Great to finally see some collective action in rejecting a (likely unconstitutional) demand made by the Trump administration. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

This is a perilous moment for democracy in the United States, but I couldn’t be prouder of the Knight Institute’s work right now, and I don’t take for granted that we have the freedom and resources to do it. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Very proud of my colleagues right now--especially @ramyakrishnan.bsky.social and @alexabdo.bsky.social. But we could not have got this far without the superb trial lawyers at Sher Tremonte. Grateful to them for all of the time and energy they put into this case. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...

Tomorrow night, for folks not planning to watch the Yankees/Red Sox game, the 92nd St Y has four different talks. Thomas Friedman, Malcolm Gladwell, Kate McKinnon/Penn Badgley... or *me* with Lee Rowland & @alexabdo.bsky.social! (Ours is streaming only, not in person).

Took a look at Kimmel's ouster in light of the longstanding Republican attacks on social media over jawboning, which, the Supreme Court has found, requires a direct causal line. The Kimmel case "is as direct a line as you could dream up," @alexabdo.bsky.social told me www.npr.org/2025/09/18/n...

Condemning another absolutely disgraceful act of gun violence. My thoughts & prayers are w/ Charlie Kirk & his family in this terrible moment & we are all grateful for first responders who immediately jumped into action. We must categorically reject all violence in our society.

Chief Justice Roberts (2007): “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Justice Kavanaugh (2025): ethnicity “can be a 'relevant factor' when considered along with other salient factors” in immigration stops.

The Columbia settlement is an “astonishing transfer of autonomy and authority to . . . an administration whose disdain for the values of the academy is demonstrated anew every day.” New @knightcolumbia.org analysis of the Columbia settlement, just published. knightcolumbia.org/blog/what-th...

Recent law grads — we're now hiring for legal fellows to begin in Fall 2025. Our First Amendment rights are under daily assault. I hope you'll consider applying to work with us at @knightcolumbia.org to push back. knightcolumbia.org/page/legal-f...

JUST IN: the Ninth Circuit has revived the @elfaroenglish.bsky.social case against NSO Group. Congrats to my @knightcolumbia.org colleague @carriedecell.bsky.social, who argued the appeal, and to our co-counsel at Selendy Gay. Statement coming shortly. knightcolumbia.org/documents/1x...

Enjoyed this conversation with @cristianfarias.com about our upcoming trial — starting July 7 — in our suit challenging the Trump administration's policy of deporting students and scholars based on their pro-Palestinian expression.

This amicus brief by @ccrjustice.org and Palestine Legal rightly points out that Title VI does not—and could not constitutionally—require universities to suppress criticism of Israel's policies. static1.squarespace.com/static/54874...

In response to a lawsuit filed by @knightcolumbia.org and @earthjustice.org, the USDA is restoring climate-related webpages that it had purged. Great news for the farmers and advocates we represent. apnews.com/article/usda...

We're hiring! If you're eager to work at the ACLU on issues where civil liberties and national security meet, we're hiring for an attorney position. And help us spread the word! www.aclu.org/careers/appl...

NEW JOB: The Knight Institute (@knightcolumbia.org) is looking for a staff attorney to join us for a two-year position. It's an extremely busy time for the First Amendment, and we could use some more hands on deck! knightcolumbia.org/page/staff_a...

In a really important passage, the judge rejects the relevance of the Second Red Scare precedents that the govt is relying upon, and affirms the significance of the 1A interests at stake here. The opinion makes clear how egregious the govt's actions have been.

Federal court says First Amendment bars government from arresting, deporting foreign students on basis of pro-Palestine advocacy. Important ruling from Judge Young just now in case brought by @aaup.bsky.social @mesa1966.bsky.social @knightcolumbia.org. knightcolumbia.org/content/fede...

Free speech is under grave assault, and it’s not obvious how to push back in a way that will be effective. Looking forward to discussing that question at tomorrow’s panel.

I feel like we need to keep saying this because it’s so insane: This is a legal U.S. resident who has been detained for over a month now for his political opinions.

Excellent piece by @mashagessen.bsky.social on how universities should fight Trump’s attack on higher education. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/o...

100 years of First Amendment law is worth very little if it doesn’t foreclose the government from arresting, imprisoning, and expelling legal permanent residents on the basis of their lawful political speech.

At 9:30 ET, I’ll be arguing in the D.C. Circuit on behalf of @accountableorg.bsky.social in its challenge to the secrecy of OLC opinions. OLC opinions set the law of the executive branch, but they’re usually kept secret. Hoping we can change that today. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzft...

📍TODAY at 9:30am ET: @alexabdo.bsky.social will appear before the D.C. Circuit in a lawsuit alleging the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel is violating #FOIA by failing to disclose certain categories of legal opinions that are binding on the executive branch. Livestream: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzft...

