I'm skimming the Big Beautiful Bill (that is its actual name) and some things are jumping out at me in the student loan reform section. Congress is calling out "low earning outcomes" programs and restricting use of certain federal funds for those programs.
BTW they're also taxing private university endowments. 😮 8% tax on endowments over 2 million.

The main holding of Mahmoud v. Taylor: "In light of the record before us, we hold that the Board’s introduction of the “LGBTQ+-inclusive” storybooks—combined with its decision to withhold notice to parents and to forbid opt outs—substantially interferes with the religious development of their children and imposes the kind of burden on religious exercise that Yoder found unacceptable."

California school districts that prohibit notice and opt outs of gender and sexuality content (usually found in AR 6142.8) are in direct violation of First Amendment as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court in Mahmoud. On p. 25: "These books carry with them “a very real threat of undermining” the religious beliefs that the parents wish to instill in their children. Yoder, 406 U. S., at 218. Like the compulsory high school education considered in Yoder, these books impose upon children a set of values and beliefs that are “hostile” to their parents’ religious beliefs. Id., at 211. And the books exert upon children a psychological “pressure to conform” to their specific viewpoints. Ibid. The books therefore present the same kind of “objective danger to the free exercise of religion” that we identified in Yoder. Id., at 218."

"These books" means the same books that Newsom, Thurmond, Bonta, and the State of California have been force feeding California children.

In addition to declaring war on Los Angeles and the Trump administration, Gavin Newsom also sued the federal government yesterday to demand inclusion of males in girls sports. Here is my reaction to the lawsuit: Use of the term "cisgender" is disqualifying, but we're in San Francisco, and things are different there.

I have lost my patience with propagandist media. When I give my time to a journalist and carefully explain legal issues, and the journalist then turns out a propagandist piece based on false information and incredibly biased opinion, it makes me mad. 1/11 When Linda Jacobson at @the74 reached out to me in April to discuss the FERPA complaint I filed with the USDOE, I thought she wanted to write about the hideous concealment scheme implemented by California school districts to hide information from parents. 2/11

Regino v. Staley decision just dropped. Reading it now and will provide updates when I'm done.

https://x.com/hamill_law/status/1908199015520637213

PUBLIC CORRUPTION IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE 🧵

Last week, Assemblyman Bill Essayli asked the Legislature to investigate allegations by the U.S. Department of Justice against a sitting member who has been accused of soliciting and accepting bribes. 1/x The plea agreement refers to the member as "Person 20," an elected official who, starting in 2017 and ending in November 2018, was running for State elected office. 2/x

A thread on the absolute insanity that is the City of Los Angeles Sanctuary policy, and a rebuttal to the local news outlets and activists who are incorrectly telling the public that violent criminals are exempt. 🧵 1/15 The fact that we’re even discussing this at all is maddening. Intentionally subverting efforts to control the border and federal immigration laws should be met with severe penalties. 2/15

I am a mom. My kids were harmed by government policy and my elected officials didn't care, so I ran for school board. Despite having always been politically independent, I was characterized as a "far right extremist" (also racist, white supremacist, MAGA) because I didn't want my kids forced to get shots or wear a mask and I wanted them to be back in school. When I ran, the local Democrat party repeatedly spread false information about me. 1/9 After I won, the rhetoric exploded. Women I considered close friends turned on me because they believed horrific lies that were spread about me. The local Democrat party, the teacher's union leader, and PFLAG joined forces to smear me as a bigot, in complete contravention of facts and reality. I expressed my concerns to these people about the hatred they were fomenting against me and the consequences for my children. They did not care. They ignored me and doubled down. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was looking evil in the face. I've felt it several times since. 2/9

Brain dump on the Murthy v. Missouri decision, which I correctly predicted to be a disaster for free speech in America in my chat with @PhilHollowayEsq... Here are my initial thoughts, in what I call "statists versus the people". 🧵 The decision's framing of the moderation policies and censorship efforts in incorrect. When SCOTUS approves of the government using a secret backchannel to nuke accounts and posts that criticize the government or a politician, America is lost.

A district court judge in Louisiana (the same judge who issued the lower court decision in what is now Murthy v. Missouri) enjoined the new Title 9 rules in the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Idaho. Short🧵on the decision: 1/8 There are some great lines. I'll start with my favorites:
“The abuse of power by administrative agencies is a threat to democracy.” 2/8

Wow. The 9th Circuit decision in Health Freedom Defense Fund v. Carvalho is a thing of beauty... Thread: Much like LADPH and other authoritarian government agencies, LAUSD had a pattern of withdrawing and then reinstating its vaccination policies.
According to the Court, this pattern was enough to keep the case alive.
"The record supported a strong inference that LAUSD waited to see how the oral argument in this court proceeded before determining whether to maintain the Policy or to go forward with a pre-prepared repeal option.
LAUSD expressly reserved the option to again consider imposing a vaccine mandate. Accordingly, LAUSD has not carried its heavy burden to show that there is no reasonable possibility that it will again revert to imposing a similar policy." The mootness argument was rejected.

