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Gabriel Malor
@gabrielmalor
, 4 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
3d Cir., 2-1, holds that a Pennsylvania county's policy of rejecting religious or atheistic messaging in ads on buses violates the First Amendment.

An atheist group sued after the county rejected an ad with the word "Atheists" and its web address. www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/18274…
The maj. op. acknowledges that this decision conflicts with the recent decision out of the DC Cir. holding that WMATA rejecting a Christmas ad from the Archdiocese did not violate the First Amendment.

Given panel split and circuit split:
*pin in this one for further review*
BTW, the same atheist group had complained to the county in the past over "God Bless America" messaging after 9/11, which the county then had removed.

But the group's victory today assures that such messaging can return to buses. Heh.
Dissenting Judge Cowen argues that blanket exclusion of religious (or atheistic) messaging is not viewpoint discrimination.
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More from @gabrielmalor see all

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Gabriel Malor
@gabrielmalor
3d Cir. revives lawsuit from New Jersey man who argued, among other things, that family court orders to pay child and spousal support even though he has custody of the kids and she makes more than him violated due process.

Finds federal jurisdiction. www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/18337…
3d Cir. notes that the line of precedent keeping these sorts of cases out of federal court have been abrogated.

Big news for men's rights activists in the 3d Cir.
The family court behavior here seems pretty weird. You can see why he'd be frustrated.
Read 4 tweets
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Gabriel Malor
@gabrielmalor
Arizona Supreme Court, 4-3, holds that the City of Phoenix's antidiscrimination ordinance cannot be used to compel a business that makes custom wedding invitations to make invitations for same-sex weddings in violation of their religious convictions.
azcourts.gov/Portals/0/Opin…
There's an interesting bit of reasoning in here. Maj. op. notes that it is ruling based on the Arizona Constitution's free speech protections which are broader than the federal First Amendment, but holds that bc this is so, it need only apply First Amendment principles.
Presumably, this reasoning insulates the decision from further review, since SCOTUS can't tell SCOAZ what the Arizona Constitution means.

But the decision purports to rest on First Amendment precedent, which SCOTUS *can* interpret. Unusual.
Read 3 tweets
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Gabriel Malor
@gabrielmalor
The second of the three gamer chuckleheads who conspired to SWAT another gamer, but ended up killing an innocent Kansas man has been sentenced for his role to 15 months in prison.

(The guy who actually called in the SWATTting got 20 years.)
azcentral.com/story/news/nat…
You might recall this guy as "the slowest dope" bc his first reaction upon hearing of the death was that reporters were getting the story wrong BC, dammit, he *won* that CoD match.
"Hopefully you didn't say anything stupid."

Viner: "I did. I literally said you're gonna be swatted. Not thinking at all, so I'm going to prison."

Well, he got that part right.
Read 3 tweets

Related threads

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Ian Bassin
@ianbassin
This tweet is far more disturbing then it appears on the surface (which is already disturbing). Let me explain with a thread. /1
It's well covered that Trump admires some of the world's leading autocrats and aspires to emulating their misrule. One of those he has lavished praise on is Hungary's Viktor Orban, who has dismantled Hungarian democracy and its free press. /2 abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump…
Here's the Orban playbook for dismantling a free press: Step 1: Use the regulatory powers of government to investigate and fine media outlets that are critical of the government and spend state resources (ad dollars etc) to boost those media outlets that are friendly. /3
Read 25 tweets
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Julian Sanchez
@normative
This is more bonkers than I thought. Presumably realizing that the “legitimate legislative purpose” argument wasn’t going to fly here, Trump is claiming the NY law *violates his First Amendment rights* because it’s retaliation against his “speech”... assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6210…
They’re also claiming a request—which, again, hasn’t happened yet—would violate the House rules if it occurred. Do they seriously expect a federal court to “enforce” the internal rules of a chamber of Congress against its own members?
I feel like I’ve said this a lot the past couple years, but I’m gobsmacked two actual licensed attorneys signed their names to this.
Read 8 tweets
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Jewhadi™
@JewhadiTM
NRA sues Los Angeles over law requiring disclosure of ties to gun rights groups reut.rs/2IEaa8e
At issue was an ordinance that took effect on April 1, requiring companies that want city contracts to disclose NRA contracts or sponsorships.
The NRA said the law is unconstitutional because it violates its First Amendment right to free speech and association, and its 14th Amendment right to equal protection. It sued in Los Angeles federal court.
Read 6 tweets
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random facts girl.
@soychicka
Some thoughts - a little rambly, but it seems important to get out...

We have a little conceptual problem with Citizens United.
If the holding in Citizens United is essentially that money in politics = speech, and restricting spending = a violation of the first amendment...
Freedoms can not be restricted based on availability of or differential access to resources.

One can not have more or less freedom than anyone else: one can either be free, else they are not free.
If "speech" is construed to include compensated amplification of a message, that means that those with limited financial resources are less free to 'speak' than others.

Differential access => restricted access for some => abridged freedom.
Read 24 tweets
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Michael Bitzer
@BowTiePolitics
So, there’s a 300 page opinion by a 3 judge panel regarding NC’s partisan gerrymandering. Guess I know what I’m doing after dinner tonight. #ncpol #ncga redistricting.lls.edu/files/NC%20cc%…
OK, so here we go…tweet storm forthcoming regarding the 300+ opinion that still holds NC partisan gerrymandering as illegal, and that this time, the plaintiff’s have met the Gill burden of having standing as being in a district that is in question:
With standing, the issue of the partisan gerrymandering by NC Republicans is in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Article I, the 1st Amendment, and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment:
Read 87 tweets
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Steve Vladeck
@steve_vladeck
Last night's 5th Cir. ruling in Whole Women's Health (ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/1…) is another example of the phenomenon I tweeted about last week—conservative judges subordinating settled law to their own policy preferences, however compelling they may be.

A quick #thread on why:
1. The underlying dispute in the case is over a third-party subpoena issued by the plaintiffs (abortion providers) to the Texas Conference of Catholic Bishops (TCCB) as part of their challenge to #SB8. TCCB sought to quash the subpoena, and ultimately lost in the district court.
2. TCCB then sought appellate review of the denial of its motion to quash. Without reaching the merits of its claims that the subpoena violates the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Judges Jones and Ho agreed, holding that the subpoena was overbroad...
Read 11 tweets

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