The Curious Engineer

All blogs / Society / politics / economy

The Popehat Report

popehat.com

A Complaint About Law, Liberty, and Leisure.

Society / politics / economy

’20’21’22’23’24’25’26
Posts
84 from 24 Aug 2020 to 25 Jun 2026
Posting
now and then (5 in the last year)
Kind
personal blog
Feed
https://rss.beehiiv.com/feeds/6QXMLvJf2y.xml

2026 5

  1. Cotswolds Interlude, Hiking Day Four
  2. A Bit of Tedious Drama At Bluesky
  3. The Comey Threat Indictment Is A Grave Embarrassment To The United States Department of Justice And The Rule of Law
  4. A Letter On Justice And Open Debate About Raping Children
  5. We Should Talk About The Morality of Political Violence

2025 3

  1. How "Free Speech Culture" Is Killing Free Speech: Part One
  2. Only Criminals Don’t Want To Be Gassed By The Government
  3. The Fourth Of July, Rethought

2024 21

  1. Some Other America, One I Do Not Know
  2. Life At The Bottom Of The Slippery Slope
  3. This Week On Serious Trouble
  4. An Anti-SLAPP Victory
  5. What Is An Anti-SLAPP, Anyway? A Lawsplainer Series
  6. This Week In Podcasts
  7. Refuge In Kakistocracy
  8. What’s Going To Happen Here At The Hat?
  9. God, Bless America?
  10. And Yet It Moves
  11. This Week On Serious Trouble
  12. How I Learned Who I Am From My Dad
  13. Feb 14, 2024An Incomplete Primer of Caselaw Appertaining To Bigfoot, AKA Sasquatch, LNUWith Comments On Anticipated Litigation And Mistaken Identification
  14. Feb 07, 2024This Week On Serious Trouble: Bad News For Trump
  15. Feb 06, 2024Columbia Law Student Senate Censors To Prevent CensorshipCollege Students Aren’t The Biggest Problem, But Sometimes They’re Bad And Should Feel Bad.
  16. Feb 01, 2024The Tale of Sigmund And The SkunkA Post from the Old Popehat Site
  17. Jan 31, 2024This Week On Serious Trouble: All Federal Judges, All Angry
  18. Jan 31, 2024I’m On The Frontline Documentary on Trump Prosecution
  19. Jan 30, 2024Injustice Can Make You Crazy As A BedbugBret Stephens Is Outraged By Unequal Justice Offered To Billionaires
  20. Jan 27, 2024Welcome To The New Home Of The Popehat ReportWe’re Hosted At Beehiiv Now
  21. Jan 12, 2024Win A Dream Date With A Litigious Douchebag!In Which Nikko D’Ambrosio’s Lawyers Introduce Him Rather Forcibly To Barbara Streisand

2023 27

  1. Dec 28, 2023May A Public University Fire Its Chancellor For Appearing In Porn Videos On His Own Time? This Seems Like Some Sweeps Week Bullshit But Sure, What The Hell, Let's Analyze It
  2. Dec 21, 2023Substack Has A Nazi Opportunity Dealing With Nazis, Or Not, Can Be A Brand. Substack’s Monetizing It.
  3. Dec 07, 2023Stop Demanding Dumb Answers To Hard QuestionsDemanding Short, Dumb Answers About Hate Speech Makes You A Useful Idiot For Bigots.
  4. Nov 28, 2023Punishment Envy And The Perils Of Institutional EngagementInstitutions That Start Addressing Controversies May Find It Hard To Stop
  5. Nov 22, 2023In Which I Repent On Free Speech Culture I Apologize To Elon Musk For Infringing On His Speech
  6. Nov 20, 2023My Free Speech Means You Have To Shut UpElon Musk and The Enduring Appeal of “Criticism is Censorship”
  7. Aug 17, 2023Overt Acts and Predicate Acts, ExplainedNo, Fani Willis Is Not Making Tweets Or Phone Calls Into Crimes. But Maybe Her Indictment Is A Bit Indulgent And Gratuitous.
  8. Aug 10, 2023The Weight Of The Unspoken WordTalking Carefully About Suicide Is Good. Avoiding The Subject Isn’t.
  9. Aug 08, 2023The National Review Is Still Lying To You About The Fraud Charge Against TrumpYes It Vexes Me. This Is Just How God Made Me.
  10. Aug 06, 2023Beware The Flood Of Trump Sentencing DisinformationIt Can Come From Anywhere — Even The Washington Post
  11. Aug 02, 2023People Are Lying To You About The Trump IndictmentNational Review Is Lying, For Instance. There Will Be More. Keep An Eye Out.
  12. Aug 01, 2023Is Following An Extradition Treaty An Elaborate Political Conspiracy?No. No it is not. That's Just Wrong, Glenn.
  13. Jul 26, 2023Hunter Biden And The Fog Of WarWhat We Don’t Know About Why The Hunter Biden Plea Deal Blew Up
  14. Jun 27, 2023Supreme Court Clarifies "True Threats" First Amendment ExceptionFine, Stop Whining, We'll Explain, Court Says
  15. Jun 13, 2023That's Not How Recusal Works, That's Not How Any Of This Works!I've Got A Lot Of Problems With You People, And Now You're Going To Hear About It.
  16. Jun 10, 2023Jack Smith, Donald Trump, and the Kobayashi MaruHow Should The Rule of Law Approach No-Win Scenarios?
  17. May 31, 2023Speech or Cancel Culture At Boston University?Nah Fam That's Speech, Come On Now
  18. May 05, 2023Deserve’s Got Nothing To Do With ItThoughts From 2012 Seem Relevant in 2023
  19. Apr 27, 2023True Threats And American Cultural GulfsWhen Should A Threat Be Outside of First Amendment Protection?
  20. Apr 19, 2023Notes From A Trial
  21. Apr 03, 2023Berating The Bumptious: Whittier College’s Extraordinary Threat LettersSeriously, Though, Don’t Write Letters Like This
  22. Mar 28, 2023Wayne State Professor Steven Shaviro Volunteers As First Amendment TributeYalies, Ugh
  23. Mar 25, 2023Stanford Law Responds Appropriately, If Belatedly, To Judge Duncan FiascoMeasured Decisions Rarely Please Anyone
  24. Mar 14, 2023Hating Everyone Everywhere All At Once At StanfordDon't Expect Free Speech Disputes To Have Heroes
  25. Feb 28, 2023Can A Tarot Card Reading Be Defamatory, Part II: The TarotingA Disturbed Internet Personality Goes On The Offensive
  26. Jan 13, 2023Can I Wear a MAGA Hat To My Government Job?Hats and the free speech rights of government employees — a lawsplainer.
  27. Jan 05, 2023Hamline University And Cancel CultureA Specific Example of What Useful "Cancel Culture" Dialogue Could Involve

