making it more susceptible to valuation fluctuations," they write, adding that "higher taxes on select high-end properties will make investment in the construction of new high-value housing less attractive."</p>
<p>If you take the logic of filtering seriously, a fall in the number of new high-end homes being built will raise housing costs for everyone. Fewer luxury units means more money chasing fewer homes, putting upward pressure on prices.</p>
<p>Given the narrow base of the tax, the effect on housing prices generally will likely be marginal. Still, any cost increases in the already expensive city are hardly ideal.</p>
<p>Beyond any practical arguments about policy, narrow taxes designed to bilk unpopular people with too much money are unseemly.</p>
<p>If one believes, as Mamdani does, that there's no problem too large or concern too small for city hall to fix, it seems only fair that everyone pay for this great socialist experiment.</p>
<p>A targeted tax on out-of-town millionaires' property reveals the mean, grasping hand behind the mayor's "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPTTTuq1Opw">warmth of collectivism</a>."</p>
<h2>The Bills Not Considered</h2>
<p>All things considered, both the SEQRA exemptions and the pied-à-terre tax are relatively small potatoes when compared to previous housing policy fights at the state level in New York.</p>
<p>The high-water mark was 2023, when the Legislature considered both a major <a href="https://reason.com/2023/03/30/new-york-lawmakers-could-pass-the-nations-strictest-state-level-rent-control-law-by-the-end-of-the-week/">expansion of rent control</a> (deceptively pitched as a "good cause" eviction law) and one of the <a href="https://reason.com/2023/01/11/new-york-gov-kathy-hochuls-housing-plan-avoids-common-mistake-of-other-yimby-reforms/">more far-reaching state zoning reform plans</a> ever considered anywhere in the country. Neither ended up passing.</p>
<p>(In 2024, a <a href="https://ag.ny.gov/publications/new-york-state-good-cause-eviction-law">more limited</a> good cause eviction law did pass.)</p>
<p>Since then, the major housing policy action in New York has been at the city level. In 2024, local leaders approved the "City of Yes" plan, which upzoned large swaths of the city. This year, the city's Rent Guidelines Board is expected to impose Mamdani's sought-after rent freeze.</p>
<p>This makes New York distinct from states in the West and South, both red and blue, where legislatures are consistently considering and even passing significant state-level zoning reforms.</p>
<p>The rent stabilization law bankrupting housing in New York City is also a state law that will require state action to fix.</p>
<p>In the past few years, at least, it appears Empire State lawmakers don't have the appetite for taking on major reform proposals.</p>
<hr />
<h1>Quick Links</h1>
<ul>
<li>John Ketcham has a <a href="https://www.piratewires.com/p/the-state-is-not-a-good-landlord">great piece</a> in <em>Pirate Wires</em> about Mamdani's plan to have the city take over apartment buildings in need of serious repairs. In short, the city's already tried this in recent memory, and it was an expensive failure.</li>
<li>The Institute for Justice has a <a href="https://ij.org/case/north-port-restrictive-zoning/">new lawsuit</a> that challenges North Port, Florida's selective rezoning of retiree Art Yatsko's property that prevents him from building a single-family home on the lot.</li>
<li>Over at <em>Market Urbanism, </em>Michael Lewyn <a href="https://marketurbanism.com/2026/06/08/review-broken-city/">reviews</a> Patrick Condon's book <em>Broken City</em>. Condon argues that upzoning will never make cities affordable because increased density merely spikes land prices. Lewyn isn't convinced.</li>
<li>Portland, Oregon, Mayor Keith Wilson warns that the city's affordable housing portfolio is approaching financial collapse. Per KOIN's <a href="https://www.koin.com/news/portland/mayor-wilson-warns-portlands-affordable-housing-system-is-on-verge-of-financial-collapse/">summary</a> of the memo, the city's affordable housing stock has all the problems, including "unpredictable and unsustainable material and personnel costs, unprecedented behavioral health and substance use disorder rates, faltering resident security, unit vacancies and chronic tenant nonpayment."</li>
<li>Rents are once again spiking in San Francisco.</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The data for rent appreciation in San Francisco is just nuts. <a href="https://t.co/SWvdOR0OLM">pic.twitter.com/SWvdOR0OLM</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Mike Simonsen <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/17.0.2/72x72/1f409.png" alt="🐉" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> (@mikesimonsen) <a href="https://x.com/mikesimonsen/status/2063716764098371794?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<ul>
<li>Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis <a href="https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2026/housing-policies-in-saint-paul-yield-mixed-results-data-and-developers-say">have</a> an interesting new brief on housing in Saint Paul, Minnesota. "Missing middle" zoning reforms have enabled the construction of a few dozen duplexes and triplexes each year. Meanwhile, the city's rent control experiment continues to chill investment in larger multifamily developments.</li>
</ul>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/streamlining-and-taxes/">Streamlining and Taxes</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
							<media:credit><![CDATA[Illustration: Anthony Behar/Sipa USA/Newscom/Stefan Ugljevarevic/Dreamstime]]></media:credit>
		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[Zohran Mamdani]]></media:description>
		<media:title><![CDATA[06.09.26-v1]]></media:title>
		<media:thumbnail url="https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2026/06/06.09.26-v1-1200x675.jpg" width="1200" height="675" />
	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Eugene Volokh</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/eugene-volokh/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				"Al Ghashiyah Testified That &#8230; as Head of the Family, He Has Decided that Islamic Law Is the Law that Applies to the Family"			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/09/al-ghashiyah-testified-that-as-head-of-the-family-he-has-decided-that-islamic-law-is-the-law-that-applies-to-the-family/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=volokh-post&#038;p=8386135</id>
		<updated>2026-06-09T16:28:39Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-09T16:28:39Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Islamic Law" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Religion and the Law" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Uh, no, says the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, refusing to set aside plaintiff’s brother’s will, in which the brother left nothing to the plaintiff.]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/09/al-ghashiyah-testified-that-as-head-of-the-family-he-has-decided-that-islamic-law-is-the-law-that-applies-to-the-family/">