I am THRILLED with the decision in Vullo, which was argued the same day as Murthy v. Missouri--the case in which the 5th Circ. enjoined federal gov agencies from coercing or significantly encouraging private digital platforms to censor protected speech. Here are some highlights:🧵
Words pulled directly from SCOTUS syllabus. 1/11 Held: The NRA plausibly alleged that respondent violated the First Amendment by coercing regulated entities to terminate their business relationships with the NRA in order to punish or suppress gun-promotion advocacy. 2/11

Radical leftist CA legislators just pulled a gut and amend with AB 1955 and have introduced a "you must teach gender ideology, transition kids and hide it from their parents" bill. The legislators forget that while they can change state law, they can't change the constitution or federal law, including FERPA. 1/6 Under FERPA, “education records” means records, files, documents, and other materials which--
(i) contain information directly related to a student; and
(ii) are maintained by an educational agency or institution or by a person acting for such agency or institution. 2/6

I talk a lot of trash about BigLaw, and most of it is deserved. But sometimes they do important things like represent victims of terrorism in a lawsuit that connects the dots between Hamas and Students for Justice in Palestine. This is a massive deal, filed today in the Eastern District of Virginia by Greenberg Traurig. 1/10 The complaint, filed by United States and Israeli citizens who survived the October 7 attacks, alleges that Defendant American Muslims for Palestine (“AMP”) serves as Hamas’s propaganda division in the United States. Hamas is a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (“FTO”). 2/10

I'm reading through the unofficial final Title IX rule right now, and my first takeaway is that it appears to have been written entirely by TRAs. My second takeaway is that if this stands, we have permanently ended women's sports. Third takeaway: There are First Amendment problems with this regulation that the agency repeatedly dismisses without addressing. This will be a problem for the Biden admin in litigation.

In this leaked video, an Orange Unified Education Association (teacher's union) leader discusses strategy for the union-led recall of non-union-backed school board members. He refers to it as a "pilot" and talks about getting "ABC Money" for the recall (ABC is the political action arm of CTA, providing campaign funding for local affiliates). In the Orange Unified recall election, voters were misled by signature gatherers and door knockers. If you live in Orange Unified and have any recordings of your interactions with signature gatherers or door knockers, please contact me.

Reading the Lindke v. Freed and O'Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier decisions. Links in replies. Lindke focuses on whether an official's conduct constitutes state action.

In a nutshell, a government official defendant "must have actual authority rooted in written law or longstanding custom to speak for the State. That authority must extend to speech of the sort that caused the alleged rights deprivation. If the plaintiff cannot make this threshold showing of authority, he cannot establish state action." supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf…

The solutions to the battles we've waged over the last few years have already been written by philosophers and the founding fathers of this country. Books and pamphlets are available to read FOR FREE to anyone with internet access. 1/6 A great starting point to understand why we established a constitutional republic is Thomas Paine's Common Sense. It explains government as a necessary evil intended to provide liberty and security, as opposed to a monarchy with total control over its subjects. 2/6

I'm trying to prepare for closing arguments in the Alliance case, but I can't stop laughing at this. @Johnnydontlike Still laughing.

Alliance update: The Alliance will have its day in court September 28 at 10:00. We are proceeding with an evidentiary hearing to establish standing. This is an opportunity for some of Alliance's founding members to finally tell their story.

Meanwhile, the County's and X Corp.'s lawyers are seeking a gag order. They want to prevent me from tweeting about this case or otherwise discussing it outside of court.

I will not stipulate to being silenced about this case, which involves government efforts to censor dissenting citizens in order to maintain control and an illusion of consensus.

X Corp.'s motion to seal is set for hearing Sept. 21. Further update - County gave notice that they are moving ex parte for a protective order. This comes after the County has repeatedly delayed a document production that was promised last week. They do not want the public to see what is in the forthcoming documents.

I've gone back and forth about whether to share this, but I think it's important to be transparent. During a deposition today in the Alliance case, counsel for the County, a Sheppard Mullin partner, introduced several very personal exhibits. One was a photo of my son. Note - I am the LAWYER, and my son is absolutely not relevant to this case in any remote sense.