Rory Kraft

One day after Trump called for her to be executed.

In honor of Larry Summers, I asked the female members of my college class (1987) to say if they had any experiences with sexual harassment by teachers/professors, back when this was tolerated as, I dunno, the cost of attending college, and OH MY GOD.

We've reached the time in the semester in which I'm expected to pretend that I don't know the students are pretending to have done the reading.

Blow for OpenAI in Germany as court rules song lyrics used illegally A German court ruled on Tuesday that OpenAI violated copyright on nine popular songs in a lawsuit that marked another attempt to prevent the free use of artists' content online. The Munich Regional Co...

Open AI loses copyright case in Germany.

Judge Elke Schwager summarized the case saying that if you want to build something and need components, "then you purchase them and do not use the property of others."

OPINION MURPHY, Circuit Judge. An Ohio public school district bars its students from referring to transgender and nonbinary classmates using the pronouns that match their biological sex if the classmates prefer to go by different pronouns. The plaintiff in this case has parent and student members who believe that a person's sex is immutable. The members want to express this view by using biological pronouns. And they believe that they would convey a falsehood —that a person's gender is fluid—if they use preferred pronouns. So the plaintiff challenged the school district's speech ban on behalf of its members under the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause. This case about pronouns pits two important interests against each other. On the one hand, the school district has prohibited speech (biological pronouns) that expresses a message on a matter of pressing public concern. And because the district requires other speech (preferred pronouns) that expresses a competing view, it has discriminated based on its students' viewpoints. Its approach thus raises serious free-speech concerns. On the other hand, the school district rightly responds that it has a duty to protect all students- including transgender and nonbinary students— from bullying and harassment. And this protection, while necessarily restricting speech, does not violate the Free Speech Clause. So which of these competing concerns should prevail in this case?

The Supreme Court's cases provide a clear answer. A school district may not restrict personal speech on matters of public concern unless the speech would "materially and substantially disrupt" school activities or infringe the legal "rights of others" in the school community. Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Cmty. Sch. Dist., 393 U.S. 503, 513 (1969). In this case's current posture, the school district has fallen far short of meeting this demanding standard. It introduced no evidence that the use of biological pronouns would disrupt school functions or qualify as harassment under Ohio law. Our society continues to debate whether biological pronouns are appropriate or offensive just as it continues to debate many other issues surrounding transgender rights. The school district may not skew this debate by forcing one side to change the way it conveys its message or by compelling it to express a different view. We thus reverse and remand Case: 23-3630 Document: 253-2 Filed: 11/06/2025 Page: 4 No. 23-3630 Defending Educ. v. Olentangy Loc. Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ., et al. Page 4 for the entry of an appropriately tailored preliminary injunction barring the district from punishing students for the commonplace use of biological pronouns. Yet nothing we say here forecloses the district from enforcing its anti-harassment policies against the abuse of transgender students just as it enforces those policies against the abuse of all other students.

BREAKING: The Sixth Circuit, in a 10-7 en banc decision, holds that an Ohio school district's anti-bullying policy that requires students to use children's preferred pronouns is likely unconstitutional on these facts.

Judge Murphy, a Trump appointee, writes the court's decision.

Breaking: SCOTUS lets Trump administration implement anti-trans, anti-nonbinary passport policy The Democratic appointees, led by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented. The ruling, which applies during litigation, effectively reverses two lower court rulings.

Must-read report from @chrisgeidner.bsky.social on today’s SCOTUS order allowing the Trump administration to implement its anti-trans and anti-nonbinary passport policy.

This really hasn’t gotten enough attention this week.

@wired.com #ICE
www.wired.com/story/fbi-wa...

“This case, ladies and gentleman of the jury, is about a sandwich.”

Closing arguments from the defense in the DC sandwich guy case are now underway.

Judge says prosecutors who were placed on leave ‘did a truly excellent job’ Two federal prosecutors were placed on leave hours after describing Jan. 6 as an attack by “a mob of rioters.”

Here's Josh & Kyle's article:
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
3/3-end

Trial set over NPR allegations that CPB yielded to White House pressure NPR alleges that CPB unlawfully yanked away a planned three-year contract worth $36 million in the face of intense pressure from the White House to sever ties with the radio network.

Trial set for Dec 1 over NPR's allegations that CPB unlawfully yielded to White House pressure as new evidence comes to light.

CPB contends it reversed course in 48 hours on a $36M contract with NPR on the merits.

My story:
www.npr.org/2025/10/30/n...

Happiness is the 10-minute version of Nina Simone's "Sinnerman" playing unexpectedly.