			<![CDATA[<p>From <em><a href="https://www.wicourts.gov/ca/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&amp;seqNo=1125768">al Ghashiyah v. Oster</a></em>, decided last Thursday by Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judges JoAnne Kloppenburg, Jennifer Nashold, and Chris Taylor:</p>
<blockquote><p>Al Ghashiyah is the only brother of James C. Charles Casteel. Casteel died in October 2024. Thomas Oster, a longtime friend of Casteel, filed a petition for the formal administration of Casteel's estate and filed Casteel's will with the circuit court.</p>
<p>Casteel's will bequeaths the contents of his estate to certain friends and family members. The will does not bequeath any of Casteel's estate to al Ghashiyah. Al Ghashiyah filed a motion requesting that the court apply Islamic law to the administration of the estate. Al Ghashiyah asserted that, under Islamic law, Casteel's estate must be distributed among Casteel's surviving siblings, with any surviving male siblings receiving twice the share of any surviving female siblings.</p>
<p>At an evidentiary hearing on Oster's petition and al Ghashiyah's motion, al Ghashiyah confirmed that his motion was a request that the circuit court apply Islamic law instead of the laws of the State of Wisconsin, and instead of following Casteel's will. Al Ghashiyah testified that, with his brother's death, al Ghashiyah became the head of the Casteel family, and as head of the family, he has decided that Islamic law is the law that applies to the family.</p>
<p>Al Ghashiyah also testified that he and Casteel did not discuss whether or not Casteel's property should be distributed according to Islamic law, and that, to al Ghashiyah's knowledge, Casteel did not practice the Islamic faith. The court denied al Ghashiyah's motion requesting that the court apply Islamic law&hellip;.</p></blockquote>
<p><span id="more-8386135"></span></p>
<blockquote><p>Al Ghashiyah &hellip; argues that the circuit court's denial of his motion to apply Islamic law is discriminatory and violates fundamental rights protected under the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights." &hellip; [A]l Ghashiyah does not develop this argument with citation to relevant legal authority that illustrates court error. Rather, al Ghashiyah asserts that "human rights principles are universally applicable" and cites to <em>Presbyterian Church of Sudan v. Talisman Energy, Inc.</em> (S.D.N.Y. 2003) in support of that assertion.</p>
<p>However, in that case, current and former residents of the Republic of Sudan brought suit alleging that an oil company in that country committed "gross human rights violations, including extrajudicial killing, forcible displacement, war crimes, confiscation and destruction of property, kidnapping, rape, and enslavement." Al Ghashiyah does not explain how the <em>Presbyterian Church of Sudan</em> case supports his argument that the court here violated al Ghashiyah's rights when it declined to apply Islamic law to the administration of the estate of Casteel, who the court found expressed no desire that Islamic law should apply.</p>
<p>In his reply brief, al Ghashiyah asserts that courts "routinely consider religious doctrine in &hellip; cases where relevant and voluntarily invoked by the parties." He also states that the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized the right of religious communities to arrange their affairs in accordance with their beliefs.</p>
<p>It may be true that in certain circumstances courts may apply and consider international or human rights law, and the rights of religious communities. However, al Ghashiyah does not develop an argument as to how his right to practice Islamic law is relevant to the administration of Casteel's estate, he does not assert any evidence that Casteel invoked Islamic law, and he does not explain his conclusion that the court should recognize the religious beliefs of al Ghashiyah in deciding Casteel's will.</p>
<p>Rather, al Ghashiyah's argument amounts to the conclusory assertion that, because he asked the court to follow Islamic law, it was discrimination and a human rights violation for the court to decline the request. We do not further address this argument as it is undeveloped&hellip;.</p></blockquote>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/09/al-ghashiyah-testified-that-as-head-of-the-family-he-has-decided-that-islamic-law-is-the-law-that-applies-to-the-family/">&quot;Al Ghashiyah Testified That &hellip; as Head of the Family, He Has Decided that Islamic Law Is the Law that Applies to the Family&quot;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
						</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Eugene Volokh</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/eugene-volokh/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				Nonexistent Case Citations on Both Sides + "Rubberstamp[ing]" by "Local Counsel"			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/09/nonexistent-case-citations-on-both-sides-rubberstamping-by-local-counsel/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?post_type=volokh-post&#038;p=8386126</id>
		<updated>2026-06-09T15:56:23Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-09T15:56:23Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="AI in Court" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA["In an era of rampant unverified AI usage within the legal field, this case presents a prime example of the risk associated with serving as a rubberstamp when acting as local counsel."]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/09/nonexistent-case-citations-on-both-sides-rubberstamping-by-local-counsel/">
			<![CDATA[<p>In <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.msnd.50181/gov.uscourts.msnd.50181.123.0.pdf"><em>Withers v. City of Aberdeen</em></a>, decided yesterday by Judge Sharion Aycock (N.D. Miss.), both sides had filed briefs containing citations to nonexistent cases; the briefs were drafted by out-of-state counsel, each of whom had local counsel (as the rules generally require). Withers was represented by Wilson with Ridgeway as local counsel; the City was represented by Williams with McClinton as local counsel. I focus here just on the sanctions imposed on local counsel:</p>
<blockquote><p>Ridgeway is a Mississippi licensed attorney who works for Christian &amp; Small, LLP. She sponsored Wilson's pro hac vice admission in this case and serves as local counsel for Withers. As noted, Ridgeway appears as a signatory to Withers' Opposition to Defendant City of Aberdeen's Motion for Summary Judgment [105], which contained two citations to nonexistent cases. Though she was not the drafter of that document, she admitted to failing to review and verify the accuracy of the legal authority cited therein. In other words, she did not check the cases after authorizing her signature on the filing.</p>
