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Will Creeley

@wcreeley.bsky.social

I defend freedom of expression as Legal Director for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Here for civil liberties. Opinions my own.

20 Posts279 Follower147 Folgt
CJ Ciaramella@cjciaramella.bsky.social · 9mo ago

"Hott—shockingly— answered 'No' when asked if he agreed 'agree that it's unconstitutional to arrest people for being opposed to Midway Blitz?' Similarly, Bovino testified that he has instructed his officers to arrest protesters who make hyperbolic comments in the heat of political demonstrations"

Jon Seidel@jonseidel.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Overnight court filings seem to be giving us a peek at what U.S. Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino said in his deposition so far (it apparently continues today):

Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · last yr.

FIRE is looking for students, faculty, student organizations, and institutions of higher learning who are affected by the administration’s threat to deport non-citizens for protected speech. Help us fight back ⬇️

Defend free expression against Marco Rubio’s speech police

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is claiming authority to expel any non-citizen at any time for any speech the administration deems contrary to its “foreign policy.”

go.thefire.org

Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · last yr.

#BREAKING: A federal judge has ordered the immediate release of Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk, who faces deportation for writing an op-ed critical of Israel. No one in America — citizen or not — should fear the government’s wrath for speaking their mind.

Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · last yr.

#FILED: Detaining Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk for writing an op-ed critical of Israel is both unlawful and un-American. Now, FIRE is standing with Ms. Öztürk against this authoritarian act.

Joshua J. Friedman@joshuajfriedman.com · last yr.

"The wheel of history has come around again, but as before these times of excess will pass. In the meantime, this case—like Colyer and Knauff—is extraordinary in the sense that it calls upon the ancient remedy of habeas to address a persistent modern wrong."

bringing an end to the moral panic that gripped the nation and its officials. Similar themes were sounded during the McCarthy period in the 1950s when thousands of non-citizens were targeted for deportation due to their political views. Ellen Schrecker, Immigration and Internal Security: Political Deportations During the McCarthy Era, Vol. 60 Sci. & Soc'y 393 (1996). Again, the fever passed, but not before Justice Jackson was moved to dissent in U.S. ex rel. Knauff v. Shaughnessy, 338 U.S. 537, 317 (1950), writing in a habeas case concerning the exclusion of a German war bride: Security is like liberty in that many are the crimes committed in its name. The menace to the security of this country, be it great as it may, from this girl's admission is as nothing compared to the menace to free institutions inherent in procedures of this pattern. Justice Minton's majority decision is not much remembered. The wheel of history has come around again, but as before these times of excess will pass. In the meantime, this case-like Colyer and Knauff-is extraordinary in the sense that it calls upon the ancient remedy of habeas to address a persistent modern wrong.
Joshua J. Friedman@joshuajfriedman.com · last yr.

"Our nation has seen times like this before, especially during the Red Scare and Palmer Raids of 1919–1920 that led to the deportation of hundreds of people suspected of anarchist or communist views."

The court also considers the extraordinary setting of this case and others like it. Legal residents-not charged with crimes or misconduct-are being arrested and threatened with deportation for stating their views on the political issues of the day. Our nation has seen times like this before, especially during the Red Scare and Palmer Raids of 1919-1920 that led to the deportation of hundreds of people suspected of anarchist or communist views. In Colyer v. Skeffington, 265 F. 17 (1920), Judge Anderson of the District of Massachusetts granted habeas relief to multiple immigrants detained for their political beliefs. His decision was instrumental in bringing an end to the moral panic that gripped the nation and its officials. Similar themes were sounded during the McCarthy period in the 1950s when thousands of non-citizens were targeted for deportation due to their political views. Ellen Schrecker, Immigration and Internal Security: Political Deportations During the McCarthy Era, Vol. 60 Sci. & Soc'y 393 (1996).
Jess Miers 🦝🦞@jmiers230.bsky.social · last yr.

My students often ask whether there’s any point in being in law school anymore, especially as they witness the rule of law being systematically eroded. That question breaks my heart. It’s also why I urge them, emphatically to stay and fight. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Law firms refuse to represent Trump opponents in the wake of his attacks

The result is an extraordinary threat to constitutional rights of due process and representation and a far weaker effort to challenge Trump’s actions in court than during his first term.

washingtonpost.com

Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · last yr.

VICTORY! Today, a federal judge granted a student group’s motion for a preliminary injunction, preventing Texas A&M officials from blocking a First Amendment-protected student drag show on its College Station campus. www.thefire.org/news/victory...

VICTORY: Federal court blocks Texas A&M’s unconstitutional drag ban

A federal judge upheld the First Amendment rights of a Texas A&M student group by blocking an attempt by officials to ban the group's upcoming drag show "Draggieland"

thefire.org

Will Creeley@wcreeley.bsky.social · last yr.

