Fifth Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan was shouted down last week at a Stanford Law School event sponsored by the Federalist Society chapter. The disruption of Judge Duncan’s remarks was supported at the event by Associate Dean of DEI Tirien Steinbach. The wild suppression of Free Speech prompted a high profile apology from Stanford's president, but is it enough? David Lat's exceptional Original Jurisdiction has the whole story; excerpts below.

Frequently, those pushing for early prisoner release in the SCC cite dangers of “unnecessary incarceration.” However, says Rafael A. Mangual in Newsweek, most incarcerated individuals committed serious crimes (e.g., murder or armed burglary) to land them in jail — and 83% go on to commit more after being released. Rather than merely seeking to empty local prisons, Mangual suggests a more prudent approach to preserving public safety.

California’s high-speed rail disaster remains on the slow track, its projected completion presently looming in the 2030s. Ralph Vartabedian discusses in CalMatters that despite an incessant wealth of funding and time, the HSR project now anticipates 25% less ridership than previously predicted. Who is this HSR really made for, and will the rail be fiscally self-sufficient?

California has long faced a homelessness epidemic nightmare, with plentiful encampments putting lives at risk in and outside of SJ; yet a federal judge has just prohibited Newsom’s planned removal of Oakland’s “tent city,” suggesting an anterior need for a resettlement plan. Debra J. Saunders analyzes in the American Spectator why enforcing existing homeless encampment laws will cultivate safer communities.

The Spectator’s Debra J. Saunders speaks with San Fransicko author Michael Shellenberger about the Bay Area’s hazardously “altruis[tic]” approach to homelessness. While ignoring true underlying factors like substance abuse, current governance hopes that throwing more money at Housing First and similar initiatives will solve unhoused people’s situations—to no avail.

In 2021, San Jose lost residents five times faster than the rest of California did. Currently, SCC locals continue migrating to other states like Texas in the tens of thousands each year—and they aren’t slowing down. The California Globe’s Sheridan Swanson parses this mounting concern using YTexas, Hartman Income REIT, and UHaul data.