<p>At the hearing, Ridgeway explained that she was unaware of Wilson's AI use but did not attempt to excuse herself on that basis. She explained that she does not personally use AI and that her firm has a policy in place pertaining to AI use. In essence, Wilson would present Ridgeway with a copy of proposed filings drafted by Wilson, and the two would discuss the substance of the same. Despite this communication between the two, Ridgeway admitted to not reviewing the legal citations in those drafts before they were filed, including Withers' Response [105]. Ridgeway accepted responsibility for her role in the violation stemming from the fake cases cited in that filing as well as in others. {Following the show cause hearing, Ridgeway informed the Court that she had self-reported to the Mississippi Bar. The Court finds that this act demonstrates her acceptance of accountability.}</p></blockquote>
<p><span id="more-8386126"></span></p>
<blockquote><p>As briefly discussed above, Ridgeway conducted a thorough analysis of all filings submitted on behalf of Withers in this case after entry of the Court's show cause order. The Court appreciates her efforts in attempting to remediate the issue and her acceptance of responsibility but finds that those factors do not shield her from being sanctioned. In addition to admitting her violation of Rule 11, Ridgeway also conceded that her omissions violated this Court's Local Rules. Local Rule 83.1 provides in pertinent part:</p>
<blockquote><p>Association and Duties of a Resident Attorney. No eligible non-resident attorney may appear pro hac vice unless and until a resident attorney has been associated. <em>The resident attorney remains </em>responsible to the client and <em>responsible for the conduct of the proceeding before the court</em>.</p></blockquote>
<p>Certainly, resident attorneys are responsible for providing guidance and oversight of non-resident attorneys to ensure that they are complying with procedural and ethical rules. After all, resident attorneys are basically the gateway for out-of-state attorneys to have access to Mississippi's court system. The Court does not take a violation of that core duty lightly. At the same time, taking into account the specific circumstances of this case, it does not find that Ridgeway acted in bad faith. Her omissions were negligent and careless but not purposeful&hellip;.</p>
<p>McClinton &hellip; was a signatory to the two filings submitted on behalf of the City, which contained hallucinatory citations. At the hearing, McClinton explained that he was not aware that the motions at issue were being filed but acknowledged that he had previously given Williams permission to affix his signature on prior filings without reading the documents. Though he was not provided the filings for his review prior to their filing, McClinton did not attempt to use that as an excuse and explained that it was not unreasonable for Williams to have done so based on their course of practice. In other words, he had impliedly given permission for her to do so.</p>
<p>McClinton also explained that only two attorneys practice at his law firm, that he does not use AI in his practice, and therefore does not have an AI policy in place. Much like Ridgeway, McClinton was unaware that his co-counsel, Williams, had used an AI research tool to conduct legal research in the case. McClinton also acknowledged that he should have reviewed the filings when he received the automatic notification of electronic filing and expressed his remorse for having failed to do so. Again, he does not contest his Rule 11 violation.</p>
<p>For the same reasons provided above concerning Ridgeway, the Court finds that he too violated his duties as a sponsoring resident attorney pursuant to this Court's Local Rules. Because he was not the drafter of the filings at issue and did not use AI in this case, the Court has no reason to believe that he acted in bad faith. Like Ridgeway, the Court finds that McClinton acted negligently and carelessly. However, he accepted responsibility for his role in the violation and, like Ridgeway, informed the Court that he had self-reported to the Mississippi Bar following the show cause hearing. The Court credits his candor and steps taken towards holding himself accountable.</p>
<p>In an era of rampant unverified AI usage within the legal field, this case presents a prime example of the risk associated with serving as a rubberstamp when acting as local counsel.</p></blockquote>
<p>Local counsel were therefore disqualified from the case, ordered to pay $1000 each in fines, and referred to bar authorities. Wilson and Williams, the lawyers who drafted the filings, were fined $2500 and $3500 and otherwise disciplined as well.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/volokh/2026/06/09/nonexistent-case-citations-on-both-sides-rubberstamping-by-local-counsel/">Nonexistent Case Citations on Both Sides + &quot;Rubberstamp[ing]&quot; by &quot;Local Counsel&quot;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		</content>
						</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Autumn Billings</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/autumn-billings/</uri>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				DHS Says It Has 'Zero Tolerance' for Protesters' 'Verbal Assaults.' Here's What the Law Says.			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/dhs-says-it-has-zero-tolerance-for-protesters-verbal-assaults-heres-what-the-law-says/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386103</id>
		<updated>2026-06-09T17:35:09Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-09T15:36:17Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Civil Liberties" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Constitutional Interpretation" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Immigration" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Protests" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Department of Homeland Security" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="First Amendment" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="ICE" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Trump Administration" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Protesters continue to clash with law enforcement outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility, but questions remain over whether DHS policies comply with First Amendment law.]]></summary>
					<content type="html" xml:base="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/dhs-says-it-has-zero-tolerance-for-protesters-verbal-assaults-heres-what-the-law-says/">