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit No. 23-10994 United Slates Circtif Appeals FILED October 27, 2025 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk SPECTRUM WT; BARRETT BRIGHT; LAUREN STOVALL, Plaintiffs- Appellants, versus WALTER WENDLER; DR. CHRISTOPHER THOMAS; JOHN SHARP; ROBERT L. ALBRITTON; JAMES R. BROOKS; JAY GRAHAM; TIM LEACH; BILL MAHOMES; ELAINE MENDOZA; MICHAEL J. PLANK; CLIFF THOMAS; DEMETRIUS L. HARRELL, JR.; MICHAEL A. HERNANDEz, Ill, Defendants- Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas USDC No. 2:23-CV-48 ON PETITION FOR REHEARING EN BANC (Opinion August 18, 2025, 5 CIR., 2025, 151 F.4th 714) Before ELROD, Chief Judge, and JONES, SMITH, STEWART, RICHMAN, SOUTHWICK, HAYNES, GRAVES, HIGGINSON, DOUGETS, Hout JuGs, ENGELHARDT, OLDHAM, WILSON, and

PER CURIAM: A majority of the circuit judges in regular active service and not disqualified having voted in favor, on the Court's own motion, to rehear this case en banc, IT IS ORDERED that this cause shall be reheard by the court en banc with oral argument on a date hereafter to be fixed. The Clerk will specify a briefing schedule for the filing of supplemental briefs. Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 41.3, the panel opinion in this case dated August 18, 2025, is VACATED. *Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez, did not participate in the consideration of the rehearing en banc.

BREAKING: The full Fifth Circuit decided that it will be rehearing the case over West Texas A&M's effort to ban a charity drag show from campus. The panel, on a 2-1 vote, sided with the student group.

The Fifth Circuit decided to go en banc even after the school didn't seek en banc review.

EVERY. THING. IS. ABOUT. GENDER.

Inside the Clunky Elections to Control Pennsylvania's Supreme Court - Bolts The GOP is making an expensive push to end Democrats’ majority on a court at the center of election lawsuits, sparking a fledging campaign season with little precedent or template.

If Dems win the Supreme Court races in Pennsylvania in 9 days, it’s extremely likely the GOP can’t get a majority on that court until 2029.

The GOP really wants to have this majority during the 2028 presidential race.

Can’t put the stakes any more clearly than that. boltsmag.org/pennsylvania...

If you want to know EVERYTHING that happened at the Letitia James arraignment (and why wouldn’t you!) I have you covered. Read my dispatch @lawfaremedia.org: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/tria...

As a native of Maricopa County (now living outside AZ), this reporting reinforced many of my thoughts about the recent ICE actions ties to Arpaio policies.

finally had time to read this great new article from Defector about the top-down push for AI in higher ed!

it also links to our AAUP report on ed tech and its impact on academic labor, which you can read here: www.aaup.org/reports-publ...

Wow, massive abridgement of faculty and student human rights here

Trying to imagine the permitting process if I wanted to knock down the back half of my old-but-not-historic house.

Hero.

"She told me she did not think running the piece was a good idea; after all, she noted, it violated the stated company policy against setting off alarm bells within the Trump White House.

The piece went unpublished, and the words “I quit” came flying out of my mouth."

“The public has a right to know what MPD officers did when called to the United States Institute of Peace earlier this year,” @rcfp.org's Adam Marshall said.

More about our attorneys' efforts supporting @marisakabas.bsky.social's fight to access body-worn camera footage of a DOGE raid on USIP 👇

Same vibes as the callous destruction of Bonwit Teller building and the Taliban blowing up the Bamiyan Buddhas back in the day.

Another angle that shows how much of the East Wing is just ... gone.

Photos obtained exclusively by Law Dork on Tuesday show that President Donald Trump is completely demolishing the East Wing of the White House as part of his stated plan to build a ballroom befitting his standards on the White House grounds.

NEW: www.lawdork.com/p/trump-demo...

Federal Workers Told to Stop Taking Photos of White House Destruction Donald Trump is tearing apart the White House to make way for his gaudy ballroom.

“Oh you’re trying to say the cost of living is skyrocketing?” tweeted Senator Elizabeth Warren. “Donald Trump can’t hear you over the sound of bulldozers demolishing a wing of the White House to build a new grand ballroom.” trib.al/6eLVxTU

BREAKING: A court ordered the Department of Defense to stop censoring educational materials discussing race and gender in schools on military bases.

Books removed from the schools must be returned to the shelves immediately.

Trump yelling at kid mowing lawn meme but about everything being off the record

I dedicate this post to the formidable @annabower.bsky.social

Don’t. Print. Lies. In. The. Newspapers.

Don’t host lying authoritarian liars to performative lie in public on your teevee shows.

If you’ve screwed up & done that anyway, immediately end the interview when they lie & keep lying.

🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️

More images from what was just reported in Politico (www.politico.com/news/2025/10...)

IndyStar 2 . Follow 1h: "All Media School and IU students, faculty and staff should be scared by this blatant attack on someone standing up for what's right," student Editors-ln-Chief Mia Hilkowitz and Andrew Miller said in a statement. Read more: bit.ly/43ebKW1 IndyStar. IDS The original investigative student newsroom of Indiana University Barge suspends Bloomingtonr LITTLE 500 IDS IDS She should've knownbetter:' nt in N eoiencnalt. A INnpttM Indiana University fires IDS adviser amid push to control student newspaper's content

The director of student media at Indiana University was fired amidst a dispute between university leadership and editors at the Indiana Daily Student over what content gets printed in the student newspaper. As director of student media, Jim Rodenbush did not directly oversee or have any say over the content published in the IDS, per a charter between the IDS and the university. But he told IndyStar his firing follows a series of meetings with IU Media School leadership in which it grew increasingly apparent they were expecting him to officially prohibit students from publishing news.

Indiana University has fired the staff director of the student newspaper, after disputes in which university leadership tried to pressure him to prevent students from publishing news.

Ryan Lochte was 32 during the 2016 Olympics. But he was a "kid" to the news media when his scandal broke.