Knight First Amendment Institute

One thing I learned on this week’s episode is how First Amendment doctrine protecting people and entities from government extortion and coercion is so clear now—thanks to NRA v. Vullo—that there’s little reason for colleges and universities to be caving to the Trump administration’s demands.

"The Trump administration is using anti-semitism as a cover for trying to get control of colleges & universities. Canceling hundreds of millions of dollars of grants ... has nothing to do with protecting Jews. It is a way of insisting to these schools that they toe the line," Roth argues.

Universities “are among the most protected of all private institutions because they not only have free speech rights, they have academic freedom rights.” Yet they “are choosing not to defend themselves on the extremely strong First Amendment grounds they have," Lakier tells @cristianfarias.com.

This paper was co-authored by MH Tessler, Georgina Evans, @mbakker.bsky.social, Iason Gabriel, Sophie Bridgers, @shubadubadub.bsky.social, Raphael Koster, @verenarieser.bsky.social, Anca Dragan, Matthew Botvinick, and @summerfieldlab.bsky.social.

Can AI Mediation Improve Democratic Deliberation?

A new paper for our AI and Democratic Freedoms series explores whether and how #LLMs can enhance democratic participation, improve political equality, and foster meaningful deliberation. knightcolumbia.org/content/can-...

AI and Democratic Publics

New paper in our AI & Dem Freedoms series: @himself.bsky.social and @hahrie.bsky.social argue that the existing paradigm of democracy driving scholarship about its relationship to #AI highlights the wrong questions, and that we should focus on enduring democratic publics and collective behavior.

How Higher Ed Got Jawboned Podcast Episode · The Bully's Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment · 07/31/2025 · 46m

LISTEN to today's episode with First Amendment legal scholar @genevievelakier.bsky.social and Wesleyan President Michael Roth discussing the Trump administration’s #jawboning and extortion campaign against U.S. universities.

More on the conversation below. ⬇️ podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

“Not since the McCarthy era have we seen immigrants subject to such an intense campaign of speech repression,” says @ramyakrishnan.bsky.social. Good overview of the history of ideological exclusion and deportation in the U.S. and its chilling effects in @lawfaremedia.org.

| Knight First Amendment Institute

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...

| Knight First Amendment Institute

🚨JOB ALERT: Seeking recent law school graduates to work as legal fellows beginning in Fall 2026. Help litigate groundbreaking First Amendment cases and contribute to research and public education initiatives. The deadline to apply is September 1, 2025. More info: knightcolumbia.org/page/legal-f...

Last week, I spoke with @cristianfarias.com from @knightcolumbia.org about what I've seen at immigration court these last few weeks.

I encourage everyone to come see what's happening for yourself and to use your voice to speak out against these injustices happening in our City.

Levels of Autonomy for AI Agents

In an essay for our AI & Democratic Freedoms series,
@kjfeng.me, @axz.bsky.social (both of @socialfutureslab.bsky.social), & David W. McDonald outline a framework for levels of #AI agent autonomy that can be used to support the responsible deployment of AI agents. knightcolumbia.org/content/leve...

Has the US cancelled free speech? Why are US professors suing to challenge the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestine activism?

"If the First Amendment protects anything at all, it protects people against imprisonment based on their political views. But that's what's going on here." Watch @jameeljaffer.bsky.social discuss AAUP v. Rubio on @aljazeeraenglish.bsky.social's The Bottom Line. www.aljazeera.com/video/the-bo...

Honored to be featured alongside @bradlander.bsky.social for this week's podcast episode! Tune in to listen to this important discussion of ICE's disturbing practice of arresting immigrants at courthouses and the impact of these arrests on immigrants' First Amendment rights

Standing up to ICE’s Courthouse Arrests Podcast Episode · The Bully's Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment · 07/25/2025 · 37m

@nyccomptroller.bsky.social's @bradlander.bsky.social‬
shares ground-level accounts of arrests—including his own—and underscores the urgent need to defend the rule of law in the face of ICE’s seemingly extralegal actions. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

Institute Files New FOIA Request for Records About ICE’s Courthouse Arrest Policy

@knightcolumbia.org legal fellow @allieschiele.bsky.social discusses how these courthouse arrests implicate the First Amendment right to seek redress, as well as our recent #FOIA request aimed at uncovering more about ICE’s courthouse arrest policies. knightcolumbia.org/blog/institu...

