Protest and the Pentagon. Alarmed at an increase in extremism among its ranks, the Defense Department is fleshing out rules regarding what soldiers can and can’t do.
■ Three retired generals write in The Washington Post: “We … are increasingly concerned about the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election and the potential for lethal chaos inside our military, which would put all Americans at severe risk.”
■ A federal judge has refused to dismiss conspiracy charges filed in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection against the Oath Keepers organization …
■ … which Rolling Stone reported in October has “snaked its tendrils” into the military and police forces.
‘All who work daily to inform the public … should stay the hell off the field.’ Free Speech Center Director Ken Paulson says Fox News hosts’ texts to Donald Trump’s chief of staff about Jan. 6 and CNN host Chris Cuomo’s work behind the scenes to defend his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, over allegations of sexual harassment constituted an unethical “abdication of traditional journalistic values.”
■ Reuters analysis: Murdoch family emails loom large in defamation lawsuits filed against Fox News by two voting technology companies seeking more than $4 billion in damages.
■ Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones cites the First Amendment in a lawsuit aimed at blocking his phone records and compelling his testimony for the House committee on Jan. 6 …
■ … which has also for the first time publicly requested information from a sitting member of Congress.
‘It’s real, it’s frightening, and it irrefutably … happened.’ A lawyer for Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, explains why Cohen has filed a First Amendment suit against Trump and other members of the Trump administration.
■ MSNBC’s Steve Benen says the suit is more important to free speech than you might think.
■ Read Cohen’s complaint here.
On campus …
College basketball’s ‘pleasant surprise.’ A University of Pennsylvania history prof hails his school’s players “for standing up—or sitting down—for their beliefs” and coaches “for defending their right to do so.”
■ A student dismissed from California Health Sciences University over allegedly racist and discriminatory comments is suing for an apology and reinstatement.
■ University of Florida media law professor Frank LoMonte sounds an alarm about college officials who—without due process—deny admission to otherwise-qualified students over their social media posts.
■ Responding to a rash of verbal attacks over mask mandates, Palm Beach (Florida) County School Board members are considering a rule that would forbid people who address them at public meetings from saying their names or criticizing them personally.
■ A Teen Vogue series spotlighting “U.S. history you may not have learned in school” revisits the Supreme Court case that affirmed students’ right to protest at school.
Rewrite the first two? In commentary for The Boston Globe, University of Miami law professor Mary Anne Franks says the First and Second Amendments can be improved “by explicitly defining individual rights within the framework of ‘domestic tranquility’ and the ‘general welfare’ set out in the Constitution’s preamble.”
■ Conservative Washington Examiner politics editor W. James Antle III: “Adding abortion to the Second Amendment, as she also does, may be the only possible way to make our most controversial amendment even more contentious.”
■ New York Times columnist Linda Greenhouse: “The Supreme Court itself … has been weaponized.”
‘A long shadow on First Amendment rights.’ The Center for Public Integrity shines a light on dozens of new statutes around the country restricting the right to protest.
■ An immigrant who says he was deported for appearing in a movie that criticized U.S immigration authorities is back.
■ The right-wing “free speech” social media platform Gettr has yanked a white nationalist’s account.
■ A state chapter of the country’s largest Muslim civil liberties group has fired its executive director for secretly working with “a known anti-Muslim hate group.”
Happy New Year from the Free Speech Center. Thank you for your support of its work on behalf of the First Amendment—including this newsletter.