Free Republic

A federal judge temporarily blocked an Arkansas law that requires parental consent for children to create social media accounts. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks of the Western District of Arkansas granted the preliminary injunction in response to a motion by Netchoice, a trade group for technology companies that has members including Facebook parent company Meta; TikTok; and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The law had been set to go into effect Friday. “We’re pleased the court sided with the First Amendment and stopped Arkansas’ unconstitutional law from censoring free speech online and undermining the privacy of Arkansans, their...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — On the morning of December 1 at the Western District of Arkansas Courthouse in Fayetteville, Josh Duggar’s child pornography case began. Judge Timothy L. Brooks filed a 15-page opinion and order Wednesday morning saying Duggar’s prior allegations of child molestation conduct can be introduced as evidence during the trial. Before adjourning for lunch at 12:05 p.m., Judge Brooks offered detailed instructions to the jury, each side provided their opening statements, and the first witness of the trial was called. Duggar and his team entered the courtroom at approximately 8:36 a.m. His lead counsel, Justin K. Gelfand,...

A federal judge will allow videos found on electronic devices used by Josh Duggar to be used as evidence in his child pornography case. Duggar, who appeared on the TLC reality show "19 Kids and Counting" with his parents and siblings, was charged with two counts of downloading and possessing child pornography earlier this year. The 33-year-old faces up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $250,000 if convicted on each count. Duggar's attorneys filed a motion to suppress video evidence found on his devices, arguing the case had become "stale" since so much time had passed between...