Standing up to ICE’s Courthouse Arrests Podcast Episode · The Bully's Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment · 07/25/2025 · 37m

🔊NEW EPISODE: Reports nationwide describe chaos unfolding in courthouses as ICE agents descend on immigration proceedings to arrest & detain noncitizens. Our guests (more below) discuss 1A implications & their own harrowing accounts with host @cristianfarias.com. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

Key takeaways from trial over Trump administration’s ‘ideological deportation’ policy Suit highlights reasons for detainment of noncitizen scholars in the US by Ice and homeland security

“It would be difficult to conceive of a policy more offensive to the First Amendment, or to the values the First Amendment was meant to serve," says @jameeljaffer.bsky.social. Nice trial explainer in @theguardian.com by @alicesperi.bsky.social. Read it here: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Knight Institute's Amicus Brief in support of Plaintiff

We filed an amicus brief in the case arguing that the press pool is an expressive forum from which the govt. cannot constitutionally exclude news orgs based on their viewpoints and that allowing the ban to stand would chill speech by other WH press pool members. knightcolumbia.org/documents/x6...

Our statement from @katiefallow.bsky.social in response to today's DC Circuit decision effectively allowing the White House to continue excluding AP reporters from the Oval Office and other restricted spaces.
knightcolumbia.org/content/cour...

Trump’s Student Arrests, and the Lawsuit Fighting Them, Tread New Ground

With the conclusion of the student activist deportations trial in Boston, courts will now decide some fundamental 1A questions that have scarcely come up since the Cold War, all because the Trump admin has flexed its power in “ways never before seen,” the judge said yesterday.

🚨 TODAY at 4:00PM ET: Calling members of the press to join an AAUP v. Rubio post-trial press conference organized by @aaup.org & feat. @knightcolumbia.org senior staff attorney @ramyakrishnan.bsky.social who presented closing arguments earlier. Register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Rising This Week: A reckoning for Trump's attacks on academic freedom The week begins with major hearings in cases involving Harvard and student protesters — and may end with an Epstein development.

During closing arguments, the DOJ's lawyer says there's no rule requiring or prohibiting ICE from wearing masks while arresting students.

Judge Young replies: “Isn’t that strange?” He adds it's "common sense" to infer the masks are to "spread fear."

Background www.allrisenews.com/p/academic-f...

Lawyers are making their final arguments this morning in AAUP v. Rubio — the pro-Palestinian student activist deportations case.

Some highlights to follow...

After 2 weeks of @aaup.org v. Rubio trial, we've surfaced new details on the Trump admin's ideological deportation policy and its chilling effects on academic life. See statement from @ramyakrishnan.bsky.social below & more about what trial uncovered at the link. knightcolumbia.org/content/fede...

Landmark Trial Ends, With Court’s Ruling to Come; Record Uncovers New Details on Ideological-Deportation Policy and Its Effects on Academic Life

Over eight days of witness testimony, the trial has forced the disclosure of a wealth of new details about the Trump administration's unconstitutional policy and its devastating effects on campuses nationwide. See a summary of disclosures we've received here: knightcolumbia.org/content/land...

📍TODAY at 10:00am ET – We're set to deliver closing arguments in our AAUP v. Rubio case challenging Trump admin’s policy of arresting, detaining, and deporting noncitizen faculty and students for their pro-Palestinian advocacy. Register to join the livestream: forms.mad.uscourts.gov/seating-sign...

AAUP v. Rubio, Daily Trial Updates

Tomorrow: Closing arguments in AAUP v. Rubio,
@aaup.org, @mesa1966.bsky.social, and @knightcolumbia.org's challenge to the Trump admin's policy of deporting students for their pro-Palestinian speech and advocacy.

Catch up on the trial here: knightcolumbia.org/content/aaup...

Have now read this paper in detail. It’s a tour de force. If you’re interested in the potential impact of AI on election outcomes you should put it by your bedside. Key takeaway: let’s remain alive to, but healthily skeptical of, the possibility of large impacts: knightcolumbia.org/content/dont...

Register to join the trial livestream to hear closing arguments this coming Monday 7/21 at 10am ET: forms.mad.uscourts.gov/seating-sign...