Barr & Klein PLLC

05/01/2026

“‘I think that chain of causation they describe is, um, trying to find the right word for, pretty ludicrous,’ said Kaste of the skewed characterization of Wylie and Larson’s votes. ‘And yet in politics, given our First Amendment, you can say pretty ludicrous stuff.’

The judge gave that speech after hearing oral arguments in which WY Freedom PAC attorney Stephen Klein of Washington, D.C.-based Barr and Klein, urged Kaste to dismiss the case on First Amendment grounds.

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'I cannot in good conscience send this to a jury, given the state of the evidence as it relates to actual malice. And I take comfort in the fact that that’s the typical result in these cases,' said Kaste.”

A judge on Thursday dismissed the defamation case of two legislators against the campaign arm of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. “You can say pretty ludicrous…

10/15/2025

Steve Klein published a white paper with Wyoming Liberty Group, analyzing ten election cycles’ worth of candidates’ campaign finance filings in the state and summarizing his findings. You can read “No One’s ‘Buying’ Elections” here.

Wyoming Liberty Group, in collaboration with attorney and researcher Stephen R. Klein of Barr & Klein PLLC, has released a new policy study titled No One's 'Buying' Wyoming Elections: A Candid Look at a Decade of Campaign Finance Disclosure. The study examines every Wyoming statewide and legislative...

09/12/2025

This week, Stephen Klein discussed the case Dinner Table Action v. Schneider with the plaintiffs’ counsel Charles Miller of the Institute for Free Speech in a Litigation Update with The Federalist Society. The lawsuit successfully challenged newly enacted speech restrictions and disclosure requirements in under the , and is now heading to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

In Dinner Table Action v. Schneider, pending in the First Circuit, Maine is appealing a permanent injunction barring the enforcement of a ballot initiative p...

06/17/2025

Michigan’s electronic eavesdropping law is a bit convoluted, but it governs secret recording clearly enough: one may record a conversation as a party without notice. In nearly eight years of litigation against Project Veritas and one of its journalists, the American Federation of Teachers (“AFT”) Michigan has tried to rewrite the law twice in federal court. We’re thankful to the Michigan Attorney General for weighing in today—also for the second time—with the appropriate interpretation of the law.

You can download the brief here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tdN6ZfWFk90_cAwNEZLPmio8W-7bqd_r/view?usp=share_link

04/21/2025

Steve Klein writes at The Federalist Society about the clash between privacy protections against secret recording by the government and privacy as an interest that can censor the rights of citizens to secretly record. The issue is part of our appeal in Project Veritas v. Vasquez against ’s recording law, certiorari pending at the Supreme Court. .

On April 7, Project Veritas filed a petition for certiorari with the United States Supreme Court in...

04/10/2025

Benjamin Barr appeared on CBS News Chicago this evening to discuss how the Trump administration’s funding cuts to universities like Northwestern might fare in court.

The funding freeze stems from ongoing Title IX investigations following pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses last year. Sabrina Franza reports.

04/07/2025

What if investigative journalism became illegal?
In Oregon, it already is—unless you explicitly warn subjects before recording. Our Supreme Court petition asks: Does Oregon’s bizarre law violate the First Amendment by turning essential reporting techniques into crimes? It’s time for clarity from the highest court to protect your right to know. Read more: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10r5_wXUrFbLp7aAF4OOHR6S2z2vg2BZ_/view?usp=share_link

03/19/2025

In 1992, the Supreme Court upheld a law that placed a 100-foot no-electioneering “buffer zone” around election day polling places as constitutional under the . Since then, many states have adopted in-person absentee or early voting and have placed more buffer zones around entrances to courthouses and other busy government buildings just because they have one room dedicated to in-person voting. In , absentee buffer zones censor for nearly a month before an election around the offices of the very officials who are subject to those elections -- even threatening someone with a crime for driving by with too big of a bumper sticker. Today, on behalf of John C. Frank, we returned to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals to put an end to this creeping and chilling .

You can download the brief here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cpFgnviIDZ7mOk3_b4Yu7-ncbP1Zp_eO/view?usp=share_link

03/14/2025

Steve Klein argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit this morning on behalf of the New York State Fi****ms Association and several individual citizens in a lawsuit against Steven James, Superintendent of the New York State Police. The case challenges New York’s ammunition background checks as unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. The audio of the argument is available at the link below.

02/01/2025

“Klein said the plaintiff's actions are ‘about punishing free speech, period.’”

SWEETWATER COUNTY -- Oral arguments on a motion for summary judgement were heard Friday, Jan. 31, in the defamation case brought by two Rock Springs legislators against a political action