Trump Administration’s Blacklisting of Anthropic Was Illegal, Judge Rules; The New York Times, August 27, 2026

Sheera Frenkel, The New York Times; Trump Administration’s Blacklisting of Anthropic Was Illegal, Judge Rules

"The Trump administration acted illegally when it labeled the artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic a security risk and barred the company from working with the U.S. government, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.

Judge Rita Lin of the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California wrote in her 59-page ruling that the government had unlawfully retaliated against Anthropic “for constitutionally protected expressive activities” after the A.I. company spoke out about how its technology should be used.

“The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics,” she wrote."

Pentagon Fires Editor and Publisher of Independent Military Publication; The New York Times, August 21, 2026

Minho Kim, The New York Times; Pentagon Fires Editor and Publisher of Independent Military Publication

The firings at Stars and Stripes also claimed a Middle East correspondent. They are the latest effort by the Pentagon to diminish the news outlet’s editorial independence.

"The Defense Department on Friday fired the publisher and the editor in chief of Stars and Stripes, a government-funded news outlet that reports on the U.S. military, according to a senior Pentagon official and the dismissed journalists.

The firings raised questions about the Pentagon’s willingness to ensure the editorial integrity of the publication that has reported extensively on difficulties faced by military communities as the war in Iran has dragged on. The terminations came about 10 days after Stars and Stripes journalists reported on hardships that Navy sailors were facing on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, the aircraft carrier whose deployment was extended to nine months amid the war.

On Friday, the Pentagon sent termination notices to Erik Slavin, the editor in chief, and Max Lederer, the publisher, who had announced his retirement earlier this week, citing conflict with the Pentagon leadership on the paper’s direction. Lara Korte, a Middle East correspondent at the news outlet, was also fired on Friday, according to the official and a post she made on social media.

The Defense Department declined to comment. Capt. William Urban, the military deputy to the publisher who was brought to the role earlier this month, said in a letter published on Friday that his priority was to ensure “the highest quality of editorially independent reporting” at Stars and Stripes. Captain Urban had previously served as a senior spokesman for the Defense Department in various roles."

The War on Spoilers Goes Nuclear; Puck, August 18, 2026

 ERIQ GARDNER, Puck; The War on Spoilers Goes Nuclear

"When Warner Bros. recently submitted takedown notices against independent pop-culture site Cosmic Book News over an alleged ‘Green Lantern’ leak, it highlighted the legal lengths studios will go to quash unsanctioned pre-premiere discussion of their hottest properties. It’s still unclear if the law is exactly on the I.P. owners’ side, but the legal process certainly is."

ICE, A DATA CENTER & A TOWN DIVIDED; Pittsburgh's Public Source, August 4, 2026

Charlie Wolfson | Photos by Stephanie Strasburg, Pittsburgh's Public Source; ICE, A DATA CENTER & A TOWN DIVIDED

After Rosenmund had spoken for about two minutes, saying the borough’s 2025 agreement to work with ICE violated open meetings laws, Dayoub gestured and spoke to council members and then looked toward two armed police officers standing in the back of the room. The officers immediately walked up the center aisle.

The subsequent arrest did not go smoothly. As Rosenmund tried to remain at the podium, the officers threw him to the ground and Dayoub rose from his seat to assist them in restraining him on the ground.

The public arrest of a critic and the criminal proceedings against Rosenmund came as Dayoub and Springdale’s elected leaders face growing scrutiny over the borough’s 287(g) agreement to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Public Source examined Dayoub’s history and found repeated allegations of violence, intimidation and misconduct spanning nearly two decades — much of it publicly available before borough leaders hired and promoted him. 

The record stretches from Dayoub’s years as an officer in Washington County through his arrival in Springdale in 2013 and promotion to chief in 2022."

New York man sues ICE for sending officers to his house after he emailed agency head; Associated Press via The Guardian, July 7, 2026

Associated Press viaThe Guardian ; New York man sues ICE for sending officers to his house after he emailed agency head

David Streever had emailed acting ICE director after an immigration officer fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis

"An upstate New York resident sued US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for sending federal officers to his house with a warning over an email he sent to the agency’s one-time head.