2022 13

  1. Dec 31, 2022Clarifying Some Common First Amendment TerminologyWhat is a "First Amendment Exception?" What does it mean that "the First Amendment applies"?
  2. Dec 29, 2022Can A Tarot Card Reading Be Defamatory?Crazed Tik-Toker's Tirade Against University Professor Raises Fact v. Opinion Issue
  3. Dec 24, 2022“The First Amendment Isn’t Absolute.” Sure, But So What?Understanding The Limits of The First Amendment And How They Apply To Free Speech Analysis
  4. Dec 18, 2022In Defense Of Free Speech Pedantry Why You Should Clarify Which Free Speech Value You’re Debating
  5. Dec 16, 2022Lots Of Serious Trouble This WeekThis Much Foolishness Needed Two Episodes
  6. Dec 12, 2022Goodbye, TwitterEverything Ends, And That’s Okay.
  7. Sep 19, 2022A Farewell To A FriendPatrick, Co-Blogger and Has Passed
  8. Aug 14, 2022The Philosophical And Moral Incoherence of “How Dare You Walk Out Of My Speech”“Cancel Culture” Has Victims, But You’re Probably Not One Of Them
  9. Aug 12, 2022Who Judges The Judges?A Story of A Thirty-Year Grudge
  10. Aug 03, 2022Alex Jones At The Tower of BabelWhen Different Languages Collide In Court
  11. Jun 16, 2022Announcing Serious Trouble -- A Podcast About Legal PerilThe Band Gets Back Together
  12. May 24, 2022Fox News v. Fox Entertainment: Does The Difference Matter?No. Not in the way you're thinking. Thank you for asking though.
  13. Mar 22, 2022Our Fundamental Right To Shame And Shun The New York TimesWhat the NYT Cancel Culture Editorial Got Wrong, And What It Got Right

2021 3

  1. Nov 24, 2021Farewell to All the Presidents' Lawyers, Looking For Your Input on What's Next
  2. Jul 08, 2021What Is An Anti-SLAPP, Anyway? A Lawsplainer SeriesChapter Three: What Makes A Good Or Bad Anti-SLAPP Statute?
  3. Jul 04, 2021The Fourth Of JulyThe America That Could Be

2020 12

  1. Oct 29, 2020What Is An Anti-SLAPP, Anyway? A Lawsplainer SeriesChapter Two: How Do Anti-SLAPP Statutes Fix Problems With Civil Litigation And Help Defendants?
  2. Oct 26, 2020What Is An Anti-SLAPP, Anyway? A Lawsplainer SeriesChapter One: How Do Lawsuits Work Without An Anti-SLAPP Statute, And Why Is That A Problem?
  3. Oct 16, 2020Section 230 Is The Subject of The Most Effective Legal Propaganda I've Ever SeenHere Are Some Resources On What It Really Means, If You Care
  4. Oct 14, 2020Do Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh Disagree On Whether The N-Word Creates A Hostile Work Environment?No. Remember: Most Legal Commentary Is Dumbed Down And Misleading.
  5. Sep 21, 2020No, Lori Laughlin Did Not "Choose Her Prison"Ignorant Faux-Populist Journalism Promotes The Carceral State
  6. Sep 10, 2020Trump, The Carroll Case, And The Problem With Argument By OutrageWhen The Law Is An Ass, It's Still The Law
  7. Sep 04, 2020Nothing New Under the First Amendment SunWhen We Litigate Free Speech, We Litigate Ancient Questions Of What It Means To Be Human
  8. Sep 02, 2020Lawyers, Warn Your Clients About Social MediaProactive Technological Literacy Is Essential
  9. Aug 31, 2020Lawsplainer: Sarah Palin's Defamation Claim Against The New York Times Can Go To TrialBut She Can't Overturn The Actual Malice Standard
  10. Aug 26, 2020Michael Cohen Is Not A Good Lawyer"My Client Was a Crook" Is Not A Get-Out-Of-Rules-Free Card
  11. Aug 25, 2020Fourth Circuit Holds The Line On Brandenburg, Strikes Down Part of Anti-Riot ActBut That's No Use To The Defendants, Because Wonkery
  12. Aug 24, 2020Can Eric Trump Take The Fifth In Response To The New York Attorney General's Subpoenas?Yes With An If, And No With A But