Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
A First Amendment Lawsuit Highlights the Chilling Impact of Speech-Based Deportation on Student Journalists
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is seeking an injunction that would protect noncitizens at The Stanford Daily from arrest and removal because of their published work.
The FCC's Paramount/Skydance Decision Aims To Reshape Broadcast Journalism by Bureaucratic Fiat
Chairman Brendan Carr thinks his agency should strive to ensure that news coverage is fair and balanced—a role precluded by the First Amendment.
Police Officer Threatens To Run Over Protester for Filming on the Sidewalk
The city of Allentown has spent more than $2 million settling excessive force claims, and yet the police still crack down on civilians exercising their constitutional rights.
By Settling Trump's Laughable Lawsuit Against CBS, Paramount Strikes a Blow at Freedom of the Press
The company's surrender to Trump's extortion vindicates his strategy of using frivolous litigation and his presidential powers to punish constitutionally protected speech.
Texas Legislators Say They Are Protecting Free Speech on Campus by Banning 'Expressive Activities' at Night
A bill awaiting the governor's signature represents a stark reversal from a 2019 law aimed at promoting "uninhibited debate."
Rumeysa Ozturk's Op-Ed Is Still the Only Public Justification for Her Arrest
"It is unthinkable that a person in a free society could be snatched from the street, imprisoned, and threatened with deportation for expressing an opinion the government dislikes," says FIRE.
Here Is Why Harvard Argues That Trump's Funding Freeze Violates the First Amendment
The administration's demands extend far beyond its avowed concern about antisemitism and enforcement of "civil rights laws."
Treating Journalism As Consumer Fraud, Trump Claims Coverage of a Presidential Poll Was Not 'News Reporting'
The president's lawyers also conflate fraud with defamation, misconstrue the commercial speech doctrine, and assert that false speech is not constitutionally protected.
A Survey Suggests Most Americans Are Not Keen on Trump's Speech-Based Deportation Initiative
Just a quarter of respondents said they favored deporting students for "expressing pro-Palestine views."
A Ruling Against Mahmoud Khalil Highlights Marco Rubio's Vast Power To Deport People for Their Opinions
An immigration judge's decision reinforces the constitutional argument against the law that the secretary of state is invoking.
Texas A&M's Drag Ban Shows the Threat to Campus Free Speech Is Bipartisan
Conservatives are picking up the unconstitutional weapons that intolerant progressives have deployed against them.
FIRE Says the Law Trump Is Using To Deport Mahmoud Khalil Is Unconstitutional. Trump's Sister Agreed.
As a federal judge, Maryanne Trump Barry said the provision is unconstitutionally vague. That's especially problematic when it is used to punish speech.
Federal Judge Blocks Texas A&M From Banning Drag Shows
The judge ruled that Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's executive orders targeting "gender ideology" can't change the fact that drag performance is expressive conduct under the First Amendment.
A Nevada Math Professor Who Was Disciplined for Criticizing Curriculum Changes Will Get His Day in Court
The 9th Circuit revived a First Amendment lawsuit by Lars Jensen, who says his community college punished him for complaining about dumbed-down courses.
FIRE Files First Amendment Lawsuit Challenging Texas A&M Drag Show Ban
Texas A&M's Board of Regents voted to ban drag shows on the grounds that they objectify women and violate state and federal policies against promoting "gender ideology."
The FTC Has No Business Trying To Make Sure Social Media Are 'Fair'
Chairman Andrew Ferguson’s assault on "Big Tech censorship" aims to override editorial decisions protected by the First Amendment.
Trump Tries To Carve Out a First Amendment Exception for 'Fake News'
The president's portrayal of journalism he does not like as consumer fraud is legally frivolous and blatantly unconstitutional.
Texas Cops Seized Photographs From a Museum and Launched Child Pornography Investigation
"It's shameful that government officials would use the criminal legal process to censor art and expression."
The University of Tennessee Nearly Expelled a Student for Racy Tweets, Now Agrees To Pay Her $250,000
The settlement vindicates Kimberly Diei's First Amendment right to comment on sexually explicit rap songs without suffering government retaliation.
Decrying First Amendment Threat, FIRE Will Defend Pollster Whom Trump Sued for 'Consumer Fraud'
The president-elect frivolously claims that J. Ann Selzer and The Des Moines Register owe him damages because of an erroneous preelection poll.
Trump Mounts a 'Direct Assault on the First Amendment' by Portraying Journalism As Consumer Fraud
The president-elect's lawsuit against The Des Moines Register is a patently frivolous and constitutionally dubious attempt to intimidate the press.
Kash Patel's Threats Against Journalists Make Him an Alarming Choice To Run the FBI
"We're gonna come after the people in the media," the Trump stalwart warns. "Whether it's criminally or civilly, we'll figure that out."