David Streever, who is a US citizen, was on a trip to Finland when two officers showed up to his Rochester home in June and presented his wife with a warning notice informing him that the email he sent months earlier was considered a threat, his attorneys said. Streever sent the email in January to Todd Lyons, then the acting director of ICE, after an immigration officer fatally shot Minneapolis resident Renee Good in a confrontation caught on video during an anti-ICE demonstration.

In the email, Streever called Lyons “a monstrous human being” who “will never know peace”. He said the agency violated his rights under the US constitution’s first amendment – which include free speech – in a lawsuit filed on Monday in Washington DC.

Streever is one of at least two residents of upstate New York who was served with a federal warning in June in the wake of criticizing ICE online. The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is representing Streever – and said it filed the lawsuit because Streever’s right to free expression was violated.

“This is very clearly within the protection of the first amendment,” said Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney with the foundation. “It was in the context of political speech.”"

Leveraging an LLM in Intellectual Property for a Career Pivot; American Bar Association (ABA), May 18, 2026

Meredith Williams ,Jacob, Christine , Haight Farley, and Michael Carroll, American Bar Association (ABA) ; Leveraging an LLM in Intellectual Property for a Career Pivot

"As markets rapidly change, many lawyers are looking to specialize, differentiate themselves from their peers, and pivot into practice areas with space for career growth. For lawyers looking to transition into or deepen their expertise in intellectual property law, an LLM in intellectual property offers a strategic stepping stone for a diverse set of career paths.

LLM Expands Career Pathways in a High-Growth Field

The Master of Laws (LLM) in Intellectual Property (IP) is a postgraduate degree designed for lawyers who have already earned their JD or equivalent law degree. The LLM in IP law goes beyond the core areas of patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secrets, intersecting with law and regulation of privacy, technology, health care, advertising, free speech, and national security. An LLM program provides the technical knowledge and perspective needed to practice successfully in this rapidly evolving field."

Kash Patel Keeps Suing the Press; The New York Times, June 14, 2026

Erik Wemple, The New York Times; Kash Patel Keeps Suing the Press

"The suits constitute another front on which news organizations have been forced to spend time and money to defend their work in the Trump era."

Nobody needs AI to search the Internet, court says in ruling against Google; Ars Technica, June 10, 2026

ASHLEY BELANGER  , Ars Technica; Nobody needs AI to search the Internet, court says in ruling against Google

"Potentially impacting all AI search engines and chatbots known to poorly paraphrase source links, a German court has ruled that Google is liable for false statements in AI Overviews.

The preliminary ruling came in a case flagged by The Decoder, where two publishers found that Google’s AI Overviews incorrectly linked them to scams and other sketchy business practices. After smearing publishers by making affirmative statements like “Yes, [it] is known for dubious business practices and is often perceived as a scam,” Google failed to correct the misleading output, even after the publishers sent a cease-and-desist letter earlier this year.

Google tried the usual arguments to shield itself from liability for false statements in AI Overviews, such as arguing that most users understand that AI outputs aren’t always accurate and must be verified.

But the court found that, unlike traditional search engines that merely present lists of links to third-party statements, Google’s tool made “independent, new, and substantive statements” based on its own misinterpretation of links on the Internet.

That’s a problem, the court said, because while publishers may have been able to sue to stop third parties from publishing defamatory statements appearing in Google search results, only Google can correct the underlying algorithm and outputs displayed in AI Overviews. And because, at least initially, the company did not, it therefore “must be held accountable,” the court ruled. Beyond that, Google’s argument was deemed particularly weak, since the AI overview in this case “contains statements that do not appear in the search results at all.”

The court’s order—requiring a temporary injunction barring Google from spreading the false claims in any further AI Overviews—may have global implications, as the court seems to be the first to hold an AI firm liable for AI speech."

Sales of Meta whistleblower’s memoir soar after Hay festival ‘silencing’; The Guardian, June 10, 2026

Ella Creamer , The Guardian; Sales of Meta whistleblower’s memoir soar after Hay festival ‘silencing’

"Sales of the whistleblowing memoir Careless People increased by more than 300% in the UK the week after its author was “silenced” during an appearance at Hay festival following legal action by Meta, the subject of the book.

