Good Idea?
Banning Social Media for Minors?
A bill making its way through the Texas Legislature would ban minors from establishing social media accounts. If it passes, Texas would be the first state to outlaw social media for minors.
Many states, including Wisconsin, are involved in lawsuits against social media companies, alleging social media encourages addictive behavior, among other allegations.
On the Radar
Blockbuster Cases at the U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court usually saves some of its high-profile decisions to the end of June or early July before recessing for the summer.
“The justices heard arguments on transgender rights; in three major cases on religion in public life; in two cases on efforts to curb gun violence; and in two others on limiting speech on the internet. Decisions in all of them are expected by early July,” wrote Adam Liptak, who covers the U.S. Supreme Court for The New York Times.
“In recent years, some of the court’s biggest decisions have been out of step with public opinion, while others divided the public along partisan lines.”
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Quotable
“The court has obviously made mistakes throughout its history, and those should be criticized, so long as it is in terms of the decision, really, and not ad hominem against the justices. I just think that doesn’t do any good.”
– Chief Justice John G. Roberts of the U.S. Supreme Court, during a lecture to the Georgetown Law School graduating class of 2025 on May 12, 2025.
Source: Politico
From the Archives
Closing Thoughts
Ryan Billings will close his year as State Bar of Wisconsin president on June 30, 2025, and hand the gavel to incoming president Dan Gartzke. This issue of Wisconsin Lawyer includes Ryan’s final “President’s Message.”
Fifty years ago, in 1975, then-president Patrick Sheedy gave his closing thoughts in the “President’s Page” of the Wisconsin Bar Bulletin. Sheedy talked about the importance of the State Bar’s efforts to deliver continuing legal education to its members.
“In addition to having the various panels travel throughout the state, we are also exploring the use of videotape in order to permit local bar associations to have the benefit of the programs where attendance at the panel proves inconvenient.”
The Class of 1975 recently celebrated 50 years as State Bar members at a well-attended luncheon at the Delafield Hotel, sponsored by the Senior Lawyers Division.
Spotlight
News Outlets and Witnessing Executions in Indiana
An Indiana law bans journalists from witnessing state executions. A group of news outlets recently sued to block the law on First Amendment grounds.
“A lack of press access leaves the public with an incomplete understanding of the proceeding,” the complaint states.
An Indiana state prison warden denied journalists’ request to witness the execution of death row inmate Benjamin Ritchie, who was convicted of killing a police officer in 2000. Ritchie was executed on May 20, 2025.
Indiana is among 27 states that allow capital punishment and one of two states that bar media witnesses. Ritchie’s execution was one of 12 scheduled in eight states this year, according to NBC News.
Sources: NBC News; Indiana Capital Chronicle
» Cite this article: 98 Wis. Law. 7 (June 2025).
