Jameel Jaffer
@jameeljaffer.bsky.social
Director, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University; Exec Editor, Just Security; former ACLU. knightcolumbia.org.
The intro to Judge Rita Lin's 76-page opinion holding that the Trump admin's pressure campaign against the University of California system is coercive and retaliatory in violation of the First Amendment. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
November 15, 2025 at 1:12 AM
The intro to Judge Rita Lin's 76-page opinion holding that the Trump admin's pressure campaign against the University of California system is coercive and retaliatory in violation of the First Amendment. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
MAGA’s ongoing war on academic freedom, reflected in headlines from the last 24 hours.
November 14, 2025 at 1:17 PM
MAGA’s ongoing war on academic freedom, reflected in headlines from the last 24 hours.
The New York Times has quietly sued for access to video footage of Trump's flagrantly unlawful boat strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
November 11, 2025 at 11:37 AM
The New York Times has quietly sued for access to video footage of Trump's flagrantly unlawful boat strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
This is really good--one of the most powerful and insightful pieces I've read about what @qjurecic.bsky.social appropriately calls "The Third Red Scare." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
November 10, 2025 at 4:10 PM
This is really good--one of the most powerful and insightful pieces I've read about what @qjurecic.bsky.social appropriately calls "The Third Red Scare." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
The Boston Globe just filed a motion for access to the still-sealed materials that Judge William Young relied on to hold that Rubio and Noem violated the First Amendment by arresting and threatening to deport students for their pro-Palestinian advocacy. www.courtlistener.com/docket/69784...
November 10, 2025 at 2:54 PM
The Boston Globe just filed a motion for access to the still-sealed materials that Judge William Young relied on to hold that Rubio and Noem violated the First Amendment by arresting and threatening to deport students for their pro-Palestinian advocacy. www.courtlistener.com/docket/69784...
I hope this is a joke but I’m pretty sure it’s not.
yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/10...
yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/10...
November 10, 2025 at 2:34 PM
I hope this is a joke but I’m pretty sure it’s not.
yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/10...
yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/10...
The NYT has used some version of this sentence in multiple stories about the Columbia settlement but it is highly misleading. Yes, the Columbia settlement included that pledge, but it also included multiple terms that “dictate academic matters.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...
November 7, 2025 at 7:02 PM
The NYT has used some version of this sentence in multiple stories about the Columbia settlement but it is highly misleading. Yes, the Columbia settlement included that pledge, but it also included multiple terms that “dictate academic matters.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...
More than 200 people in the room for this @knightcolumbia.org panel on the future of press freedom. Thanks to @columbiajournalism.bsky.social for hosting!
November 5, 2025 at 5:43 PM
More than 200 people in the room for this @knightcolumbia.org panel on the future of press freedom. Thanks to @columbiajournalism.bsky.social for hosting!
Fourteen years later, I *still* think one of the best ways for us to repudiate Cheney's legacy of torture would be to recognize and honor the courageous soldiers and public servants who exposed the torture policies and tried to end them. www.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/o...
November 4, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Fourteen years later, I *still* think one of the best ways for us to repudiate Cheney's legacy of torture would be to recognize and honor the courageous soldiers and public servants who exposed the torture policies and tried to end them. www.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/o...
Just in: Eleventh Circuit gives Judge Aileen Cannon 60 days to rule on @knightcolumbia.org petition for access to Jack Smith's report about Trump's absconding to Mar-a-Lago with classified docs.
November 3, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Just in: Eleventh Circuit gives Judge Aileen Cannon 60 days to rule on @knightcolumbia.org petition for access to Jack Smith's report about Trump's absconding to Mar-a-Lago with classified docs.
This three-hops theory is especially insane. Even if you assume each person is connected to only 100 other people, there are 1m people within three hops of every suspected drug trafficker—and remember that even *known* drug traffickers aren’t legitimate targets. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/u...