Sarah Wynn-Williams – who between 2011 and 2017 served as the director of global public policy at what was then called Facebook – sat on stage but did not speak during her hour-long appearance on 31 May on the advice of her lawyer. She appeared alongside the journalist Carole Cadwalladr and academic Tim Wu.

The sales boost – 304.5% week-on-week – has nudged the book, published last March, to the number one spot in the paperback nonfiction chart.

Upon publication, Meta obtained an order blocking Wynn-Williams from promoting her book, which accuses the company of a toxic internal culture and manipulative political influence."

PHILLY COPS ADMIT THAT THEY’RE TRACKING “FIRST AMENDMENT ACTIVITY” CRITICAL OF AI; The Intercept, June 1, 2026

Matt Sledge,  Sam Biddle , The Intercept; PHILLY COPS ADMIT THAT THEY’RE TRACKING “FIRST AMENDMENT ACTIVITY” CRITICAL OF AI

"AMERICANS SPEAKING OUT against artificial intelligence data centers on social media are falling under police surveillance, a confidential law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Intercept reveals.

A fusion center in Philadelphia combed through spicy internet comments from AI critics and concluded there is a growing risk of physical violence against data centers from “domestic violent extremists,” ranging from white supremacists to anarchists.

“Domestic violent extremists (DVEs) are likely interested in targeting artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, posing a physical and cyber threat to infrastructure in the Philadelphia regional area,” the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center wrote in a December alert.

The fusion center distributed its warning, marked “for official use only,” through the national fusion center network of state, local, and federal police agencies.

Like many of the reports produced by fusion centers, the bulletin points to news reports and social media posts, but cites little in the way of tangible threats. It acknowledges “a lack of specific information on plans to target AI data centers in the Philadelphia area,” but warns law enforcement that three planned data center facilities in the region could become targets of future protests."

Pentagon is censoring military newspaper Stars and Stripes, lawsuit alleges; The Washington Post, June 3, 3026

Scott Nover

 and 

Liam Scott

, The Washington Post; Pentagon is censoring military newspaper Stars and Stripes, lawsuit alleges

"Two advisory board members of Stars and Stripes, the military newspaper that has long enjoyed editorial independence from the government, sued the Defense Department on Wednesday, alleging that an effort to impose new restrictions on the paper was an act of illegal censorship.

The complaint, filed in federal district court in Washington, comes from Susan “Suki” Dardarian and William “Bill” Church, two Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalists on the Stripes advisory board. Dardarian is a former editor and senior vice president of the Minnesota Star Tribune, and Church is the executive editor of the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper...

Stars and Stripes said in a statement that it has a “long-standing mission to provide independent journalism to the military community, and that independence is fundamental to our credibility and our purpose.”"

Judge Lifts West Point’s Restrictions on Civilian Professors’ Speech; The New York Times, May 26, 2026

Benjamin Weiser , The New York Times; Judge Lifts West Point’s Restrictions on Civilian Professors’ Speech

"The Military Academy at West Point cannot require civilian faculty members to obtain approval before using their West Point affiliation to speak to outside audiences about their areas of expertise, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

The academy also cannot prevent a professor, Tim Bakken, from expressing his opinions to students in the classroom on subjects he teaches, Judge Cathy Seibel of U.S. District Court in White Plains, N.Y., said in the ruling.

Professor Bakken, who has taught at West Point since 2000, had sued the academy, saying that its policies had violated the First Amendment. He has spoken and written frequently and at times critically about the U.S. military, including West Point, his lawsuit notes.

Judge Seibel issued a preliminary injunction blocking both the approval requirement and the restrictions on Professor Bakken’s speech."

Oregon drag queen Pattie Gonia fights Patagonia trademark lawsuit; The Oregonian.OregonLive, May 27, 2026

 Maxine Bernstein | The Oregonian/OregonLive ; Oregon drag queen Pattie Gonia fights Patagonia trademark lawsuit

"A Bend-based drag queen who markets merchandise under the name Pattie Gonia went on the offensive Wednesday against corporate retailer Patagonia Inc., alleging the company is trying to silence her as an activist in its federal trademark infringement suit.