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		<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Protests over </span><a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/01/dhs-cant-decide-if-theres-a-hunger-strike-going-on-at-a-new-jersey-detention-center/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">poor living conditions</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for detainees at Delaney Hall immigration detention center erupted over the weekend, leading to the arrest of over 80 people, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-detention-geo-group-protests-delaney-hall-56b7adb202aa59b1b0e0121fba2df755">reported</a> on Saturday. Some of the protesters arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are </span><a href="https://x.com/SecMullinDHS/status/2063297337624056081"><span style="font-weight: 400;">accused</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of assaulting law enforcement officers, obstruction, and threats. But questions remain about whether the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) enforcement policies violate the First Amendment and chill speech on the ongoing public debate over immigration policies.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The crackdown on protesters is not surprising given Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's statements during congressional hearings last week, in which he took a hard line against violent protesters. During a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing on June 3, Mullin </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVtDUljxIes"><span style="font-weight: 400;">testified</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that he is "OK with protest," so long as it is done "in a peaceful way, in a legal area." However, Mullin asserted, he has "zero tolerance" for individuals who "verbally assault our officers," "go after our vehicles," or "assault our property." "You assault one of our officers, we will find you. We will arrest you," he continued. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While Mullin is right that the </span><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/111"><span style="font-weight: 400;">destruction</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of government property and </span><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/111"><span style="font-weight: 400;">assaulting</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers are both federal crimes, there is no such thing as "verbally assaulting" an officer under the law, Aaron Terr, the director of public advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), tells </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reason.</span></i></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Under the First Amendment, individuals are free "to criticize, mock, or disparage law enforcement officers" who "have no greater right than anyone else to be shielded from offense or criticism," Terr explains. "In fact, the Supreme Court has recognized that properly trained officers are expected to show even more restraint than the average citizen when confronted with provocative or challenging speech." </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"The First Amendment's broad protections are essential to preserving the public's ability to criticize and hold accountable those entrusted with enforcing the law," Terr says, which is why speech is generally protected "unless the speech falls into one of the narrow categories of unprotected expression." </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One such category includes </span><a href="https://www.fire.org/research-learn/unprotected-speech-synopsis"><span style="font-weight: 400;">true threats</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, defined by the Supreme Court in </span><a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/538/343/"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Virginia v. Black</span></i></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (2003) as "statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When assessing whether speech constitutes a true threat, "context always matters," says Terr. "Courts look at the surrounding circumstances to determine whether a reasonable person would understand the statement as a serious expression of intent to commit unlawful violence, as opposed to a joke, hyperbole, or venting," all of which fall under protected speech. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The distinctions between true threats and other forms of protected speech can be rather nuanced. For example, in 1969 the Supreme Court in </span><a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/394/705/"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Watts v. United States</span></i></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> reversed a jury's decision to convict a young man, recently drafted into the Vietnam War, for saying at a public rally, "If they ever make me carry a rifle the first man I want to get in my sights is L.B.J." The Court held that the statements were protected speech and amounted to crude political hyperbole rather than a true threat. "The language of the political arena," the Court wrote, "is often vituperative, abusive, and inexact" but must be interpreted "against the background of a profound national commitment" to "uninhibited, robust, and wide-open" debate on public issues. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When asked by </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reason</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> how the DHS defined <em>verbal assault</em> and whether it aligned with First Amendment law, a spokesperson responded via email with the Justice Department's </span><a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/brooklyn-man-charged-threatening-assault-and-murder-ice-officer-and-his-family"><span style="font-weight: 400;">statement</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> regarding the arrest of a Delaney Hall protester, Nicholas Matthew Scelfo, who allegedly threatened to assault and murder an ICE officer and his family. </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZGIDiUAOKh/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Video posted</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by ICE on social media shows Scelfo pointing at agents during a May 27 protest, shouting, "I'll kill your whole fucking family. Your whole fucking family is dead." If convicted on the threat charge, he faces </span><a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/brooklyn-man-charged-threatening-assault-and-murder-ice-officer-and-his-family"><span style="font-weight: 400;">up to 10 years in prison</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and a maximum fine of $250,000, according to the Justice Department. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Another Delaney Hall protester was detained and dragged away by ICE agents on June 5 for allegedly threatening an officer. </span><a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2063322132319261022"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Video of the incident</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> shows an ICE agent yelling at a group of protesters to back up before singling out a protester off-camera, shouting, "What did you just say? You're going to kill me? You're going to kill me?" Agents surround the suspect and drag him away as he exclaims, "I ain't say nothing! I ain't say nothing!" </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As shocking as these statements may seem, "a statement like 'I'll kill you' is not automatically a true threat simply because those words are used," said Terr. Things like "the nature of the protest, the level of antagonism between the protester and the officer, the protester's tone, and any accompanying conduct" are all relevant to a court's analysis on whether statements rise to the level of a true threat, Terr says. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But whether law enforcement officers with the power to make arrests abide by the courts' distinctions between true threats and otherwise protected speech is another question entirely. "Unfortunately, administration officials and federal agents have repeatedly demonstrated either a misunderstanding of, or disregard for, the distinction between protected speech and illegal conduct," says Terr. The DHS under President Donald Trump has put forth policies inconsistent with the First Amendment, Terr continued, from saying recording on-duty officers constitutes unlawful </span><a href="https://reason.com/2026/02/18/the-trump-administrations-war-against-ice-critics/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">doxxing</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> or </span><a href="https://reason.com/2025/12/22/dhs-says-recording-or-following-law-enforcement-sure-sounds-like-obstruction-of-justice/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">obstruction</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, to attempting to </span><a href="https://reason.com/2026/04/15/ice-is-determined-to-unmask-a-reddit-user-whose-only-crime-seems-to-be-criticizing-ice/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">unmask online anonymous critics</span></a>.<span style="font-weight: 400;"> "These actions all seem designed to chill protected speech rather than enforce the law," says Terr. </span></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/dhs-says-it-has-zero-tolerance-for-protesters-verbal-assaults-heres-what-the-law-says/">DHS Says It Has &#039;Zero Tolerance&#039; for Protesters&#039; &#039;Verbal Assaults.&#039; Here&#039;s What the Law Says.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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		<media:description type="html"><![CDATA[Markwayne Mullin photo]]></media:description>
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	</entry>
		<entry>
					<author>
			<name>Jason Russell</name>
							<uri>https://reason.com/people/jason-russell/</uri>
						<email>jason.russell@reason.com</email>
					</author>
					<title type="html"><![CDATA[
				The World Cup Isn't the Best Soccer Has To Offer, but the World Loves It Anyway			]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/the-world-cup-isnt-the-best-soccer-has-to-offer-but-the-world-loves-it-anyway/" />
		<id>https://reason.com/?p=8386111</id>
		<updated>2026-06-09T17:08:47Z</updated>
		<published>2026-06-09T15:20:26Z</published>
			<category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Democratic Party" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Immigration" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="NHL" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Soccer" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Sports" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="Donald Trump" /><category scheme="https://reason.com/latest/" term="NBA" />		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Plus: Should politicians talk more sports on the campaign trail, Formula 1’s Monaco mess, and who people are rooting for in the NBA and NHL finals]]></summary>
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		<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hello and welcome to another edition of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Free Agent</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">! There's </span><a href="https://x.com/mattlindner/status/2062269843680698637" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">no need to leave early and beat the traffic</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> this week, so take your time reading today's newsletter.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We've got four quick hits on four very different topics this week, covering everything from the World Cup, to campaigning on sports, to Formula 1, to the NBA and NHL finals. Get ready!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<h1><b>Locker Room Links</b></h1>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">President Donald Trump's attendance at Game 3 of the NBA Finals appeared to be relatively drama-free, other than some </span><a href="https://x.com/CBSNews/status/2064170208265207892" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">booing</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and some </span><a href="https://x.com/darrenrovell/status/2064104796424986761" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">security chaos</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. (Trump thought it was </span><a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/2064321930765668372" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">amazing</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.)</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">A last-minute lawsuit is trying to </span><a href="https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/48993111/lawsuit-seeks-shut-ufc-white-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">halt the UFC fight on White House grounds</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on Sunday.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://x.com/mgfleming12/status/2064044407968420130" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">World Cup immigration</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is a mess: </span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cnv9drg0qzgo" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">A referee from Somalia</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> was not allowed into the country. A Swiss player was held up because of an incident that </span><a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/48957629/switzerland-breel-embolo-appeals-us-embassy-urgent-world-cup-visa-travel-denied" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">happened eight years ago</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. An Iraqi player was detained and a team photographer was </span><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/iraq-world-cup-aymen-hussein-detained-ohare-photographer-talal-salah-denied-entry/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">sent back to Iraq</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby has somehow created even more chaos for college sports: Initially suspended by the NCAA for betting on his own team while at Indiana (which he admits to, in violation of NCAA policies and state laws), a judge </span><a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49000177/brendan-sorsby-granted-injunction-vs-ncaa-eligible-play-2026" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">granted Sorsby an injunction</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that will allow him to play all but two games this season (against Texas Abilene and Oregon State). Now schools are </span><a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/article/brendan-sorsby-ruling-college-sports-brass-enraged-by-texas-judges-decision--its-fing-bulls-182458230.