October 31, 2025 at 12:07 PM
This three-hops theory is especially insane. Even if you assume each person is connected to only 100 other people, there are 1m people within three hops of every suspected drug trafficker—and remember that even *known* drug traffickers aren’t legitimate targets. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/u...
Not drawing an equation between Trump's missile strikes on suspected drug traffickers and Obama's drone strikes on suspected militants, but it's worth remembering the bloody history of Obama's "signature strikes" in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
October 31, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Not drawing an equation between Trump's missile strikes on suspected drug traffickers and Obama's drone strikes on suspected militants, but it's worth remembering the bloody history of Obama's "signature strikes" in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
They don’t even know who they’re killing. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/u...
October 30, 2025 at 11:41 PM
They don’t even know who they’re killing. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/u...
“Narco-terrorist” isn’t a thing. This is just lawless killing.
October 28, 2025 at 2:19 PM
“Narco-terrorist” isn’t a thing. This is just lawless killing.
The Justice Department's just-filed brief defending the expulsion of the AP from the White House press pool makes one wonder whether the Justice Department has ever watched an Oval Office press conference.
October 20, 2025 at 5:44 PM
The Justice Department's just-filed brief defending the expulsion of the AP from the White House press pool makes one wonder whether the Justice Department has ever watched an Oval Office press conference.
Suddenly remembered this passage from Judge Anna Diggs Taylor's 2006 decision in ACLU v. NSA, holding that President GW Bush could not rely on his Commander-in-Chief powers to authorize warrantless wiretapping. www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/safefree/nsamemo.opinion.judge.taylor.081706.pdf
October 17, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Suddenly remembered this passage from Judge Anna Diggs Taylor's 2006 decision in ACLU v. NSA, holding that President GW Bush could not rely on his Commander-in-Chief powers to authorize warrantless wiretapping. www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/safefree/nsamemo.opinion.judge.taylor.081706.pdf
New challenge to social-media surveillance brought by @eff.org @mfia-clinic.bsky.social & @muslimadvocates.bsky.social on behalf of major unions. An important First Amendment case. www.eff.org/press/releas...
October 16, 2025 at 7:26 PM
New challenge to social-media surveillance brought by @eff.org @mfia-clinic.bsky.social & @muslimadvocates.bsky.social on behalf of major unions. An important First Amendment case. www.eff.org/press/releas...
From former Columbia Provost and University Professor Johnathan Cole, in the Columbia Daily Spectator www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2025...
October 16, 2025 at 1:08 PM
From former Columbia Provost and University Professor Johnathan Cole, in the Columbia Daily Spectator www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2025...
MIT's response to the Trump admin's proposed "compact" is excellent and should be a model for other universities. orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...
October 10, 2025 at 2:14 PM
MIT's response to the Trump admin's proposed "compact" is excellent and should be a model for other universities. orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...
Quite a feat to go from this to "and therefore universities must ban faculty and students from belittling conservative ideas"
October 10, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Quite a feat to go from this to "and therefore universities must ban faculty and students from belittling conservative ideas"
Marc Rowan says the "compact" will "protect free speech," but First Amendment scholars across the political spectrum are of one mind that the compact is flagrantly unconstitutional, and every major free speech org--from the ACLU to FIRE to PEN--agrees. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...
October 10, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Marc Rowan says the "compact" will "protect free speech," but First Amendment scholars across the political spectrum are of one mind that the compact is flagrantly unconstitutional, and every major free speech org--from the ACLU to FIRE to PEN--agrees. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...
Any university that agrees to this outrageous “compact” is a full participant in Trump’s assault on democracy. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
October 9, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Any university that agrees to this outrageous “compact” is a full participant in Trump’s assault on democracy. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
If you need a Nobel Prize laureate to tell you that Trump can’t be trusted and that making deals with him is for suckers, the NY Times has a guy for you. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/u...
October 9, 2025 at 11:24 AM
If you need a Nobel Prize laureate to tell you that Trump can’t be trusted and that making deals with him is for suckers, the NY Times has a guy for you. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/u...