In January, Patagonia sued Entrepreneur Enterprises, doing business as Pattie Gonia Productions, seeking $1 in damages. The suit is pending in federal court in Los Angeles."

Florida biologist fired over Charlie Kirk post wins $485,000 settlement; The Guardian, May 22, 2026

Associated via The Guardian; Florida biologist fired over Charlie Kirk post wins $485,000 settlement

Biologist was fired by a state agency for criticizing Charlie Kirk on social media after his shooting death

"Florida officials have agreed to pay nearly half a million dollars to a biologist who was fired by a state agency for criticizing conservative political activist Charlie Kirk on social media after his shooting death.

The state’s fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC) fired biologist Brittney Brown in September after she reposted a meme on her personal Instagram account that claimed Kirk wouldn’t care about children being shot in their classrooms. She filed a lawsuit seeking reinstatement, saying she struggled to find other work because the state agency is the regulatory body for her research specialization in bird conservation.

Brown on Thursday signed a $485,000 settlement agreement with agency directors that covers backpay, damages and attorney costs. She agreed as part of the deal to not seek future employment at the agency...

Kirk’s supporters combed social media after the killing for posts they viewed as celebrating his death. Influencers like Laura Loomer pledged to ruin the careers of people who made light of the killing, and the conservative social media account Libs of TikTok shared the identities and workplaces of many who posted with its audience of millions...

In a rare instance in Tennessee, a retired police officer was jailed for 37 days over a Facebook post joking about Kirk’s assassination. Tennessee officials agreed on Wednesday to pay $835,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the man, Larry Bushart. While behind bars, Bushart lost his postretirement job and missed the birth of his granddaughter before authorities eventually dropped a felony charge against him, he said in the lawsuit."

ABC Accuses Government of Violating First Amendment; The New York Times, May 8, 2026

Jim Rutenberg and John Koblin , The New York Times; ABC Accuses Government of Violating First Amendment

The network’s argument, made to the F.C.C., is the most aggressive posture taken yet by a television network toward the Trump administration.

"ABC has accused the Federal Communications Commission of violating its free speech rights, potentially setting the stage for a protracted, high-stakes legal battle between the network and the Trump administration.

The company said in a filing with the agency that regulators had a “chilling effect” on free speech by trying to punish political content they disagreed with. The filing, made public on Friday, is the most aggressive defense from any television network since President Trump kicked off an extended campaign last year to bring media organizations to heel.

It represented a striking departure for ABC. The network, under the corporate stewardship of the Walt Disney Company, set an early tone of compliance toward Mr. Trump when it settled a defamation lawsuit with him for $15 million in December 2024. Many legal experts considered Mr. Trump’s case unlikely to succeed in court.

The filing was registered on behalf of a single ABC station in Houston and involved a minor regulatory dispute over the talk show “The View.” But in a signal of its importance, the company’s paperwork was signed by one of the most experienced Supreme Court litigators in the country, Paul D. Clement, a solicitor general under President George W. Bush."

New Mexico proposes $3.7bn fine for Meta and sweeping changes to its social platforms; The Guardian, May 6, 2026

Katie McQue, The Guardian; New Mexico proposes $3.7bn fine for Meta and sweeping changes to its social platforms

"Meta has returned to court in the US this week for the second phase of a lawsuit brought by Raúl Torrez, New Mexico’s attorney general, following a March verdict that found the company liable for child safety failures and imposed a $375m fine. On Monday, the state petitioned for a legal sanction against the company, a monetary penalty 10 times the original amount, and a sweeping, drastic overhaul of Meta’s child safety protocols.

In the second part of the landmark case, known as the remedies phase, the state is asking for Meta to be declared a public nuisance and for the judge to order the company to pay $3.7bn in an abatement plan. The money would fund programs for law enforcement, mental health services and educators. The state is also requesting that the judge force a series of design changes to Meta’s platforms aimed at improving child safety, including universal age verification, de-encryption of children’s messages, a guardian account linked to every child’s account, and a child safety monitor tasked with holding Meta to account for five years.

