Thanks to @lsolum.bsky.social for the generous recommendation of my forthcoming piece with @sonjawest.bsky.social!

Download of the Week: "Deepfake Torts" by Kadri & West,, buff.ly/mHVqTbJ - The Download of the Week is Deepfake Torts: Emerging Tort Frameworks in U.S. Deepfake Regulation by Thomas Kadri & Sonja West.

The essays written for our @knightcolumbia.org "Future of Press Freedom" project with @randersenjones.bsky.social and @sonjawest.bsky.social are now published in an open-access edited volume from @cambup-law.cambridge.org. 26 essays from an incredible group of scholars 👇

The Future of Press Freedom: Democracy, Law, and the News in Changing Times eds. @randersenjones.bsky.social of @sjquinney.bsky.social & @sonjawest.bsky.social of @universityofga.bsky.social Out Now & #OpenAccess #Politics #LawSky 💙📚 cup.org/3IYbrHA

We're excited to announce that Professor @randersenjones.bsky.social has published a new book with @sonjawest.bsky.social!

Since April 4, #SCOTUS has issued 15 rulings on 17 emergency applications filed by Trump (three birthright citizenship apps were consolidated). It has granted relief to Trump ... in all 15 rulings. It has written majority opinions in only 3. Today's order is the 7th with no explanation *at all.*

Also: Bribing public officials is a federal crime, even when you do it in broad daylight. This will be on the test.

Quick First Amendment refresher: The press is supposed to check the government not write checks to the government. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/b...

This is a major blow for press freedom in the United States - a major news outlet caving to groundless threats from the President over coverage www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/b...

Trump considers forcing journalists to reveal sources who leaked Iran report

The targeting of reporters in LA is inexcusable. The public interest in press coverage of protests couldn’t be more self-evident. We helped lead this letter to remind federal officers of journalists’ constitutional right to report on civil unrest. media.freedom.press/media/docume...

Law enforcement is violently targeting press at protests around Los Angeles, from easily recognizable "mainstream" outlets to freelancers and independents. ALL press have explicit legal protections in California. #JournalismIsNotACrime. This evidence thread may get graphic. 🧵👇

NEW YORK (AP) - Jury finds that The New York Times did not libel former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in a 2017 editorial.

With blazing clarity, ill will has been embraced by this president as a reason for targeting individuals and institutions, even when it’s, at best, loosely linked to his policy ambitions, Aziz Huq writes. "This is a serious legal flaw." wapo.st/4cmKAQa

Want to know why the Trump admin's efforts to exclude the AP from the WH press pool violates central 1A principles not only as of today but as of 1791? Then check out this brief, I wrote with @knightcolumbia.org and 11 other 1A scholars. Spoiler: bc it violates CORE DEMOCRATIC VALUES

The choice by prestigious law firms to keep quiet against President Trump's attacks is deeply wrong, @debpearlstein.bsky.social writes. “Above all, it is futile, as it will do nothing to protect the firms from the extortion-based governance we now appear to face for at least the next four years.”

Excellent statement from a number of Con Law scholars--including some notably conservative ones--on the government's funding cutoff at Columbia/ www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...

My message to my fellow Americans: it’s time to choose Defiant Jazz.

This just breaks my heart. WaPo has been my go-to first read for years. The paper of Woodward and Bernstein and Katherine Graham. So very sad.

Having served as a Moscow correspondent in the early days of Putin's reign, this reminds me of how the Kremlin took over its own press pool and made sure that only compliant journalists were given access.

If you're curious how a democracy transitions from a free press to state-run media, this is the kind of step you'd expect to see.

Wow: City of Clarksdale, Mississippi got a court order yesterday directing a newspaper to delete an editorial criticizing city officials -- without a hearing. Here's the TRO issuing the prior restraint:

I was led to believe by R.E.M. that I would feel a lot better about this.

Conlaw professors every day this next 4 years.

NPR is out, and Breitbart is in.

Nope. Nope. Nope. Not how this is supposed to work.

I cannot stress enough how bizarre and baseless this lawsuit is. (And he sued them for 10 BILLION dollars!!!) This is a very dangerous path, folks.

It is v interesting that altho most of the legal convo on this site yesterday about the OMB freeze of federal funding focused on impoundment issues, the complaint that led to the administrative stay of the freeze last night instead made a 1A argument. 🧵

Gift link on late-night firing of a dozen+ Inspector Generals across fed agencies. IGs root out waste, fraud & abuse; hear whistleblower cplts; report to Congress on Exec Branch activities. Lawsuits will follow but this is a direct assault on Congress powers of purse & oversight. wapo.st/4azdaNb

We’re in the midst of a potential executive power constitutional crisis. Everyone should be following the brilliant @debpearlstein.bsky.social to learn more.

“This isn't a win for free speech and it certainly isn't a win for the rule of law.”

Maybe its a good time for a little Executive Order (EO) primer, a few wee tools for sorting wheat from chaff so it seems like less of a deluge. Item 1. EOs have to comply with the Constitution & laws, including acts of Congress. Any that don't will face long court battles before anything changes. /1

Three press freedom threats to watch during Trump's second anti-press presidency: Increased leak investigations, criminal prosecutions of journalists, and abuse of government surveillance against the press. freedom.press/issues/three...

What started as a valid First Amendment debate may be quickly turning into a lawless executive constitutional crisis.

This story is gut wrenching.

The #SCOTUS website now lists *tomorrow* as an opinions day—and not from the bench. We don’t know for sure, but there’s only one reason why the Court would announce a previously un-planned hand-down like this—because it’s going to be the TikTok case.

Joe Biden in his farewell address yesterday: “The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing.” I feel so seen. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/15/u...

My teenage daughter has never taken such an interest in my work before the TikTok case. Now, out of the blue, she’s all, “But, Mom … does even Gorsuch think it’s narrowly tailored?!?” The law. It comes for us all eventually. #TeachableMoment

NEW: the Supreme Court website indicates that Wednesday is an opinion day — so we will be getting at least one ruling in an argued case. Very likely, given the looming divest-or-disappear deadline of Jan. 19, that we'll get the TikTok decision.

Holy cow! This has been an extraordinary week of impact for @propublica and our journalists. I wanted to take a moment to share the power of accountability journalism to make a difference. Here we go!

@elienyc.bsky.social is a national treasure. If you missed the TikTok argument this morning (or even if you didn’t), check out this thread.

Once again: Knowledge is power. Blocking knowledge is an abuse of power.

"As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job. So I have decided to leave the [Washington] Post." anntelnaes.substack.com/p/why-im-qui...

Always a pleasure to join @dahlialithwick.bsky.social on her podcast (this time with the amazing @sulliview.bsky.social!) We discuss the First Amendment, the Supreme Court, and what happens to a democracy when its press bends the knee to power.

Bob Iger signed off on Disney's defamation settlement with Donald Trump. The decision has set off an internal backlash at ABC News.

A federal judge has been found culpable of misconduct. The offense? Questioning the ethics of a Supreme Court justice www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

Q: I want to expand on the defamation lawsuits. Could you see moving that to other people with individual platforms, social media influencers-- TRUMP: Or newspapers. Yeah. Oh, I do. I do. I think you have to do it.

Crucial from @anneapplebaum.bsky.social: ABC News' surrender to Trump shows news orgs are vulnerable to pressure on companies that own them. Trump will use the state to threaten them. "It looks like they’re making concessions in advance," she tells me. On the pod: newrepublic.com/article/1894...