Category: Politics

This piece originally appeared in The New York Review of Books. We write as constitutional scholars—some liberal and some conservative—who seek to defend academic freedom and the First Amendment in the wake of the federal government’s recent treatment of Columbia University. The First Amendment protects speech many of us find wrongheaded or deeply offensive, including anti-Israel advocacy and even antisemitic advocacy. The government may not threaten funding cuts as a tool to pressure recipients into suppressing such viewpoints. This is especially so for universities, which should be committed to respecting free speech. At the same time, the First Amendment of course doesn’t protect antisemitic violence, true threats of violence, or certain kinds of speech that may properly be labeled “harassment.” Title VI rightly requires universities to protect their students and other community members from such behavior. But the lines between legally unprotected harassment on the one hand and protected speech on the other are notoriously difficult to draw and are often fact-specific. In part because of that, any sanctions imposed on universities for Title VI violations must follow that statute’s well-established procedural rules, which help make clear what speech is sanctionable and what speech is constitutionally protected. Yet the administration’s March 7 cancellation of $400 million in federal funding to Columbia University did not adhere to such procedural safeguards. Neither did its March 13 ultimatum stipulating that Columbia make numerous changes to its academic policies—including the demand that, within one week, it “provide a full plan” to place an entire “department under academic receivership for a minimum of five years”—as “a precondition for formal negotiations regarding Columbia University’s continued financial relationship with the United States government.” Under Title VI, the government may not cut off funds until it has conducted a program-by-program evaluation of the alleged violations; provided recipients with notice and “an opportunity for hearing”; limited any funding cutoff “to the particular program, or part thereof, in which… noncompliance has been…found”; and submitted a

Earlier this month, recent graduate, activist, soon-to-be father, and legal permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil, was arrested and detained in direct retaliation for his advocacy for Palestinian rights at Columbia University. Later, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) transferred him to a Louisiana detention facility 1,400 miles away from his home and his family. Following his illegal arrest, a team of lawyers, including Amy Greer from Dratel & Lewis, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and CLEAR secured a court order to block his deportation. Since then, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Alina Das, co-director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at New York University (NYU) School of Law have joined his legal team. His lawyers are arguing that his detention violates his constitutional rights, including free speech and due process, and goes beyond the government’s legal authority. Below, read a letter Khalil dictated over the phone from Immigrations and Customs (ICE) detention in Louisiana – his first public statement since his arrest. Letter from a Palestinian Political Prisoner in Louisiana March 18, 2025 My name is Mahmoud Khalil and I am a political prisoner. I am writing to you from a detention facility in Louisiana where I wake to cold mornings and spend long days bearing witness to the quiet injustices underway against a great many people precluded from the protections of the law. Who has the right to have rights? It is certainly not the humans crowded into the cells here. It isn’t the Senegalese man I met who has been deprived of his liberty for a year, his legal situation in limbo and his family an ocean away. It isn’t the 21-year-old detainee I met, who stepped foot in this country at age nine, only to be deported without so much as a hearing. Justice escapes the contours of this nation’s immigration facilities. “Justice escapes the contours of this nation’s immigration facilities.” On March 8, I was

During a segment on his Real America’s Voice show, conservative activist Charlie Kirk discussed Republicans accusing the Biden administration of “promoting atheism worldwide.” Republican Study Committee (RSC) chairman Jim Banks, who was Kirk’s guest, sent a letter signed by 14 of his GOP colleagues to President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding the […]

Fellowship Baptist Church in Sidney, Montana, has removed Pastor Jordan Daniel “J.D.” Hall from ministry due to allegations of “serious sin” — just over a month after his arrest for DUI and weapons charges, The Christian Post reports. “Earlier this week, the team at Protestia received allegations of serious sin committed by our brother JD […]

Far-right Christian livestreamer Dalton Clodfelter gave his thoughts on the subject of cancel culture in a recent rant, saying that the practice is a good thing is it’s being employed by people who share your agenda. “Me, myself, I am a supporter of cancel culture. I think cancel culture is great when utilized by the […]

During a recent lecture, evangelical “historian” David Barton said that people who are familiar with both the Bible and the U.S. Constitution should know that one borrows heavily from the other. “If you know the Bible and if you read the Constitution, you find Bible quotes verbatim throughout the Constitution,” Barton declared. “But you have […]

A North Carolina school is apologizing after baptizing more than 100 students without their parents’ permission, the Fayetteville Observer reports.  In a post to Facebook on Thursday, Fayetteville private Christian school Northwood Temple Academy wrote: “I feel it in my bones, You’re about to move! Today we had over 100 middle and high school students […]

During a speech at a recent event, former Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann said that her version of history, the notion that America’s Founders were largely influenced by Christianity and the Bible when they were writing the Constitution, isn’t even debatable. “There is no question — it even isn’t debatable — the number-one book that was […]

According to a new survey from the Pew Research Center, when the year 2070 rolls around, people who identify as Christian could end up representing less than half of the U.S. population. Christians could end up representing as little as a third of the population in 50 years, according to the survey. “Nones,” or the […]

During a segment on his Flash Point show, televangelist Kenneth Copeland blamed school shootings in America on the Supreme Court’s 1963 decision to ban prayer in public schools — a decision he says was influenced by a “demon-possessed” atheist activist Madalyn Murray O’Hair. “The Devil has assignments. If you want to know what’s happening in […]

