As my former boss used to remind us: "[Shakespeare's] ‘The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers’ was spoken by a rebel, not a friend of liberty...[D]isposing of lawyers is a step in the direction of a totalitarian form of government.” (Stevens, J., dissenting 1985) /fin

I’ve been saying this for a while now — filing meritless defamation lawsuits to harass the press is not a risk-free pastime. For example, I’d love to see discovery and depositions about Kash Patel’s drinking habits. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Judge rules Trump must hand over financial records sought by BBC in defamation case

The judge grants a motion to compel the release of files held by the Donald J Trump Revocable Trust.

bbc.com

BREAKING NYT: The Trump admin sought the phone records of several Times journalists and their relatives — including one reporter's mother — in its effort to unmask the confidential sources who had provided information for articles about the security capabilities of Trump's new Air Force One jet.

Trump Administration Sought Phone Records of Times Journalists and Their Relatives

The government is aggressively seeking the confidential sources of Times reporters who wrote about the president’s new Air Force One. The Times has asked a judge to quash the subpoenas.

nytimes.com

with @sonjawest.bsky.social on what REALLY causes mistakes on the last day of the SCOTUS term. (Um. Hint? SCOTUS) slate.com/news-and-pol...

Nina Totenberg Made a Mistake. But the Reaction Reveals a Much Bigger Problem.

We're all focusing on the wrong part of NPR's retirement announcement error.

slate.com

This Alito retirement announcement mess wouldn’t have happened if we had cameras in the courtroom. Just say’n.

Like Trump, Kash Patel keeps suing the press. “The goals here,” said @sonjawest.bsky.social, “appear to be to muddy the narrative, run up opponents’ legal bills & send a message to journalists that if you cover us critically, it’s going to cost you time & money.” www.nytimes.com/2026/06/14/b...

Kash Patel Keeps Suing the Press

nytimes.com

Thread-Professor Ashutosh Bhagwat (@ucdavislaw.bsky.social) & I are pleased to announce the publication of our edited volume of thoughtful essays on free speech from renowned legal scholars from around the world, The Elgar Companion to Freedom of Speech and Expression www.e-elgar.com/shop/usd/the...

The Elgar Companion to Freedom of Speech and Expression

This comprehensive book examines the theoretical underpinnings of free speech and provides crucial insights into the contemporary resurgence of debates over its importance. Contributing authors critic...

e-elgar.com

The New York Times on Monday accused the Defense Department of violating the First Amendment by requiring journalists to have an official escort at all times when visiting the Pentagon. The suit is the second time the newspaper has sued over the Trump administration’s restrictions on reporters.

New York Times Sues Pentagon for a Second Time

The Times is challenging a new requirement that reporters covering the military complex have an official escort, part of a broader legal challenge to the Pentagon’s press restrictions.

nyti.ms

🧵 The arguments behind landmark Supreme Court rulings have never been freely available… until now. More than 125,000 #SCOTUS records & briefs (1830–2019) are now open on the Internet Archive. Full announcement ⤵️ blog.archive.org/2026/04/20/u... @wolflawlibrary.bsky.social

Any news coverage of Trump’s threat of U.S. strikes where “a whole civilization will die” that does not include the words “war crimes” is failing to do journalism.

The Supreme Court refuses to review an odious 5th Circuit decision granting qualified immunity to Texas officials who arrested a citizens-journalist in retaliation against her posing questions to public officials. Sotomayor has an appropriately furious dissent: www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...

The seizure of Washington Post reporter @hannahnatanson.bsky.social's devices likely killed far more stories than any court order ever could. Judge Porter should've done more to punish prosecutors, but he was right to call the raid what it was — a prior restraint.

A judge finally called a newsroom raid what it is

Seizures of journalists’ materials have the same impact as traditional prior restraints

freedom.press

Turner on Artificial Legal Agents Christian Turner (University of Georgia School of Law) has posted Artificial Legal Agents and the Alien Stance on SSRN. Here is the abstract: We find ourselves ensnared in an ever nastier and strident debate over AI and its role in law, society, and private life.…

Turner on Artificial Legal Agents

Christian Turner (University of Georgia School of Law) has posted Artificial Legal Agents and the Alien Stance on SSRN. Here is the abstract: We find ourselves ensnared in an ever nastier and strident debate over AI and its role in law, society, and private life. Derided as mindless math or a stochastic parrot, AI is often shrugged off as just a bad tool, perhaps even the latest tech bro obsession after crypto and NFTs.

legaltheoryblog.com

TOMORROW: Join @randersenjones.bsky.social, @sonjawest.bsky.social, @ckoningisor.bsky.social, Helen Norton and @victorpickard.bsky.social on Zoom from 12-1:30 p.m. to discuss "The Future of Press Freedom." Register: events.zoom.us/ev/AmsN0eMJS...

