The firing of Clemson University faculty members for posts about the murder of Charlie Kirk is the start of a troubling national trend.

FIRE reminds Clemson and all public universities that protected speech remains protected, even in tragedy.

VICTORY! In a win for student expression on campus, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals today overruled a lower court's decision, sided with FIRE’s clients, and blocked West Texas A&M University’s unconstitutional ban on drag shows.

It is bad for a government official to say that protests will be "met with very big force."

Nearly 100 days into his administration, FIRE’s National Speech Index has found Americans’ confidence in Donald Trump’s ability to protect First Amendment rights has dropped since January, with many opposing his speech-chilling deportation policies.

READ MORE: www.thefire.org/news/fire-po...

Retaliating against a university because of its curriculum or the views expressed by its students and faculty would violate academic freedom and the First Amendment. The president can't use the machinery of government to dictate which ideas are acceptable in higher education.

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...

America today feels divided.

But the one thing we should all agree on is free speech.

We're FIRE. We defend your First Amendment rights no matter who you are or what you believe.

Because that’s what being principled and nonpartisan is all about.

BREAKING: Federal court blocks Texas A&M's ban on student drag shows in @thefireorg.bsky.social lawsuit.

"To ban the performance from taking place on campus because it offends some members of the campus community is precisely what the First Amendment prohibits."

www.thefire.org/news/victory...

The purpose of these lawsuits is not to win them, but to impose punishing legal costs on defendants.

As Trump once colorfully put it after losing a lawsuit: “I spent a couple of bucks on legal fees, and they spent a whole lot more. I did it to make his life miserable, which I’m happy about.”