🚨NEWS: @knightcolumbia.org & @protectdemocracy.org just filed a lawsuit on behalf of @thecoalition.bsky.social challenging the Trump administration's policy targeting social media researchers and trust & safety workers for visa revocation and deportation. More: knightcolumbia.org/content/tech...
We @knightcolumbia.org have started to post short essays from some of the scholars and advocates participating in our "Reconstructing Free Expression" project. I'm going to post the essays in this thread, as we publish them. They're really good! knightcolumbia.org/research/rec...
For our Reconstructing Free Expression series, @akapczynski.bsky.social proposes a People’s College offering govt-funded 2-year degrees to all U.S. adults, with institutions required to agree to standards that would make #highered more democratically accountable. knightcolumbia.org/blog/the-peo...
In a new contribution to our Reconstructing Free Expression series, @rlevinsonwaldman.bsky.social writes about how courts and Congress can curtail the government’s use of social media to surveil people’s First Amendment-protected activities. knightcolumbia.org/blog/ending-...
More on this @knightcolumbia.org initiative, which will unfold over the course of the year, below. And more blog posts proposing new strategies for protecting our system of free expression coming soon. knightcolumbia.org/content/new-...
Just published the first post for our Reconstructing Free Expression initiative, by @jamalgreene.bsky.social: Free Expression in the Shadow State, proposing the creation of alternative "shadow" govt institutions as mechanisms to express & fight for public values: knightcolumbia.org/blog/free-ex...
Also, if (like me) your last MMR shot was in the 90s, ask your doctor about having your titers checked to make sure you're still immune. Waiting for my test results now.
This is the single most effective pro-vaccine piece I've ever read. Especially if you are also active on other, bigger social media platforms, share the gift link below. You might save a life. (I am already extremely pro-vaccine and I suspect most others on this platform are too.)
My team at the Crowd Counting Consortium (@djpressman.bsky.social, Soha Hammam, & Chris Shay) has shared a big data update, covering all recorded US protests through Jan 2026. Some key takeaways 🧵:
Looking forward to working with a lot of smart, committed people on this. One of the things that keeps me motivated is the belief that the post-Trump period (and there will be one) may be a time when genuine rethinking/rebuilding of democratic institutions is possible. We should be ready for it.
The arrests of Lemon and Fort are intended to deter journalists from doing work we need them to do, and that the First Amendment was meant to protect. DOJ should drop these prosecutions or the courts should throw them out. knightcolumbia.org/content/knig...
No Kings is hosting what is shaping up to be the largest ICE Watch training in history tonight.
Join here: www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...
Apropos of the TikTok news last week, I have a piece coming out abt how the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the ban-or-sale law belongs in the First Amendment anticanon. It's not just wrong, but so wrong we should hold it up as an exceptional symbol of wrongness.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
www.mobilize.us?tag_ids=29132
Find your local ICE Out For Good event👇 and get out there this weekend. It is really important to peacefully demonstrate how angry we are right now. Make them feel it. I believe we will.
As someone who edits a lot of essays (including the one by Yoel that this book incorrectly quotes) - a good cite check process should have caught this. If I’d published a piece where an error of this magnitude somehow slipped past the checker, I would feel obligated to issue a correction.
NB: When I, a professor of law, profess that an act is unlawful, I am not doing it to inform the lawbreaker, but rather to inform you, the reader.
So the question “what, like you think he cares?” is inapposite. The question is whether *you* care. I think you should, which is why I bother.
How can scientists make a difference when democratic norms, institutions, & rights are under threat?
Weds @ 12:30 ET join me, Jon Penney, Sarah Brayne, & @katygb.bsky.social for a @knightcolumbia.org panel on science, the courts, & chilling effects. WE NEED YOU 🫵🏽
knightcolumbia.org/events/the-s...
Next Wednesday 12/10, 12:30 ET: Join our @knightcolumbia.org webinar to hear @natematias.bsky.social @penney.bsky.social @sarahbrayne.bsky.social talk about using social science to study chilling effects, and how courts use this kind of evidence: knightcolumbia.org/events/the-s...
Dec. 10: Join me online @knightcolumbia.org to talk with social scientists and legal experts about studying chilling effects: How can we use science to detect and measure chill? We'll get into study design, existing findings, & how courts look at social science:
knightcolumbia.org/events/the-s...
Yes, we're recording and will post the video shortly after we're done!
And check out the video from our first online event in this series, on litigating chilling effects, here - speakers include @evelyndouek.bsky.social @carriedecell.bsky.social @stacylivingston.bsky.social @penney.bsky.social:
knightcolumbia.org/events/litig...
Dec. 10: Join me online @knightcolumbia.org to talk with social scientists and legal experts about studying chilling effects: How can we use science to detect and measure chill? We'll get into study design, existing findings, & how courts look at social science:
knightcolumbia.org/events/the-s...
The joy this man has doing his patriotic duty
Monday 12:30 ET: The chilling effects of the Trump administration's policies (and jawboning) are widespread - how are they being challenged in court, and what is the state of 1A doctrine on chilling effects? An expert panel will discuss, including current cases AAUP v. Rubio and UAW v. State Dept:
If you're interested in writing an essay for this series, abstracts are due on Dec. 5 - details on how and where to submit at the link: knightcolumbia.org/blog/call-fo...
Call for proposals 👇 for our @knightcolumbia.org project on the legal profession in an age of authoritarianism: What is the role of lawyers in defending democracy? What factors contribute to lawyers’ role in either resisting authoritarianism or accommodating it?
knightcolumbia.org/blog/call-fo...
We @knightcolumbia.org are doing two online events on chilling effects: First on 11/17 on the state of 1A doctrine and current cases involving chilling effects claims, and 2nd on 12/10 on using social science to study the chill caused by particular laws and policies. RSVP links below & in next post:
A striking feature of Trump 2.0 is that while elites capitulated immediately, ordinary citizens are using democratic institutions--e.g. the right to trial-by-jury--to the absolute hilt in defence of democracy.
Robber barons and sincecured pundits gave in; the citizenry fights back harder than ever.
Thinking about how important the First Amendment right to record is to getting strong findings of fact like this from judges. The government will lie, so having footage - esp. from multiple views/angles - is crucial. And it's why journalists and those recording are targeted by law enforcement.