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">refusing to schedule games against Texas Tech</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in any sport.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">I am increasingly convinced </span><a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/article/sec-big-ten-vs-everybody-protect-college-sports-bill-politicians-rail-against-power-2-leagues-in-pivotal-hearing-021248938.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">the Protect College Sports Act is going nowhere</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> because various factions are going to get bogged down in the details (Democrats on collective bargaining, Republicans on immigration and </span><a href="https://x.com/berniemoreno/status/2062212938014826791" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">transgender athletes</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">). It is not promising that a markup hearing was supposed to happen on Wednesday, but was </span><a href="https://x.com/RossDellenger/status/2063003561571618964" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">pushed back</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and still hasn't been formally announced.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Bears took another step </span><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/bears/2026/06/06/hammond-indiana-chicago-bears-stadium-what-to-know/90425332007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">closer to moving to Indiana</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, but it's not a done deal yet. The latest step happened because the Illinois legislature adjourned without passing any kind of bill to </span><a href="https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/we-didnt-have-time-pritzker-leaders-defend-adjourning-without-bears-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">give the Bears a special deal</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Toronto government bought 3,500 World Cup tickets with </span><a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/11891194/toronto-world-cup-ticket-revenue-generation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">plans to sell them for a profit</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">—even though last month, the Ontario government started </span><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/ontario-ticket-resale-cap-enforcement-crackdown-9.7198412" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">enforcing its new scalping ban</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Elsewhere in </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reason</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, by Science Correspondent Ronald Bailey: "</span><a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/02/the-enhanced-games-proved-enhancement-works-but-youth-works-better/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social_reason_non_paid&amp;utm_campaign=reason_brand&amp;utm_content=autoshare&amp;utm_term=post" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Enhanced Games Proved Enhancement Works But Youth Works Better</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">."</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ohio is a state full of bad decisions.</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ohio gave these people $600 million public actual dollars. <a href="https://t.co/4q02KBNoXx">https://t.co/4q02KBNoXx</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Jonathan Smith (@DegenerateTBone) <a href="https://x.com/DegenerateTBone/status/2062613337095946310?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 4, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></li>
</ul>
<h1><b>Why We Love the World Cup</b></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There's a dirty little secret among die-hard soccer fans, kept from the casual viewers who just pop in every four years to watch the World Cup: This isn't the best stuff soccer has to offer. The best storylines, traditions, and atmospheres in soccer aren't at the international level; they're at the club level, where players spend 90 percent of their time.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The World Cup isn't even the highest quality of gameplay. International teams only get together several times a year for two weeks at a time. Meanwhile, players with clubs like Arsenal, Barcelona, Manchester United, etc., train together almost every day for the vast majority of the year. At the club level, teammates gel so well that players can pass the ball without looking because they know exactly where their teammates are headed. The best teams in Europe are like superteams, pulling the best players from every nation in the world. Arsenal would probably </span><a href="https://my-sport-analysis.myshopify.com/blogs/sports-fivethirtyeight/could-the-world-cup-champion-beat-the-best-club-team-in-the-world-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">beat</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_national_football_team#Players" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brazilian national team</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> because </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal_F.C.#Players" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Arsenal has better players</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and more training time. The international game is stilted, less fluid. The tactics are usually more formulaic because that's how you can get every player on the same page with limited time in training.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As Simon Kuper says in his great book </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0FCDCPRWC/reasonmagazinea-20/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">World Cup Fever</span></i></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (half memoir, half history of the World Cup), sometime around the 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany, the best soccer leagues caught up to the World Cup in terms of quality. He writes: "I sat in the Cologne stadium thinking what I often thought at World Cups: why are so many people watching this?"</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The answer, of course, is that it's not about watching good soccer. People watch the World Cup to feel a sense of pride and belonging in where we're from. </span><a href="https://reason.com/2026/03/17/should-every-sport-have-some-kind-of-world-cup/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">As I wrote in March</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> during the World Baseball Classic: "If there's one thing most people seem to feel strongly about, it's geography. The place they're from? It's better than the place you're from." International sports, much more than pro team competitions, give an entire country the chance to come together and support the team. It's not just on a national level, though—it's about texting your soccer friends, or your sports group chat, or your family about the amazing moments that make you go crazy. The stadium atmosphere is amazing, but there's also nothing like watching a big soccer game in a crowded bar with like-minded fans—and then feeling like the roof is going to blow off the place after a huge goal.