The state of Goldbergia has a problem with its citizens saying bizarre and inappropriate things on social media and embarrassing the governor, Ferica.  In response to this problem, the state enacts the following law.

“No resident of Goldbergia may drive over the speed of 55 miles per hour, unless that person can prove that he/she writes only appropriate posts on FB, Twitter, Instagram, and all other forms of social media.  Additionally, if anyone criticizes the governor, Ferica, that person must maintain a driving speed of 20 miles per hour on all roads.”

Roger, a resident of Goldbergia, posts the following message on FB:  “I am going to kill Ferica in her sleep.  I know her address”  He then drives 60 mph on the highway and is arrested pursuant to the new Goldbergia law.

Can Roger challenge this law?  Why or why not?

Assuming a court allows Roger to challenge the law, what are the challenges he should bring?

Answer key below:

Continue reading “Free Speech Hypo” →

I will state my thesis in the way I instruct students to state theirs —  clearly, directly, and with several subparts that connect logically:   A focus on justice-oriented teaching is ultimately harmful to students; it robs them of time to devote to higher educational priorities, it is antithetical to how legal thinking and reasoning should proceed, and it risks imposing a one-sided view of the world onto students.  I appreciate that education can never be perfectly values-neutral, but the values we should mostly be instilling are process-based values and educational values over any subjective view of right and wrong.  Different teachers will balance the goals of teaching values-neutral critical thinking skills and imparting values differently, but our current trend in legal education is, in my view, favoring teaching “justice” in a way that will ultimately be to students’ and society’s detriment.

Continue reading “Teaching Law versus Teaching Justice” →