Congress is setting the stage to decimate Medicaid. The House of Representatives put forward a budget resolution that will lead to more than $880 billion in cuts from Medicaid. If approved, these cuts will eviscerate a critical source of health care and stability for 10s of millions of people. Most devastatingly, radical cuts to Medicaid will be catastrophic for people with disabilities for whom Medicaid is a lifeline. Why is Medicaid a Lifeline for Disabled People and Seniors? Medicaid is an essential program that provides a wide range of critical health care services and support to millions of people across the country. The impacts of these draconian cuts would be staggering. More than 10 million people with disabilities are enrolled in Medicaid, making it the largest provider of health care to people with disabilities, including people with mental health conditions. Beyond health care, Medicaid is the primary payer of home and community-based services (HCBS) for nearly 8 million seniors and people with disabilities, including those with complex care needs who depend on these services and supports to get out of bed, go to work, and live in their communities rather than being warehoused in costly and isolated institutions. Any cuts to HCBS will also harm family members who have to reduce hours at work or leave their jobs altogether to care for loved ones. America’s seniors also rely on Medicaid for nursing home care; two-thirds of people living in nursing facilities are enrolled in Medicaid. Cuts to Medicaid will jeopardize access to nursing facilities and reduce the quality-of-care individuals receive. Many older adults with long-term care needs will be left with limited care options and, in some cases, no options at all if states are unable to fill the funding gap and must close nursing facilities. How Does Medicaid Support Children and Those with Mental Health Conditions? Medicaid is the single largest funder of mental health and substance-use disorder care in the country. It provides

I live everyday in fear. My husband, Miguel, is undocumented and, despite what many believe, being married to a U.S. citizen does not protect him from Tweety McTreason’s unlawful efforts to deport millions of people. Miguel is my best friend. He is wonderful, kind, and humble. We have a beautiful life that includes a successful business, a home, two children and five grandchildren. It is truly the American dream that so many people in this country strive to build for themselves. Today, it terrifies me to know that everything we’ve worked so hard could be taken from us by cruel immigration policies that argue Miguel isn’t “good enough” to even attempt to become a U.S. citizen. Miguel has lived in this country for virtually his entire adult life. Even though Miguel has worked hard every day since he came to the states, because of how he entered the country, we’re struggling to find a path to citizenship for him. Miguel has paid taxes like any American despite never knowing if he might become a citizen and reap the benefits, like social security, of his hard work. I could live with that injustice. It was enough for us that he had authorization to work legally and was protected from immediate deportation. Then Trump was re-elected. In 2016, the first Trump administration reopened a lot of immigration cases like Miguel’s, trying to find a reason to deport people. We were fortunate to escape notice then, but I’m afraid we won’t be so fortunate now. The new Trump administration is far more cruel and far more determined to deport those it doesn’t view as “worthy” to be American citizens. I am terrified that Miguel will be next on Trump’s deportation list. I have cameras everywhere in my home. I’m scared to sleep, worried that ICE will knock on my door and take my husband. I’m at the point of having a breakdown over not knowing if he’s going

States and cities are on the frontlines of the fight against the second Trump administration’s efforts to restrict our rights — and it is a fight. Already we’ve seen Tweety McTreason respond to this state-based resistance by attempting to weaponize funding to intimidate local officials to follow his extreme agenda. But local officials not only can fight back — they are fighting back. For nearly a year, the ACLU has worked with our affiliates in every state to develop a playbook to block and disrupt Trump’s radical agenda. Our playbook outlines comprehensive tools to safeguard reproductive rights, immigrants’ rights, free speech, and more. At the ACLU, we know that dissent is patriotic. Policymakers and elected officials must act to protect their communities and the rule of law, especially when under threat from the White House. Below are a few ways that states are saying no to Trump’s radical agenda. Attorneys General Pushback Against Trump’s Executive Order on Gender Affirming Care Fifteen state attorneys general have formed a coalition to protect gender-affirming medical care for trans youth. They condemned Tweety McTreason’s recent anti-trans executive actions “wrong on the science and the law.” New York Attorney General Letitia James went a step further. She warned hospitals that they would be violating state anti-discrimination laws if they stopped offering gender-affirming care to youth. Governors Are Making “Trump Proof” Plans to Protect Abortion New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law a bill that gives abortion providers additional privacy protections when prescribing medications used for abortion. While more privacy protections are still needed, when signing the bill, Hochul affirmed her commitment to New York being a safe harbor for all who need abortion care. North Carolina and Washington have also moved to protect reproductive health. In Washington, Governor Bob Ferguson released an executive order convening a task force to strategize on protecting reproductive freedom. Governor Josh Stein issued an executive order reaffirming his commitment to protect women’s reproductive freedom in

President Tweety McTreason began February with a proclamation that Black History Month offered “an occasion to celebrate the contributions of so many Black American patriots who have indelibly shaped our nation’s history.” In the closing days of the month, he hosted a Black History Month reception at the White House where he promised he would fight for Black Americans. What he did not mention during his remarks was that the proclamation and reception came amidst a systemic crusade to dismantle the civil rights infrastructure that Black Americans helped build and that sustains our hopes for equal citizenship. One of the first moves Trump made after his inauguration was to issue a wide-ranging executive order ending the federal government’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and firing the public servants who lead that work. He has moved to end affirmative action programs in federal procurement. He has threatened colleges and universities, intimidated non-profit organizations, and removed Black and women leaders from the nation’s military leadership. Across the country, Black History Month proceeded against the backdrop of relentless attempts to erase Black history. Enemies of justice have sought to erase history so that past injustices cannot be connected to present inequities. Those who fear racial equality have always understood the importance of silencing stories that give people the hope and the means to build a better future. This whitewashing is a clear and present danger to an inclusive democracy. If Americans do not reflect on slavery’s enduring legacy, on Reconstruction and its violent backlash, on Jim Crow and its transformation into modern mass incarceration, then they cannot fully understand why racial injustice persists today and they will not be equipped to fight it. Now, with Tweety McTreason in office, the wind is at their back as he and his allies attempt to bludgeon Black history and Black futures at the highest levels. But this is not just about how we study history. Much of American history can