We will be up shortly. 5-6.30 PM ET TODAY. Join us to discuss SCOTUS the day after it heard its first argument on the merits of a Trump initiative – and showed signs it might strike down his tariffs.

"There was no conceivable legal authority for these killings." @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

TOMORROW! Join us for a conversation about the Supreme Court — will it check President Trump? What can be done?

Join the fabulous Fintan O’Toole, Pam Karlan, and me for an online discussion of the Supreme Court in Trump 2.0. Sponsored by The New York Review of Books. Nov 6. Register here. www.eventbrite.com/e/the-emerge...

Join the fabulous Fintan O’Toole, Pam Karlan, and me for an online discussion of the Supreme Court in Trump 2.0. Sponsored by The New York Review of Books. Nov 6. Register here. www.eventbrite.com/e/the-emerge...

There is no First Amendment right to commit malpractice, prescribe snake oil, or engage in “conversion therapy.” Here’s why. www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...

this rocks. when indiana edu killed the student newspaper, Purdue stepped up, printed the forbidden issue, drove it to Bloomington and stocked the boxes.

Powerful sign at No Kings in Cleveland

Large crowds of protesters gathered in cities across the U.S. on Saturday as part of a mass “No Kings” demonstration against the Trump administration. nyti.ms/4hocDS0

This is what democracy looks like. #NoKings

Reposting because he keeps executing civilians without legal authority. Confusing a metaphorical war on drugs with an actual armed conflict. And getting away with murder.

There is no First Amendment right to commit malpractice, prescribe snake oil, or engage in “conversion therapy.” Here’s why. www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...

I’ve spent my career defending First Amendment rights. Here’s why banning “conversion therapy” doesn’t violate the First Amendment — even though SCOTUS seems eager to say otherwise. www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...

The Trump administration is committing "murder" with its attacks on boats in the Caribbean, says @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social . Would rationales of alleged drug-smuggling hold up if they were made by other countries about the U.S. drug trade?

Reposting because he keeps executing civilians without legal authority. Confusing a metaphorical war on drugs with an actual armed conflict. And getting away with murder.

There’s abuse of power. And then there’s ordering the killing of civilians in cold blood. The latter is called murder under federal law. Trump has crossed a line. Will it matter? Getting Away with Murder | David Cole | The New York Review of Books www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...

Reposting this as long as he keeps killing civilians by bombing them from the sky. The war on drugs is a metaphor, not a justification for cold blooded murder.

There’s abuse of power. And then there’s ordering the killing of civilians in cold blood. The latter is called murder under federal law. Trump has crossed a line. Will it matter? Getting Away with Murder | David Cole | The New York Review of Books www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...

Trump is ordering the premeditated killing of civilians not engaged in hostilities — because, he says, they are drug smugglers. There’s no death penalty for drug trafficking. There’s no due process when the military blows a boat out of the water. www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...

On the cold-blooded execution of alleged drug smugglers. www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...

Defending the speech rights of those with whom you disagree can come around to help you. Not doing so can come around to haunt you. Glad we had the oppty to defend NRA’s speech rights in SCOTUS — and that it’s helping fight back agst Trump now. reason.com/volokh/2025/...

I joined Tavis Smiley to discuss flagburning, why the First Amendment protects it, and why Trump just doesn’t get it. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...

Thanks Elizabeth. And I recommend anything by Elizabeth about how we are endangering the life our our planet, but especially the Sixth Extinction.

Donald Trump’s recent executive order against flag-burning will not only encourage more of it, @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social argues, but “could also hand flag-burners a legal defense in the rare situation when they might otherwise be prosecuted”:

I represented the flag burners who established the First Amendment right. My take on Trump’s flag burning EO. All Smoke, No Fire

I asked @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social what he thought of the Presidential Immunity SCOTUS decision. He gave a nuanced answer which showed the Conservative Justices to be tragically naive about Donald Trump bit.ly/Click-2-Listen YouTube youtu.be/NlkRDE0M9SQ

The big question: Will DonaldTrump follow court orders from SCOTUS? There is a small ray of hope on that front. But will it last? @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social explains. bit.ly/Click-2-Listen YouTube youtu.be/NlkRDE0M9SQ

@davidcole-gtown.bsky.social has a message for folks who fight Trump's authoritarianism. You are the heroes that will be remembered. And acknowledges the real courage it takes to defy Donald Trump. bit.ly/Click-2-Listen YouTube youtu.be/NlkRDE0M9SQ

