April 23, 2025

In the News

Oil City News: Court rules against Sheridan County School District in parent censorship lawsuit

.....The United States District Court for the District of Wyoming ordered the Sheridan County School District to pay legal fees totaling $156,000 in a lawsuit accusing the district of censoring a parent.

The ruling was announced in a statement from the Institute for Free Speech, which is the litigation team representing Harry Pollak of Sheridan County that took up a case accusing the school district of violating Pollak’s rights for free speech at a public meeting.

National Review:Federal Judge Buys the Left’s ‘Speech Can Be Violence’ Trope

By George Leef

.....Under the First Amendment, public institutions cannot suppress free speech — or so most Americans thought. Oh, but speech can be violence, say leftists, and then government ought to stamp it out.

A case in New Hampshire pits the two ideas against each other, and, according to the judge, speech must give way. A school made a rule forbidding fathers from wearing pink XX wristbands as a silent protest against allowing boys to compete in girls’ sports.

Hans Bader writes about this unbelievable case in this Liberty Unyielding post. 

Trump Administration

Politico: White House says it’s not targeting green groups’ tax status

By Robin Bravender

.....The White House is not drafting or considering an order targeting nonprofit organizations’ tax-exempt status, a White House official said Tuesday.

The comments come after rumors swirled in energy and environmental policy groups in recent days that President Donald Trump might attempt to revoke green groups’ tax-exempt status, potentially on Earth Day.

Asked Tuesday whether the president was considering any actions to target nonprofit organizations, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters she would check in with the White House policy team.

In response to a request for additional comment, a White House official told POLITICO’s E&E News later Tuesday in an email, “No such orders are being drafted or considered at this time.”

The Courts

New York Times: Palin Loses Libel Retrial Against New York Times

By Katie Robertson and David Enrich

.....A federal jury on Tuesday ruled against Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska and Republican vice-presidential nominee, in her yearslong defamation lawsuit against The New York Times. The jury reached the verdict after two hours of deliberations.

Jonesing on Nonprofits: Johnson Amendment Challengers File Motion for Summary Judgement

By Darryll K. Jones

.....The National Religious Broadcasters and their allied plaintiffs (two churches and a religious organization) filed a Motion for Summary Judgment1 yesterday in their effort to prove the Johnson Amendment is unconstitutional. Here is the proposed order they seek:

Free Expression

Washington Post: ‘60 Minutes’ chief producer resigns, citing loss of journalistic freedom

By Niha Masih and Sarah Ellison

.....Bill Owens, the longtime executive producer of the storied CBS News show “60 Minutes,” stepped aside Tuesday over what he described as a loss of freedom to make independent decisions.

Owens, who spent 24 years at the show described by CBS as “America’s most important news program,” wrote in a memo to “60 Minutes” staff, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post: “Over the past months, it has also become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it. To make independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes, right for the audience.”

Newsweek: Yale Students Abandon Overnight Israel Protest Over 'Retribution' Fears

By Jordan King

.....Around 200 pro-Palestine protesters at Yale University disbanded their encampment on Tuesday evening for fears of "retribution."

The States

New York Post: Minnesota state employee who allegedly caused over $20K in damages to Teslas is let off by woke DA — as cops slam deal

By Patrick Reilly

.....A progressive district attorney has declined to charge the state employee in Tim Walz-led Minnesota who was allegedly caught causing $20,000 damage by vandalizing half a dozen Teslas — a decision the local police chief ripped as the latest betrayal of victims.

The suspected vandal, 33-year-old Minnesota government employee Dylan Bryan Adams, was allegedly spotted keying the vehicles and stripping their paint off while out walking his dog around the city.