Any news coverage of these attacks that does not include the word “Congress” in either its headline or lede is failing to do journalism.

New: As David Ellison prepares to take control of CNN, legendary CBS News producer Mary Walsh, who is exiting, sent a goodbye note to colleagues. In the note, Walsh writes, "We’ve been told to aim our reporting at a particular part of the political spectrum. Honestly, I don’t know how to do that."

This is great. A rich and insightful conversation about press freedom and contemporary threats to it—with @dahlialithwick.bsky.social & former @knightcolumbia.org visiting scholars @randersenjones.bsky.social & @sonjawest.bsky.social. slate.com/news-and-pol...

How the Supreme Court Enabled Trump’s Latest Free Press Assault

Something profound is happening to the right to gather news.

slate.com

chewing over tariffs with @mjsdc.bsky.social and taking a long hard look at the limits of the press clause and constitutional protections for newsgathering with @randersenjones.bsky.social and @sonjawest.bsky.social

Trump’s Tariffs Overturned | Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts

Our long national tariff nightmare is over, but do we get our money back?

shows.acast.com

Very excited to get my author’s copy of “We the Voters: The Constitutional Choices that Shape America’s Elections.” This was a labor of love, and it is thrilling to see it materialize in the real world.

A publisher who lays off a reporter whose pen is freezing because she's covering a frigid war zone while dodging missiles is not an editor you want to work for, in a more perfect world

“As an international organization, we know that the treatment of journalists is a leading indicator of the condition of a country’s democracy,” said CPJ CEO @jodieginsberg.bsky.social. Read more on the arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort: cpj.org/2026/01/cpj-...

@rcfp.org's statement on the arrest of independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, who were charged with violating federal law while covering a protest inside a Minnesota church. 🔗 Read more: www.rcfp.org/lemon-fort-a...

Katherine Jacobsen of the Committee to Protect Journalists reacts to the arrest of Don Lemon: "As an international organization, we know that the treatment of journalists is an indicator of the condition of a country's democracy. The United States is doing poorly."

The FBI’s raid today on the home of @washingtonpost.com reporter @hannahnatanson.bsky.social is an alarming escalation in the Trump administration’s war on the press. Watch @trevortimm.bsky.social explain how the DOJ is not only attacking the First Amendment but also ignoring federal law.

Recent Faculty Presentations! Elizabeth Chamblee Burch presented at Yale University, Pamela Foohey presented at the University of Illinois, and Sonja West presented at the University of Chicago, Yale University and Columbia University. www.law.uga.edu/faculty-high...

Honored! Anyone curious to read the article can find it here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Sonja West@sonjawest.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Thanks to @lsolum.bsky.social for naming my piece with @thomaskadri.bsky.social on Deepfake Torts as one of the top ten “Downloads of the Year” for 2025! legaltheoryblog.com/2026/01/01/d...

Thanks to @lsolum.bsky.social for naming my piece with @thomaskadri.bsky.social on Deepfake Torts as one of the top ten “Downloads of the Year” for 2025! legaltheoryblog.com/2026/01/01/d...

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Explore our latest posts and stay updated with insightful articles covering a range of topics to enhance your knowledge.

legaltheoryblog.com

You know what media is NOT bending the knee in the Trump era? College journalists! The Harvard Crimson's brutal takedown of the lecherous ex-prez Larry Summers is just the latest example of students showing a failing 'grown-up' media how it's done My new column www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...

College journalism exposes the rot of ‘grown-ups’ | Will Bunch Newsletter

Plus a history lesson on the real ‘Charlotte’s Web,’ and fascism,

inquirer.com

Full house for "The Future of Press Freedom in an Era of Democratic Backsliding" panel. Thank you @randersenjones.bsky.social, @attorneynora.bsky.social, @azmatzahra.bsky.social, @joelsimonsays.bsky.social, @sulliview.bsky.social, & @sonjawest.bsky.social for joining us to discuss #pressfreedom.