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The more people that watch a sporting event, the more other people want to watch—to see what all the fuss is about, or to feel part of the gang. Being together is what it's all about. While pro and college sports divide us up by city and state, giving the whole country something to watch and talk about together gets people even more excited.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is beyond politics. Pride in where we're from, and sharing in that feeling with others, isn't something created by politicians or the government. Even if your country almost certainly isn't going to win, the World Cup is still a great way to express that pride.</span></p>
<h1><b>Can Politicians Just Be Normal?</b></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Atlantic</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Nathaniel Frum writes that "</span><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/06/democrats-sports-hot-takes/687397/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Democrats Must Learn to Talk Sports</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">." That take earned plenty of mockery:</span></p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">I've covered the intersection of sports and society (politics, religion, economy and race) for almost 20 years, almost all of it in hard-red states.</p>
<p>This is the dumbest goddamn thing I've read in a long time. <a href="https://t.co/lyvGIC8U7I">https://t.co/lyvGIC8U7I</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Steven Godfrey (@38Godfrey) <a href="https://x.com/38Godfrey/status/2061840940445446373?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 2, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I certainly don't want politicians to talk more about sports (or at all, really), but that's separate from whether this can help politicians, on either side of the aisle, get elected.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Frum makes an important distinction in the piece. He is not saying politicians should make clumsy sports pronouncements, like when Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz went out of his way to say nice things about the Lions and Packers, or when his campaign posted that "</span><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/tim-walz-fumbles-common-football-term-gets-scorched-social-media-you-dont-run-a-pick-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">@AOC can run a mean pick 6</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">." (Another terrible example of this comes to mind: When 2016 Republican candidate Carly Fiorina tweeted, a month before the Iowa Caucuses, that she was supporting Iowa in the Rose Bowl </span><a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/carly-fiorina-rose-bowl-twitter-stanford-iowa-217303" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">instead of her own alma mater</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Stanford.) Frum is asking for politicians to combine sports and populism—and to not be afraid to trash talk.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Basically, he's saying Democrats should sound more like Trump when they talk about sports, and not be afraid to say negative things just because sports aren't as important as healthcare or economics. "What's relatable is irrationally caring for your team and irrationally hating its rivals—not pandering by saying that you happen to like all of the teams in key Rust Belt swing states," Frum writes. For it to work, the politician has to be a genuine sports fan. If they're not, Frum says, maybe they shouldn't be a politician at all: "If you can't relate to something that resonates so strongly with American people, then you need to reevaluate your role as a politician in an electoral democracy."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It's not a perfect solution. A lifelong Republican isn't going to vote for a Democrat just because the Democrat said something human and normal about sports. </span><a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/05/graham-platner-has-made-metoo-democrats-and-their-enemies-switch-sides/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Nazi tattoo isn't excusable</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> as long as you say something hateful about the Yankees. Kitchen table issues will always rule the day in politics. But people also like to vote for politicians who seem normal, or at least like human beings they'd want to spend time with. Sports are </span><a href="https://awfulannouncing.com/tv/sports-96-100-top-telecasts-2025.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">the biggest thing in culture these days</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, after all. I'd rather politicians left sports alone, but if they can talk about sports like a normal sports fan, it might help them.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just don't do this:</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jeffries: It's not clear to me that Donald Trump is a big Knicks fan. Does this guy even know the difference between Karl Rove and Karl-Anthony Towns? I don't think so. <a href="https://t.co/Bvky3vfG0H">pic.twitter.com/Bvky3vfG0H</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Acyn (@Acyn) <a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/2064055035802046743?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
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<h1><b>Formula 1's Monaco Mess</b></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hoo boy—I try not to whine too much, especially when a lot of Formula 1 fans are jumping to conclusions, but the Monaco Grand Prix was a farce. It was possibly the worst race (albeit not the most boring one) I've seen in my five seasons watching every grand prix. Ideally, races should never be about decisions made by off-track officials, but that came up all too often on Sunday.