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The Latest Breaking News from Volokh

No Pseudonymity for Vexatious Litigant, Even When She Is Alleging Sexual Assault

"[A]llowing plaintiff to proceed under a pseudonym could enable her to evade judicial oversight under the vexatious litigant rules by obscuring her litigation history and identity across multiple cases."

Reason

Hiring a Research Fellow in Free Speech Law for 1 or 2 Years, at the Hoover Institution (Stanford)

One week left to apply.

Reason

Lower Court Decisions on Pseudonymity Are Chaotically Split

I thought I'd pass along portions of the friend-of-the-court brief that three other law professors and I (four of the very few academics who have written on the law of pseudonymous litigation) put together in support of a certiorari petition in Doe v. Trustees of Indiana Univ. This Part explains…

Reason

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The Importance of Decisions About Whether to Permit Pseudonymity

Reason

Attempt to Entirely Seal Title IX Complaint on Privacy Grounds Rejected

From Judge Dale Ho's decision today in Doe v. Columbia Univ. (S.D.N.Y.): [T]hese cases concern allegations of sexual assault and that the events in question occurred from 2012 to 2014 or 2015, around the time that Plaintiff was an undergraduate student at Columbia University…. Plaintiff … filed identical letters seeking…

Reason

Response to My Motion to Unseal Material in Pennsylvania Sen. Douglas Mastriano's Lawsuit Related to His Ph.D. Thesis

Sen. Mastriano (who is running for reelection to the state senate, and who ran in 2022 for Governor) is suing for, among other things, libel—but trying to keep the allegedly libelous material under seal.

Reason

District Court Rejects Magistrate Judges' Gag Order on Publishing Name of Retroactively Pseudonymized Litigant

"Professor Volokh may not ... publicly disclose Plaintiff's name or personal identifying information in any future writings, speeches, or other public discourse."

Reason

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"Pseudonymity Is Unavailable" When "Plaintiffs Seek to Gag Sexual Assault Accusers"

From Levy v. Shuster (né Doe v. Roe), handed down Nov. 28 but just unsealed yesterday, following the expiration of plaintiff's time to appeal: Background. According to the allegations in the First Amended Complaint and Jury Demand …, Plaintiff and Defendant dated for nearly a year while enrolled at Tulane…

Reason

Prof. John Goldberg (Harvard) on "Large Libel Models"

I was delighted to see a brief review of my article on libel by AI in JOTWELL yesterday by Prof. Goldberg, a leading expert on tort law. He summarizes and evaluates the article, and then offers this counterpoint: For the most part, I find its analysis persuasive, particularly its bottom-line…

Reason

Volokh Conspiracy Gets Results on Immigration and Zoning Policy

Federal and New York City officials recently adopted policy changes on migrant work permits and zoning reform similar to those advocated here (though probably not because I advocated them!)..

Reason

Court Also Strikes Down "Public Health Warning" for Porn Sites

From today's long decision in Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Colmenero, by Judge David Alan Ezra (W.D. Tex.) (see here for excerpts from the part of the decision that strikes down the separate age-verification requirement): In addition to the age verification, H.B. 1181 requires adult content sites to post a…

Reason

Why We Should Care About Pseudonymity in Litigation

Like other features of legal procedure—such as the jury trial, the mechanism for appointing judges, the availability of appeal—pseudonymity both deeply affects the fairness of litigation and, often, the substantive outcomes.

Reason

Court Unseals and Depseudonymizes Student's Settled First Amendment Lawsuit Against University

An illustration that courts are often willing to reconsider stipulated sealing and pseudonymization decisions when members of the public or media object.

Reason

N.Y. AG Appeals, to Defend Law Mandating Posting of "Hateful Conduct" Policies by Social Media Platforms (Including Us)

Volokh v. James going to the Second Circuit.

Reason

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Court Blocks N.Y. Law Mandating Posting of "Hateful Conduct" Policies by Social Media Platforms (Including Us)

From Volokh v. James, decided today by Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. (S.D.N.Y.): "Speech that demeans on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, or any other similar ground is hateful; but the proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express…

Reason

"New York Attorney General v. Blogging Law Professor re: Online Hate Speech"

I had such a great time talking to Prof. Genevieve Lakier (Chicago) and Prof. evelyn douek (Stanford) about the New York law mandating that social media platforms have "hateful conduct" policies, and about Volokh v. James, the case challenging the law. You can hear it on the Moderated Content podcast:

Reason

No Redaction of Filings Based on Speculation That They Will Lead to "Harassment and Violence" by "Haters"

From Luo v. Wang, just decided this morning by Magistrate Judge Michael Hegarty (D. Colo.): Plaintiff requests that the Court [redact certain documents]…. Intervenor Volokh continues to argue that documents filed unrestricted should stay in the public record … (citing Gunn v. WCA Logistics, LLC (D. Colo. 2016) [Hegarty, J.]…

Reason

Wait, What About Roe?—Pseudonymity and Facial Challenges to Government Action

I've blogged a lot recently about limits on pseudonymous litigation, and readers will have gathered that I think such litigation should generally not be allowed. But "generally" isn't "always" (much more on that here), nor do I think that it should be always. (I explained in my post about Doe…

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Reason

Writing About People Who Don't Want to Be Written About

How, if at all, should we try to be nice in an inherently not-nice occupation?

Reason

The Dormant Commerce Clause, Internet Platforms, and Content Discrimination Bans

[Jack Goldsmith and I will have an article out about the Dormant Commerce Clause, geolocation, and state regulations of Internet transactions in the Texas Law Review early next year, and I'm serializing it here. There is still plenty of time for editing, so we'd love to hear any recommendations you…

Reason

Ex-Police-Officer Allowed to Proceed Pseudonymously with Due Process and Libel Claim Against City

I lost my motion opposing pseudonymity in the District of New Hampshire, though I'm appealing to the First Circuit.

Reason

A brief response to David Kopel

I realize the old days of extended debates among Volokh bloggers have long passed. Still, I can't help but chime in to say that David's recent post leaves me speechless. Dave and I agree that the NRA has every right to meet, and that protesters have every right to protest.…

Reason

Prof. Michael Dorf (Cornell) on Florida's Repeal of Disney's Special Government District

I put up some tentative thoughts on the subject Friday, and Prof. Dorf (DorfOnLaw) did as well today. He leans in favor of concluding that the repeal is unconstitutional (because it is in retaliation for Disney's political activity), but agrees that this is a difficult question. If you're interested in…

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