Proud of my FIRE team — particularly @jtmorristx.bsky.social and @adamsteinbaugh.bsky.social — for securing this result.

Kyle Cheney@kyledcheney.bsky.social · last yr.

JUST IN: A federal judge in Texas (George HW Bush appointee) has barred Texas A&M's board from canceling a drag show on campus. Trump's executive order "cannot override First Amendment protections," she rules. "Draggieland" will go on March 27. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Mike Masnick@masnick.com · last yr.

Okay, I wrote a longer thing about @durbin.senate.gov, @amyklobuchar.com, @klobuchar.senate.gov, @whitehouse.senate.gov, @blumenthal.senate.gov apparently wanting to hand Donald Trump a huge weapon with which to censor online speech. www.techdirt.com/2025/03/21/d...

Democratic Senators Team Up With MAGA To Hand Trump A Censorship Machine

At the exact moment when Donald Trump and his MAGA allies are actively dismantling democratic institutions and working to silence critics, a group of Democratic Senators have decided to collaborate…

techdirt.com

Matthew Schafer@matthewschafer.bsky.social · last yr.

Need a weekend read? I wrote about the government, newspapers, and the liberty of the press at the Founding. Take a look and learn from early Americans themselves about how they thought of press freedom and government interference with it. matthewschafer.medium.com/false-dichot...

False Dichotomies and the Original Understanding of Press Freedom

Late last year, I presented an American Bar Association webinar about the Supreme Court’s recent suggestion that, perhaps, we should look…

matthewschafer.medium.com

Jameel Jaffer@jameeljaffer.bsky.social · last yr.

You'd never know it, but there is actually a constitutional provision that gives universities, law firms, and media orgs the *right* to say no to the president when he demands that they prostrate themselves before him.

Adam Serwer@adamserwer.bsky.social · last yr.

American civil society is full of abject cowards, that is the issue. The government is a mafia state but it is winning because most American elite institutions are devoid of anything resembling integrity and are folding rather than stand on principles that were little more than marketing.

Jameel Jaffer@jameeljaffer.bsky.social · last yr.

Paul Weiss hasn’t confirmed any of this. I *really* hope that’s because this is wishful thinking on Trump’s part. I can’t imagine that Paul Weiss’s lawyers would agree to this.

Anna Bower@annabower.bsky.social · last yr.

Trump rescinds his Executive Order targeting Paul, Weiss because the firm entered into an “agreement” with Trump. According to the White House, Trump agreed to rescind after a meeting w/ Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp, in which Karp “acknowledged the wrongdoing” of former partner Mark Pomerantz.

Today, President Donald J. Trump agreed to withdraw his March 14, 2025 Executive Order regarding the Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP law firm (“Paul, Weiss”), which has entered into the following agreement with the President:   1. Paul, Weiss agrees that the bedrock principle of American Justice is that it must be fair and nonpartisan for all. Our Justice System is betrayed when it is misused to achieve political ends. Lawyers and law firms play a vital role in ensuring that we live up to that standard as a Nation. Law firms should not favor any political party when it comes to choosing their clients. Firms also should not make decisions on whom to hire based on a person’s political affiliation. To do otherwise is to deny some Americans an equal opportunity for our services while favoring others.   Lawyers abandon the profession’s highest ideals when they engage in partisan decision-making, and betray the ethical obligation to represent those who are unpopular or disfavored in a particular environment.  
David Greene@davidgreene.bsky.social · last yr.

Even if it somehow turns out that Paul Weiss (like Mexico?) only agreed to do stuff they otherwise would have done just to get out from under the Executive Order, firms must fight the very basis of the EO & its attack on the integrity of the legal professions rather than look for an easy way out.

Adam Steinbaugh@adamsteinbaugh.bsky.social · last yr.

Coalition of civil liberties orgs led by @thefireorg.bsky.social files amicus brief rebuking the U.S. government for detaining Mahmoud Khalil for his free speech, pointing out the unfettered authority Rubio claims has already been declared unconstitutionally vague: www.thefire.org/news/fire-an...

FIRE and coalition partners file brief rebuking the U.S. government for attempting to deport Mahmoud Khalil for his protected speech

Khalil’s arrest is an affront to the First Amendment and the cherished American principle that the government may not punish people based on their opinions.

thefire.org

Sarah McLaughlin@sarahemclaugh.bsky.social · last yr.

“I think what’s perhaps most dangerous about this moment is that, given the rhetoric coming out of the administration today, folks across the country are going to think twice before they criticise the government, whether it’s the US government or Israeli government" - @wcreeley.bsky.social

A ‘dangerous’ moment: Advocates denounce arrest of activist Mahmoud Khalil

Rights groups argue that the Trump administration is using anti-Semitism as a pretext to clamp down on free speech.

aljazeera.com