The Latest Breaking News from Fourth Circuit

In February, I wrote about a Fourth Circuit decision in Doe v. Sidar, which discusses one-sided pseudonymity. On Wednesday, Google received a request that it remove that post from its indexes—and thus vanish it from search results—on the theory that the post violated the copyright in a blog post, https://europeannewschannels.blogspot.com/2024/01/fourth-circuit-on-one-sided.html:…

Bird poop, non-testimonial thumbs, and the heckler's veto.

Last month, I wrote about a Fourth Circuit decision in Doe v. Sidar, which discusses one-sided pseudonymity. Last week, Google received two requests that it remove that post from its indexes—and thus vanish it from search results—on the theory that the post violated the copyright in a Tumblr post, https://www.tumblr.com/case49news/745091056157196289/fourth-circuit-on-one-sided-pseudonymity-in-sexual:…

Nuclear waste, river cruises, and an exploding toilet.

Citizens should be able to choose the same high-quality defensive arms that peace officers choose

From Tuesday's Fourth Circuit decision in Duvall v. Novant Health, Inc., written by Judge Agee and joined by Judges Quattlebaum and Floyd (upholding a damages award of "about $4 million"): After a week-long trial, a North Carolina jury found that Novant Health, Inc. terminated David Duvall because of his race,…

Odor ordinances, woke training, and legislator walkouts.

In Speech First, Inc. v. Sands, the Court vacated the Fourth Circuit's decision upholding Virginia Tech's Bias Intervention and Response Team Policy, on the grounds that the case had become moot. Justice Jackson would have denied the petition because of her views about when lower court decisions should be vacated…

Final decisions, accidental strip searches, and puppycide.

The decision allows such pseudonymity when the defendant has already been found (by default judgment) to have committed the assault, but Judge Wilkinson's concurrence argues that, absent this unusual factor, one-sided pseudonymity should be frowned on.

Justice Alito wrote a strong dissent to denial of certiorari. The issues the case raises are likely to recur. In the meantime, the lower court ruling in the case sets a dangerous precedent.