Free Republic

Yesterday, a federal district court judge dismissed MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's counterclaims against election machine manufacturers U.S. Dominion and Smartmatic. The counterclaims were filed in the companies' defamation suit against Lindell, who had accused the firms of stealing the 2020 election with rigged election machines. In addition, Judge Nichols imposed sanctions on Lindell, given the "groundless" and "frivolous" nature of his claims. Last fall, Judge Nichols had also denied Lindell's attempt to dismiss the defamation claims. After he was sued for defamation, Lindell filed a series of counterclaims against Dominion and Smartmatic, including abuse of process, RICO, and violations of...

I noted earlier that Justice Alito did not speak to the Fifth Circuit Judicial Conference. As a result, the conference organizers had to shuffle the schedule. We were treated to a presentation from an expert on cyber-security. She discussed at some length how the goal of foreign hacks is to sow discord in our polity. For example, cyber units would deliberately schedule protests for Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter at the same time and in the same location. The goal was to foment division, and perhaps, create a violent confrontation. While watching this fascinating presentation, a thought jumped...

In this recent USA Today op ed, I explain how the unexpected success of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is in large part the result of widespread political ignorance: Despite some recent stumbles in his campaign, the most dramatic development of the 2016 presidential race has been the meteoric ascent of Donald Trump to the status of front-runner for the Republican nomination. Trump’s rise is a particularly blatant example of a much deeper problem at the heart of modern democracy: widespread voter ignorance. Trump’s success so far is in large part the result of an almost perfect storm of political ignorance....

In the Rewrite Lawrence O'Donnell questions several claims made in a Washington Post story written by a law professor about the shooting death of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson. ...

Poll your political philosophy

A UCLA law professor is petitioning the Nebraska Supreme Court to review a case involving e-mails sent to Sen. Bill Avery of Lincoln when he was a candidate for office. In June, the state Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of UNL student Darren Drahota, who had been found guilty of disturbing the peace and fined $250 for e-mails he sent to Avery in January and February of 2006. At the time, Avery was also a UNL political science professor. Eugene Volokh, a UCLA Law School professor who specializes in First Amendment law through teaching, writing and textbooks, filed the...

As regular VC readers know, I am one of several conspirators who is supporting Fred Thompson's campaign for President. I cannot speak for the others, but my reasons for supporting Thompson include his commitment to federalism, his candor on important issues other candidates would prefer to avoid (e.g. entitlements), and his record on regulatory reform and government oversight over the past thirty years. For National Review's pentultimate issue (the one before they endorsed Mitt Romney), I authored an article making the conservative case for Thompson. For those without subscriptions to the print magazine, here is an excerpt: Sen. Fred Thompson...