The Aporia · Free Speech Unmuted: Spoiler Alert: Can You Get Sued For Revealing A Plot Point?

Eugene Volokh

183 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 Some excerpts from the long First Superseding Indictment in U.S. v. Hakim (E.D. Mich.), filed Oct. 21, alleging conspiracy to transmit threats in interstate commerce as well as, for two defendants, witness intimidation and destruction of property to prevent seizure (8 of the 12 defendants had originally been indicted in May); the targets included UM officials and businesses connected with them, as well as the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit:

2026-11-01 · assertive framing · 12 Defendants Indicted for Threats Aimed at Causing University of Michigan and Others to Sever Ties with Israel

🔮 Because "[t]he costs and efforts required to defend a lawsuit through [discovery] could chill free speech nearly as effectively as the absence of the actual malice standard altogether[,]" a public figure plaintiff must plausibly allege actual malice at the outset of the litigation.

2026-10-31 · assertive framing · Trump vs. WSJ Libel Lawsuit over Trump's Alleged Birthday Wishes to Epstein Thrown out

🔮 The First Amendment forbids a State from using its investigative power that way, and I will not allow it while this case is pending.

2026-10-30 · assertive framing · Court Blocks W. Va. AG's Subpoena to Environmentalist Nonprofits

🔮 The same logic could apply to nuns who had felt religious pressure to do the educational or nursing work that their order was known for, or to monks who had felt religious pressure to do agricultural work that supports the monastery.

2026-10-30 · assertive framing · Amicus Brief in OneTaste Criminal Prosecution

🔮 Before doing so, "he entered the coffee shop to purchase a cookie, which he hoped would be seen as a sign of goodwill."

2026-10-30 · assertive framing · Discovery Sanctions Recommended in "Are You a Jew? … Are You a Zionist?" Case

🔮 While individuals who are the subjects of unwanted speech may be able to limit some speech directed to them, they cannot limit offensive speech about them directed to others.

2026-10-30 · assertive framing · 10-Year "Harassment"/"Stalking" Sentence for Repeatedly Criticizing Police Detective Violated First Amendment, Amicus Brief Argues

🔮 Because "the conduct regulated depend[ed] on—and [could not] be separated from—the ideas communicated," Florida's law was "functionally a regulation of speech" implicating the First Amendment.

2026-10-29 · assertive framing · Law Banning Employer Requirements That Employees Listen to Employer's Religious or Political Speech Likely Violates Employer's First Amendment Rights

🔮 You might assume that some judge is "woke" or "Trumpy" or what have you, but there's a pretty good chance that the judge's legal analysis is still correct.

2026-10-29 · assertive framing · Even "Trumpy Judges" and "Woke Judges" Might Know More Law Than You Do

🔮 The hope would be to siphon votes away from Sullivan.

2026-10-29 · mixed framing · The Law and Democrats Allegedly Recruiting Second "Dan Sullivan" to Run in Alaska Senate Race

🔮 Alas, like other formerly unique human skills, I expect this one too will fall victim to competition from AI.

2026-10-29 · assertive framing · "Plaintiff Appears to Be a Well-Educated Individual with Time on His Hands,"

Also by Eugene Volokh

12 Defendants Indicted for Threats Aimed at Causing University of Michigan and Others to Sever Ties with Israel

2026-11-01 · Reason

Open Thread

2026-11-01 · Reason

Trump vs. WSJ Libel Lawsuit over Trump's Alleged Birthday Wishes to Epstein Thrown out

2026-10-31 · Reason

American Cities, Population >50K, Named After Foreign (Excluding British) Political Figures

2026-10-31 · Reason

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 183 articles by Eugene Volokh →

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent Can revealing a plot twist get you sued? asserted

you → reveal → twist

Inspired by the controversy surrounding HBO's Lanterns, Jane and I explore the tension between copyright protection and free speech. asserted

Jane → inspire → protection

From Gerald Ford's memoirs to 2 Live Crew's "Pretty Woman" parody, they examine how courts distinguish protected expression from facts and ideas—and when fair use permits borrowing from someone else's work. asserted

use → examine → work

Along the way, they consider why describing an ending differs from posting a clip, how leaks of unpublished material complicate the analysis, and when a spoiler might cross the line from bad manners to legal liability. uncertain

spoiler → consider → liability

- The Process Is The Punishment: ABC v. FCC with Stuart Benjamin - Can AI Libel You? asserted

AI → libel → You

The Robby Starbuck Case - Shrexting: Free Speech or Criminal Harassment? - The First Amendment and Privacy Rights - 'Defamacast' and More: How American Defamation Law Works - Speech, Not "Conduct": asserted

Law → work → ?

Supreme Court Rules on Conversion Talk Therapy - Equal Time, Stephen Colbert, and the Future of Political Broadcasting - Student Speech, Threats, and the First Amendment - Can Journalists Be Charged for Involvement in Protests? asserted

Journalists → charge → Protests

The Don Lemon Dilemma - 2025: The Year In Free Speech - Does the First Amendment Protect Supposedly "Addictive" Algorithms? - Defamation Law in the Age of AI with Lyrissa Lidsky - Free Speech and the Future of Legal Education - From Brandenburg to Britain: Rethinking Free Speech in the Digital Era with Eric Heinze - Kimmel, the FCC, and the Government's Power Over Broadcast Speech - A Conversation with FIRE's Greg Lukianoff - A Burning First Amendment Issue: asserted

Amendment → protect → Lukianoff

- Free Speech and Doxing - The Supreme Court Rules on Protecting Kids from Sexually Themed Speech Online - Free Speech, Public School Students, and "There Are Only Two Genders" - Can AI Companies Be Sued for What AI Says? - Harvard v. Trump: Free Speech and Government Grants - Trump's War on Big Law - Can Non-Citizens Be Deported For Their Speech? - Freedom of the Press, with Floyd Abrams - Free Speech, Private Power, and Private Employees - Court Upholds TikTok Divestiture Law - Free Speech in European (and Other) Democracies, with Prof. Jacob Mchangama - Protests, Public Pressure Campaigns, Tort Law, and the First Amendment - Misinformation: Past, Present, and Future - I Know It When I See It: Free Speech and Obscenity Laws - Speech and Violence - Emergency Podcast: The Supreme Court's Social Media Cases - Internet Policy and Free Speech: A Conversation with Rep. Ro Khanna - Free Speech, TikTok (and Bills of Attainder!), with Prof. Alan Rozenshtein - The 1st Amendment on Campus with Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky - Free Speech On Campus - AI and Free Speech - Free Speech, Government Persuasion, and Government Coercion - Deplatformed: The Supreme Court Hears Social Media Oral Arguments - Book Bans – or Are They? asserted

They → rule → Bans

Free Speech Unmuted: Spoiler Alert: Can You Get Sued For Revealing A Plot Point?

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