I spoke with Bill Press on his podcast about the Trump Injustice Dept, Trump's attack on civil society, and how we must respond. billpresspods.com/listen-now

And here’s a recent report on the fantastic work they do in appellate courts across the country. perma.cc/27AN-49J7

Georgetown Civil Rights Appellate Clinic is hiring! This is a fabulous opportunity to work with one of the best appellate civil rights lawyers today, Brian Wolfman. perma.cc/CX9E-NSEJ

Our 8/21 issue is now online, with @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social on the Supreme Court’s scorn for precedent, Henry Louis Gates Jr. on Jamaica Kincaid’, @seanmcarroll.bsky.social on cosmic timing, poems by John Berryman & @joriegraham.bsky.social, and more.

So much for calling balls and strikes. How the Court’s conservatives changed the rules in their most important cases this term when following the rules would lead to a liberal result.

The @aclu.org is usually defending minority rights; but right now on immigration, they're representing a great majority – 62% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration: @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social comments – on @thenation.com podcast bit.ly/46Lw8Ao @aclusocal.bsky.social

David Pozen on the troubling process (or lack thereof)behind the Columbia settlement. balkin.blogspot.com/2025/07/regu...

Why the courts are likely to strike down Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship – the 14th Amendment explicitly grants citizenship to those born in the US – @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social on @thenation.com podcast bit.ly/46Lw8Ao

Trump OCR report on alleged antisemitic discrimination at Harvard is so flimsy it suggests, maybe, he's going after Harvard for something else? My analysis of a deeply flawed report. www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...

Many thanks to @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social for nominating @demandtimpossible.bsky.social as one of 2024’s top reads. @georgetownlaw.bsky.social bit.ly/4jENbHk

In honor of Pride Month, this week we revisit an episode with @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social about the Supreme Court ruling on Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibited discrimination against LGBTQ+ people on the basis of sexual orientation. Listen here: tinyurl.com/DavidColeACLU

Here’s what happened when I got called to testify on antisemitism on collegee campus. It was the eighth such hearing, and like any reality show that has gone on too long, it quickly jumped the shark. www.thenation.com/article/soci...

the closest precedent for these hearings was HUAC. It also targeted academia because it deemed it too liberal. And it, too, was not interested in the facts or the law, but in shaming witnesses, chilling speech, and grabbing headlines for partisan gain. www.thenation.com/article/soci...

Here’s what happened when I got called to testify on antisemitism on collegee campus. It was the eighth such hearing, and like any reality show that has gone on too long, it quickly jumped the shark. www.thenation.com/article/soci...

Devastating. The cowardice and the betrayal of an incomparable news brand.

Free Speech on Campus: "We are a country that should be strong enough to tolerate open expression of views... the answer to our discomfort with it is not to file a complaint and suppress speech" – @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social on 'Living in the USA' @kpfk.bsky.social bit.ly/4j42mt5

"The kind of conflation of biased speech with discrimination, which is what's going on in this House Committee every time they hold a hearing, is really unsupported by the law." – @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social on @thenation.com podcast bit.ly/4mfzl0j

"The Supreme Court has protected the rights of Nazis to march in Skokie, can’t get much more anti-Semitic than that." – @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social on why slogans like "From the river to the sea" are protected by the 1st Amendment – on @thenation.com podcast bit.ly/4mfzl0j

David Cole @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social recently testified before the House Committee on Education, which, "treated any criticism of Israel or Zionism as necessarily anti-Semitic" when, "it’s not necessarily anti-Semitic" – on @thenation.com podcast bit.ly/4mfzl0j

"The Supreme Court has protected the rights of Nazis to march in Skokie, can't get much more anti-Semitic than that" – @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social on why universities must resist Elise Stefanik – on @thenation.com podcast bit.ly/4mfzl0j

On the House Committee on Education: "Not a single member of the committee ever conflated criticism of Hamas with Islamophobia, although they basically all conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism." – @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social on @thenation.com podcast bit.ly/4mfzl0j

@davidcole-gtown.bsky.social Excellent testimony. Thank you for pointing out the parallels to McCarthyism and the House Republicans’ cynical use of antisemitism to strip away free speech rights www.highereddive.com/news/republi...