"Hott—shockingly— answered 'No' when asked if he agreed 'agree that it's unconstitutional to arrest people for being opposed to Midway Blitz?' Similarly, Bovino testified that he has instructed his officers to arrest protesters who make hyperbolic comments in the heat of political demonstrations"

Big win. Proud of our tireless, tenacious @thefireorg.bsky.social team — and very grateful for our brave plaintiffs.

JUST FILED: Today FIRE submitted a “friend of the court” brief in defense of Harvard against the Trump administration’s illegal and hostile takeover attempt of the university.

Coming up at the top of the hour! I had a great time talking with Dylan. Thanks for having me!

FIRE is looking for students, faculty, student organizations, and institutions of higher learning who are affected by the administration’s threat to deport non-citizens for protected speech. Help us fight back ⬇️

#BREAKING: A federal judge has ordered the immediate release of Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk, who faces deportation for writing an op-ed critical of Israel. No one in America — citizen or not — should fear the government’s wrath for speaking their mind.

Fuck, no. www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...

Un-American and wrong.

"The wheel of history has come around again, but as before these times of excess will pass. In the meantime, this case—like Colyer and Knauff—is extraordinary in the sense that it calls upon the ancient remedy of habeas to address a persistent modern wrong."

"Our nation has seen times like this before, especially during the Red Scare and Palmer Raids of 1919–1920 that led to the deportation of hundreds of people suspected of anarchist or communist views."

READ NOW: A VT federal judge orders Mohsen Mahdawi released during habeas proceedings. "Legal residents—not charged with crimes or misconduct—are being arrested and threatened with deportation for stating their views on the political issues of the day." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

NEW: Judge Sessions DENIES the govt’s request to keep Rümeysa Öztürk in Louisiana as it appeals the court’s jurisdiction and reiterates that ICE must transfer her to Vermont by May 1. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Please let this pathetic walkback be a lesson to everyone tempted to capitulate www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/b...

Talked about why Khalil's detention should concern every American last night on CBC. I was born and raised in Buffalo. I love our northern neighbors. When Canadians have reason to worry about visiting the United States, things have gone terribly wrong. youtu.be/MZDbb5D-uKM?...

My students often ask whether there’s any point in being in law school anymore, especially as they witness the rule of law being systematically eroded. That question breaks my heart. It’s also why I urge them, emphatically to stay and fight. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

VICTORY! Today, a federal judge granted a student group’s motion for a preliminary injunction, preventing Texas A&M officials from blocking a First Amendment-protected student drag show on its College Station campus. www.thefire.org/news/victory...

Proud of my FIRE team — particularly @jtmorristx.bsky.social and @adamsteinbaugh.bsky.social — for securing this result.

Okay, I wrote a longer thing about @durbin.senate.gov, @amyklobuchar.com, @klobuchar.senate.gov, @whitehouse.senate.gov, @blumenthal.senate.gov apparently wanting to hand Donald Trump a huge weapon with which to censor online speech. www.techdirt.com/2025/03/21/d...

Need a weekend read? I wrote about the government, newspapers, and the liberty of the press at the Founding. Take a look and learn from early Americans themselves about how they thought of press freedom and government interference with it. matthewschafer.medium.com/false-dichot...

“The more people who come forward to defend the Constitution, the greater their chances of success will be.” www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/o...

You'd never know it, but there is actually a constitutional provision that gives universities, law firms, and media orgs the *right* to say no to the president when he demands that they prostrate themselves before him.

Paul Weiss hasn’t confirmed any of this. I *really* hope that’s because this is wishful thinking on Trump’s part. I can’t imagine that Paul Weiss’s lawyers would agree to this.

Even if it somehow turns out that Paul Weiss (like Mexico?) only agreed to do stuff they otherwise would have done just to get out from under the Executive Order, firms must fight the very basis of the EO & its attack on the integrity of the legal professions rather than look for an easy way out.

Coalition of civil liberties orgs led by @thefireorg.bsky.social files amicus brief rebuking the U.S. government for detaining Mahmoud Khalil for his free speech, pointing out the unfettered authority Rubio claims has already been declared unconstitutionally vague: www.thefire.org/news/fire-an...

Glad to be on file here, and grateful for the hard work of my colleagues to make it happen. www.thefire.org/news/fire-an...

“I think what’s perhaps most dangerous about this moment is that, given the rhetoric coming out of the administration today, folks across the country are going to think twice before they criticise the government, whether it’s the US government or Israeli government" - @wcreeley.bsky.social

Also Happy 61st to New York Times v. Sullivan. May it live to see 62 (and so on)

Happy Shuttlesworth Day

"This proceeding is a political stunt. Neither the Center for American Rights’ complaint nor this Commission’s decision to reopen its inquiry accord with how this agency has understood and applied its broadcast regulations ever." Read our comment here: www.thefire.org/news/fire-ca...

From the Washington Post, other institutions have not responded to requests for comment about whether they've received similar letters. And Georgetown is rightly raising its First Amendment rights. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

The US Attorney in Washington DC is investigating Georgetown Law School, demanding that "if DEI is found in your courses or teaching in anyway [sic]," the law school should "move swiftly to remove it" Federal prosecutors don’t control the classroom. This is a dark abdication of the First Amendment.

"Politicians are allowed to criticize the press — that is free speech, too, and there is nothing new about it — but there is a difference between using language and using muscle." That's right. And this @nytimes.com editorial is timely and important. nytimes.com/2025/02/28/o...

When confronted with a lawsuit alleging viewpoint discrimination, do not insist you did it because they are leftists

Thank you, @thefireorg.bsky.social, for representing Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer pro bono in one of Donald Trump's most vexatious attempts yet to chill political speech through baseless litigation.

Ed Martin’s “Operation Whirlwind” is a political stunt — and a dangerously unconstitutional one. @jtmorristx.bsky.social and I explain why. www.thefire.org/news/us-atto...

Glad to see this law suit from @apnews.com. If the First Amendment means anything, it means the President doesn't get to dictate how news organizations describe the world. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Wow. An order to take down an article on secrecy eroding the public trust. How's that for irony? It's been a while since I finished law school but pretty sure they're still teaching the First Amendment. Judges this clueless about basic constitutional law shouldn't be anywhere near a courtroom.

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:

More of that free speech absolutism for which he is so renowned.

Again, Twitter WON this case (decisively) at the district court level. The 9th Circuit made it clear that Twitter would win on appeal at oral args. And now it decided to just hand over $10 million to Trump. www.cnbc.com/2025/02/12/e...

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“The term ‘doxxing’ has become unmoored from its origins to mean that someone posted something on the internet that I would rather not see" - @wcreeley.bsky.social

Careful what you post: ICE is seeking private contractors to conduct social media surveillance including detection of merely "negative" sentiment about the agency's leadership, agents, and general operations theintercept.com/2025/02/11/i...

FIRE statement on White House denying AP Oval Office access:

As calls to revisit Sullivan grow, remember what Rehnquist said: Sullivan "altered the rules of the game of American politics, and speech ... making American public officials more accountable, the American media more watchful, and the American people better informed.” lawliberty.org/sullivan-and...

“What gets rewarded gets repeated,” said Mr. Steinbaugh, who works for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. @adamsteinbaugh.bsky.social's right. That's why we're fighting to ensure these meritless lawsuits do not silence our free press. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/b...

My colleague Bob Corn-Revere's open letter to FCC Chairman Carr: "Of course, you are not the first chairman to use the FCC as a pulpit—nor, I suspect, will you be the last. But there is one thing you should keep in mind: you don’t have as much power as you may think." www.cjr.org/politics/a-p...

Eugene's right.