Three completely different and unrelated regulatory events in the past week deserve attention. A confluence of coincidences last Tuesday illustrated the First Amendment to the United States Constitution limits on symbolic rather than functional regulation. At the same time, changed facts and a changed industry justify a change in regulation. Finally, some rules are purely ministerial, but provide an important lesson nonetheless. Conflict Minerals Demise: First, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reaffirmed its prior decision vacating the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Conflict Minerals final rule violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Second, Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) reported on…