As the First Amendment cases proudly proclaim, "the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted by customs and border protection"

ICE appears to have deleted its X post making clear (if we needed more proof) that it believes its mission is to stop certain "IDEAS" from crossing the border. Here's a perma.cc link to the post: perma.cc/2FLY-4S6J

Can't be emphasized enough that the image of the US deporting people for things they said is so much more damaging to its foreign policy interests than anything a student might have said on the quad

This amicus brief — from the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration — is a tour de force in explaining just how damaging the administration’s targeting of international students will be for U.S. innovation and education. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Knight Institute (@knightcolumbia.org) lawyers will be in court arguing two cases this week. If you're interested in tuning in, here are the details. 1/4

It's a careful, well-reasoned opinion that rightly describes the exclusion of AP as retaliatory, viewpoint-based, and unconstitutional. And it reaffirms that viewpoint discrimination is off-limits even in nonpublic forums. An important opinion, especially right now.

We asked the Office of Legal Counsel whether it reviewed Trump's executive orders for form and legality. This is the letter we received in response. cc: @charliesavage.bsky.social @martylederman.bsky.social @jacklgoldsmith.bsky.social. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/u...

The Knight Institute (@knightcolumbia.org) joined a cross-ideological amicus brief led by the @aclu.org, in arguing that President Trump's executive order targeting Perkins Coie LLP is unconstitutional. knightcolumbia.org/cases/perkin...

Powerful op-ed from Profs. Maya Jasanoff and @kirstenweld.bsky.social. They are members of AAUP-Harvard, one of the groups challenging the Trump admin's policy of targeting noncitizen students and faculty for deportation based on their pro-Palestinian advocacy. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

The strategy is to divide and conquer. Refusing to stand together—staying divided—just makes each successive attack more likely and more successful than the last. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/b...

Re-reading Abrams v. United States for the gazillionth time to prep for class tomorrow and I had overlooked this before, or forgotten it: perhaps the most famous free speech opinion ever, the birth of the "marketplace of ideas" metaphor was... written about non-citizens.

We've asked a federal court to enter a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration's policy of rounding up and attempting to deport students and faculty for expressing pro-Palestinian views. Brief here: knightcolumbia.org/documents/dc... And here's the main First Amendment argument:

In a sensible system, those ultimately in charge of our universities—the boards of trustees—would be selected for their commitment to academic freedom. That's not currently the case, unfortunately, and the results are unsurprising. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

There's more courage and moral clarity in this letter from a law-school student group than in the leadership of some of the richest law firms on the planet.

Ben Franklin’s words remain prescient nearly 300 years later.

Federal officials shouldn't be using "disappearing messages" unless they're separately preserving these texts as required by federal records laws.

BREAKING: The American Association of University Professors and other groups sue over what they call the Trump administration's “ideological-deportation policy" — which has already led to the arrest of Mahmoud Kahlil and targeting of others. Complaint: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Groups representing university professors sued the Trump administration on Tuesday. The lawsuit says the detention of noncitizen students and faculty members deprives U.S. citizens of their right to engage with foreign-born peers and to hear their perspectives.

Harvard's AAUP chapter (of which I am a proud member) is suing the Trump administration (along with other organizations) over the "policy of arresting, detaining, and deporting noncitizen students and faculty who participate in pro-Palestinian activism."

Courts often give near-total deference to the gov't in making decisions about national security, on the premise that it can be trusted to wield that power responsibly — even without judicial review. That premise was always wrong, but we're now getting daily reminders.

This morning, the Knight Institute filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s policy of arresting, detaining, and deporting noncitizen students and faculty who participate in pro-Palestinian activism. knightcolumbia.org/content/aaup...

JUST FILED: our new suit challenging the Trump administration's policy of deporting faculty and students for engaging in pro-Palestinian speech. Filed on behalf of @aaup.bsky.social, @mesa1966.bsky.social, and AAUP's NYU, Harvard, and Mass. chapters. knightcolumbia.org/content/aaup...

This is a must-read op-ed by one of Columbia's former provosts (the highest academic position in the university). www.nytimes.com/2025/03/24/o...

Nice to see a law firm standing up for the rule of law. The administration’s strategy here is to divide and conquer. The only answer to that is for firms and civic institutions to stand together. www.selendygay.com/news/general...

Even if you think Paul Weiss and Columbia made the only choice available to them in the circumstances (and that's not what I think, to be clear), you have to recognize that there's no future for our democracy if every powerful institution approaches official extortion in this way.

I know some aren’t sure Columbia can win by standing on principle. But I don’t see how it can survive without principle. Academic freedom defines a university. I don’t envy those staring down the barrel of Trump’s wrath. But I had hoped that they wouldn’t have been the ones to pull the trigger.

I think these sentiments are widely shared at @knightcolumbia.org.