Jay Schweikert

[Jay Schweikert @jay_schweikert]

@Aella_Girl I’m so, so sorry you’re going through this. You’re a paragon of decency, thoughtfulness, courage, and merriment, and it breaks my heart to see cruelty directed toward you for exactly those virtues.

[Jay Schweikert @jay_schweikert]

@PicturesFoIder This is not a math question; it’s effectively a style-guide question. To quote https://t.co/gRHmPkfuaH, “communicating badly and then acting smug when you’re misunderstood is not cleverness.”

[Cato on Law @CatoOnLaw]

The state cannot put someone in jail for making threats without proving that they had some subjective understanding of their statements’ threatening nature.

Today’s decision in Counterman v. Colorado affirms a common-sense principle of both free speech and criminal justice, says @CatoOnLaw's @jay_schweikert.

Colorado had sentenced Billy Counterman to four and half years in prison for sending Facebook messages to a local musician that he claims he never intended as threatening.

In reversing his conviction, the majority opinion by Justice Kagan recognized that the “true threats” exception to the First Amendment requires the state to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a speaker had some subjective awareness that their statements would be perceived as threatening.

This decision is especially important in a world where online speech plays an increasingly large role in public discourse, as it will ensure that heated speech on controversial subjects cannot be criminalized solely on the basis of misunderstandings.

Read the #CatoSCOTUS brief... https://t.co/2IYAykPl5s

[Qualy the lightbulb @QualyThe]

Leading on hitting yourself means also leading on stopping hitting yourself.

So our new expert taskforce will:

👊 Dramatically speed up you hitting yourself
🖥 Deliver cutting-edge "stop hitting yourself" research

https://t.co/2MHRbHpzVm

[Jay Schweikert @jay_schweikert]

@mjs_DC This is one of two human practices that tempts me to desire a law abridging the freedom of speech, the other being commercials that replace the words of a famous song with pablum for their product.

[Jay Schweikert @jay_schweikert]

@M_feeney @CatoInstitute I realize I'm biased, but how do you excerpt *this* exchange to try to make @dr4liberty look bad? "Unfortunately, no" is one of the pithiest, most effective examples of "agree and amplify" that I've ever seen in congressional testimony. Even Gaetz was briefly flummoxed by it!

[Jay Schweikert @jay_schweikert]

@AlisonSomin Wow! This is now by far my favorite thing about Tom Cotton.

[Jay Schweikert @jay_schweikert]

@AlexNowrasteh I really wish the people who call us right wingers and the people who call us crypto-marxists would just debate each other and let us know which one it actually is.

[Jay Schweikert @jay_schweikert]

@KaiInRealLife @itsginnydi I am absolutely stealing this idea for the next NPC in my campaign…

[Jay Schweikert @jay_schweikert]

@balajis @ESYudkowsky Because you’re made out of atoms, which can be used for something else.

[Jay Schweikert @jay_schweikert]

Thanks to @RonSteslow for having me on @PoliticologyPod to discuss qualified immunity! This is one of the most in-depth, nuanced discussions of the topic I've ever had, so I highly recommend listening, even if you're familiar with the basics. #AbolishQI

https://t.co/48KnyLAFhZ

[Jay Schweikert @jay_schweikert]

@NathanpmYoung This is more devastating than Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem.

[Jay Schweikert @jay_schweikert]

@politicalmath These stupid PEMDAS gotchas always make me think of the fifth panel from this xkcd: "communicating badly and then acting smug when you're misunderstood is not cleverness."

https://t.co/IHD9o2uCIS

[Jay Schweikert @jay_schweikert]

@grumpypeach89 @CatoInstitute Moreover, when directly asked about the question (with a brief explanation of what QI actually is, of course), 63% of people favor eliminating qualified immunity.

https://t.co/PZok7StE2Y

[Jay Schweikert @jay_schweikert]

Biden is completely correct that public safety depends on public trust in law enforcement. And nothing undermines that trust more than excusing officers for unlawful misconduct based on the lawless doctrine of qualified immunity. That's why Congress must #AbolishQI #CatoSOTU

[Jay Schweikert @jay_schweikert]

@grumpypeach89 @CatoInstitute Whether or not the average person fully understands qualified immunity, they know officers regularly get away with unlawful misconduct - and QI is a major cause of that dynamic. That's part of why public trust in law enforcement is at record lows.

https://t.co/1J4wnjYE63

[Billy Binion @billybinion]

The police officers who killed Tyre Nichols could be convicted of murder and *still* get qualified immunity.

Biden said he wants to hold police "accountable." I wrote about why his speech should have included the obvious: qualified immunity. https://t.co/WYXd6gn0cg

[Jay Schweikert @jay_schweikert]

He's also correct that police officers have a difficult, dangerous job. Indeed, police can't do their jobs safely or effectively without public trust, which is why qualified immunity hurts the law enforcement community as much as anyone else.

https://t.co/s71OkcdLWh

[Jay Schweikert @jay_schweikert]

@KoboldPress @BlackFlagRPG These results surprise me. When I see this issue discussed on Reddit, Discord, etc., usually in response to "help, rolling led to some sort of problem," the overwhelming response from most commenters is "just use point buy!" I guess there are major selection effects going on.