The New Mexico department of justice argues that these changes would make Meta’s social networks safer for underage users in the state. Meta, however, says the proposed reforms are unfeasible and could ultimately force it to shutdown its platforms in the state altogether.

The second phase of the trial is expected to last three weeks. Before opening statements on 4 May, Judge ⁠Bryan Biedscheid, said he needed to remain cognizant of free speech protections when evaluating the state’s arguments for Meta to impose the design measures, which he said could amount to “overreach”."

Analyzing Indictment of James Comey for "86 47" Post; reason, The Volokh Conspiracy, April 28, 2026

EUGENE VOLOKH, reason, The Volokh Conspiracy; Analyzing Indictment of James Comey for "86 47" Post

 "I think this prosecution is unjustified, and will get thrown out. Let me quickly analyze why."

‘Weak Case’: Fox’s Jonathan Turley Deeply Skeptical of Trump DOJ’s New Indictment of James Comey; Mediaite, April 28, 2026

Isaac Schorr, Mediaite; ‘Weak Case’: Fox’s Jonathan Turley Deeply Skeptical of Trump DOJ’s New Indictment of James Comey 

"Is showing a picture of shells that say ’86 47′ is that-, I mean, that could be could be taken as a threat, but does it amount to one to you?” followed up John Roberts.

“In my view, it would very likely be viewed as protected speech if it was the basis of a criminal indictment. That alone would have a hard time standing up in court,” answered Turley. “I’ve seen that reporting, and we’ll have to see how they would stick that landing in an indictment, but just showing a picture like that would be a very difficult foundation, a very unstable foundation for a prosecution, because right out of the gate will come a First Amendment challenge that the court, I think, would consider first and foremost.”"

Trump Administration Secures New Indictment Against Comey; The New York Times, April 28, 2026

Devlin Barrett and Tyler Pager , The New York Times; Trump Administration Secures New Indictment Against Comey

The new case stems from a social media post showing seashells on a North Carolina beach that the Trump administration characterized as a threat against the president.

"The Justice Department has secured a new indictment of James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, over a social media post, after an indictment effort spurred by President Trump last year ended in failure.

An indictment filed in North Carolina charges Mr. Comey with making a threat against the president, and transmitting a threat across state lines, according to court records.

The new case represents another twist in the department’s tortured efforts to satisfy the demands of Mr. Trump to pursue criminal charges against Mr. Comey, a longtime target of the president’s wrath. The first indictment against Mr. Comey was thrown out by a judge, and other prosecutorial efforts against Trump targets have faltered in the face of grand juries or judges."

Decoding the 2026 White House AI Blueprint: U.S. AI Policy Starts to Take Shape; ReedSmith, March 24, 2026

 Tristan J. Albrecht, ReedSmith; Decoding the 2026 White House AI Blueprint: U.S. AI Policy Starts to Take Shape

"The White House's March 2026, National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence highlights a central tension: while AI adoption is accelerating, the United States still lacks a comprehensive federal AI regulatory regime. The framework sets out legislative recommendations aimed at balancing innovation, economic growth, and risk mitigation, while proposing federal preemption of state laws that “impose undue burdens" or undermine the national strategy to achieve “global AI dominance”.

The White House framework focuses on seven priority areas:...

Intellectual Property: A measured approach that defers key copyright questions, whether AI training on copyrighted material constitutes fair use in the courts. The Administration states it “believe that training of AI models on copyrighted material does not violate copyright laws” but supports judicial resolution. The framework also contemplates collective licensing frameworks and protections against unauthorized digital replicas of individuals’ voice or likeness...

As AI capabilities rapidly evolve, the White House framework signals a federal preference for light-touch regulation and industry standards over rigid compliance mandates in clear contrast to approaches like the EU AI Act. In the absence of comprehensive legislation, organizations must continue navigating a dynamic and fragmented regulatory landscape, with careful attention to how preemption may reshape the field."