The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Wednesday over the fate of the nation’s first religious charter school, in Oklahoma, which seeks to use government money to teach a curriculum infused by Catholic doctrine. In earlier cases from Maine and Montana, the court ruled that states that decide to create programs to help parents pay…
Two groups representing Harvard professors sued the Trump administration on Friday, saying that its threat to cut billions in federal funding for the university violates free speech and other First Amendment rights. The lawsuit by the American Association of University Professors and the Harvard faculty chapter of the group follows the Trump administration’s announcement earlier…
When the environmental group Greenpeace lost a nearly $670 million verdict this month over its role in oil pipeline protests, a quarter-billion dollars of the damages were awarded not for the actual demonstrations, but for defaming the pipeline’s owner. The costly verdict has raised alarm among activist organizations as well as some First Amendment experts,…
On Oct. 12, 2023, Columbia University closed its gates. The ornate, iron fences were an $89,000 gift from the philanthropist George Delacorte. For years, their purpose was largely decorative, closing sporadically for special occasions. Most other times, they remained open, and members of the public could enter freely, sit on a bench and traverse the…
As conservatives fought against cancel culture on college campuses, they developed a particular fondness for the First Amendment. It was un-American, they argued, to punish someone for exercising their right to speak freely. Today, however, many of those same conservatives, now in power in state and federal government, are behind a growing crackdown on political…
As conservatives fought against cancel culture on college campuses, they developed a particular fondness for the First Amendment. It was un-American, they argued, to punish someone for exercising their right to speak freely. Today, however, many of those same conservatives, now in power in state and federal government, are behind a growing crackdown on political…
Columbia University is now the epicenter of the American culture war. The Trump administration is targeting a former Columbia student — and the university itself — as a test case for its new authoritarian regime. The story of Columbia isn’t simply about Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student in international affairs there who was one…
While the country holds its breath for the Supreme Court’s responses to the Trump administration’s serial depredations, it’s hard to focus on anything else. Nonetheless, a case set for argument next month before the court merits more attention than the little it has received, given its destabilizing potential for public education. The central question is…
The Associated Press on Friday filed a lawsuit against top White House officials, accusing them of violating the First and Fifth Amendments by denying A.P. reporters access in retaliation for references to the Gulf of Mexico in its articles. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. It named…
The Associated Press on Wednesday accused the White House of violating the First Amendment and called on the Trump administration to stop blocking its reporters from press events. Julie Pace, the executive editor of The A.P., said in a letter addressed to Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, that the White House had…