Incoming FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's Beef With NewsGuard Is Legally Dubious and Empirically Shaky
The company, which says it takes an "apolitical approach" to rating news outlets, faces regulatory threats and a congressional probe because of its perceived bias against conservatives.
A Texas Reporter Was Arrested for Asking Questions. The State Says That's No Big Deal.
Opposing Priscilla Villarreal's petition for Supreme Court review, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton portrays basic journalism as "incitement."
North Carolina Threatened To Prosecute Her for Taking a 'Ballot Selfie.' Now, She's Suing.
Susan Hogarth posted a photo of her primary ballot. In North Carolina, that's against the law.
Federal Intervention in Campus Protests Is Going Too Far
Department of Education settlements with protest-wracked colleges threaten censorship by bureaucracy.
Maryland Elementary School Tries To Force Students To Say The Pledge
Students have a constitutional right to refuse to say the Pledge of Allegiance, no matter what school officials think.
These Strange Bedfellows Want SCOTUS To Remind the 5th Circuit That Journalism Is Not a Crime
An ideologically diverse mix of individuals and organizations supports a Texas journalist who was arrested for asking questions.
Journalism Is Not a Crime, Even When It Offends the Government
Julian Assange and Priscilla Villarreal were both arrested for publishing information that government officials wanted to conceal.
A Texas Reporter Busted for Asking Questions Asks SCOTUS To Reject the Criminalization of Journalism
Priscilla Villarreal is appealing a 5th Circuit decision that dismissed her First Amendment lawsuit against Laredo police and prosecutors.
The New York Times Again Worries That Free Speech Endangers Democracy
The newspaper portrays the constitutional challenge to the government's social media meddling as a conspiracy by Donald Trump's supporters.
FIRE Highlights the Blatant Hypocrisy of State Officials Who Decry Government Meddling With Social Media
Even as they attack the Biden administration's crusade against "misinformation," Missouri and Louisiana defend legal restrictions on content moderation.
Poll: Almost a Third of Americans Say the First Amendment Goes 'Too Far'
The survey also found that two-thirds of respondents believe that America is on the "wrong track" when it comes to free speech.
The 5th Circuit Says Criminalizing Journalism Is Not Obviously Unconstitutional
The appeals court dismissed a civil rights lawsuit by a Laredo gadfly who was arrested for asking questions.
Want to Use Social Media? Utah Wants You to Hand Over Your ID.
A new lawsuit is challenging a Utah law that requires age verification to use social media and forces minors to get their parents permission first.
Universities Use DEI Statements To Enforce Groupthink
DEI statements are political litmus tests.
Video Shows Vermont State Trooper Arrest Man for Flipping Him Off
FIRE and the ACLU of Vermont are now representing the man in a free speech lawsuit.
Brooklyn College Forced a Student To Take Down Anti-Israel Signs While Leaving Other Posters Untouched
A graduate student was forced to take down two pro-Palestinian signs from the door of her art studio, but others were allowed to keep up their own political messages.
Even Hateful Protests Are Protected, Free Speech Group Reminds Congress
Respecting free speech defends individual rights and lets people show us who they are.
'A Tyranny of the Minority': Why This College Dropout Wants To Cancel Cancel Culture
"Being a true free speech champion does require that you defend speech that even you disagree with," says libertarian Rikki Schlott.
Trump, DeSantis, and Scott Want To Kick Out Foreign Students Who Protest Israel
Their proposal raises obvious free speech concerns.
Idaho Man Sued For Defamation After Speaking Out Against Local Airstrip
Critics have argued the legal action is a meritless SLAPP suit.
Federal Judge Declines To Stop Drag Show Ban at Texas College
The judge ruled that drag performances are not inherently expressive and that schools could regulate "vulgar and lewd" conduct.
Jessie Appleby and Bill Blanken: Do California Community Colleges 'Mandate Viewpoint Conformity'?
"Science should have no agenda other than a relentless pursuit of the truth.... With DEI, we're expected to search out racism within science curriculum, and it's just not there," says professor Bill Blanken.
That School Is Still Treading on Jaiden Rodriguez's Free Speech Rights
The district is still censoring the Gadsden flag patch as well as Second Amendment advocacy, according to FIRE.
Are California's New 'Woke' DEI College Standards Illegal?
Join Reason on YouTube at 1 p.m. Eastern for a discussion about a lawsuit against California Community Colleges' new DEI standards with FIRE attorney Jessie Appleby and the plaintiff
Hospital Threatens Defamation Suit Over a 15-Year-Old's Change.org Petition
The hospital baselessly claimed the teenager's mother wrote the petition after she was fired without cause.