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Everyone complains about how the Monaco race is always Formula 1's most glamorous affair but also its least exciting race. The walls are too tight for on-track passing, so drama is usually dependent on crashes or weather. The newest Formula 1 cars (smaller than their predecessors) were supposed to help with that, but we still got only a handful of passes. One could also easily blame the new cars for the engine troubles that </span><a href="https://x.com/F1/status/2063609338229330035/video/1" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">took Max Verstappen out</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> at the start. Throughout the race, there were </span><a href="https://x.com/LukeSmithF1/status/2063678934252662823" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">numerous penalties for speeding</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in the pit lane, causing lots of confusion about whether a sensor or measurement was broken and whether the penalties would be upheld. Then, after <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2qx05MFP8x0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two crashes</a> in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZYdHR15lYvU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">same turn</a>, officials threw a red flag to fix some pavement that was </span><a href="https://x.com/CadillacF1News_/status/2063781340240072981/photo/1" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">breaking up</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">—as if this were </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqtBNVOx0sw" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">NASCAR at Martinsville in 2004</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and not one of the richest principalities in the world (though the crashed drivers blamed mechanical issues with their cars rather than the track surface).</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The state of the asphalt in Monaco after this weekends action<img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/17.0.2/72x72/1f62c.png" alt="😬" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /><br /><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/17.0.2/72x72/1f4f8.png" alt="📸" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />(<a href="https://x.com/FulvioVigilante?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FulvioVigilante</a>) <a href="https://t.co/fNHv21ce7N">pic.twitter.com/fNHv21ce7N</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Cadillac F1 News (@CadillacF1News_) <a href="https://x.com/CadillacF1News_/status/2063781340240072981?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Other than the top handful of drivers, the finishing order seemed largely random. I'm not saying Formula 1 should leave the historic circuit like </span><a href="https://x.com/JoelEmbiid/status/2056833850379034893?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">my fellow Arsenal fan</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Joel Embiid </span><a href="https://x.com/JoelEmbiid/status/2063624611233697824?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">is saying</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, but Formula 1 and its sanctioning body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) need to make sure their biggest event looks better than this.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I'd love to hear from my fellow Formula 1 fans if they have any ideas here: Email me at freeagent@reason.com</span></p>
<h1><b>Knicks Haters and Cup Contenders</b></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thanks to those of you who responded to our survey on the NBA and NHL finals.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Turns out 80 percent of you are pretty upset with how the NBA Finals are going (slightly less so after Game 3)—only 20 percent of you said you're rooting for the New York Knicks over the San Antonio Spurs. I'll allow it from the people who said "Have been Knicks fan since 1960" and "Team of my youth (I grew up in NYC) even if I despise Dolan. Pop always wore on my nerves." Unfortunately for you two, everyone else wants you to be sad. We got responses that said: "Sad NY fans make me happy," "bc Mamdani would be sad," and "I can't stand the Knicks or their fans." The survey's written responses aren't connected to the Knick vs. Spurs responses, so I have no idea if the people who responded with "Wemby" and "Wemby, Wemby, Wemby" are lovers or haters.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On the ice, we've got a much more divided fanbase, with the Vegas Golden Knights edging out the Carolina Hurricanes and getting 52 percent of your support. Many of you have strong geographic feelings here. One Canes supporter wrote, "A desert city shouldn't win the Stanley Cup, I object on moral grounds," while a Knights fan wrote, "Carolina should not have hockey." I do not find this one to be a plausible excuse: "It gets cold in Nevada sometimes, and hockey is a northern sport." And while I miss the Whalers just as much as whoever wrote this (possibly my brother), the move from Connecticut long predates the current ownership: "Moved the whalers, and no sparty." Given the negative press Canes owner Tom Dundon has been getting for </span><a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/tom-dundon-led-trail-blazers-reportedly-lay-off-around-70-people-during-spring-full-of-cost-cutting-225714265.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">looking like a cheapskate as Portland Trail Blazers owner</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, this was an interesting response: "I'm a Trail Blazers fan&hellip;.if the Canes win, it shows that Dundon may be able to share his successes running the canes with the Blazers."</span></p>
<h1><b>Replay of the Week</b></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We lost the game but won the hype war in this friendly against Germany. If this had taken the lead in a World Cup knockout match, I'm not sure my heart would survive. (</span><a href="https://x.com/barstoolsports/status/2063348771925151948" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here it is in Spanish</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.)</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Antonee Robinson UNLEASHES <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/17.0.2/72x72/1f631.png" alt="😱" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> <a href="https://t.co/nGjr1voa0q">pic.twitter.com/nGjr1voa0q</a></p>
<p>&mdash; B/R Football (@brfootball) <a href="https://x.com/brfootball/status/2063340570601275714?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That's all for this week. Enjoy watching the real game of the weekend, </span><a href="https://www.theufl.com/2026-united-bowl" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">the UFL's championship United Bowl on Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, featuring the Louisville Kings against the D.C. Defenders and the Audi Field beer snake.</span></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reason.com/2026/06/09/the-world-cup-isnt-the-best-soccer-has-to-offer-but-the-world-loves-it-anyway/">The World Cup Isn&#039;t the Best Soccer Has To Offer, but the World Loves It Anyway</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reason.com">Reason.com</a>.</p>
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							<media:credit><![CDATA[Photo: Billy Schuerman/Cal Sport Media/Newscom]]></media:credit>
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