#Tag
SCMP: UK political commentator Sami Hamdi detained by ICE officers at California airport
"...Official said the detention was related to comments Hamdi, who is Muslim, made about the Middle East. Hamdi was on a speaking tour in the US..."
SCMP: UK political commentator Sami Hamdi detained by ICE officers at California airport
"...Official said the detention was related to comments Hamdi, who is Muslim, made about the Middle East. Hamdi was on a speaking tour in the US..."
🧵 “Michael Perloff, an A.C.L.U. lawyer who is representing Mr. O’Hara in the case, said in a statement: “the government doesn’t get to decide if your protest is funny, and government officials can’t punish you for making them the punchline. That’s really the whole point of the First Amendment.”
Three #AntiProtestLaws recently passed in #Arizona, #Kentucky and #Texas
Source: https://www.icnl.org/usprotestlawtracker/
Arizona
HB 2880: Banning #protest #encampments on #campus
Bars protest encampments on the campuses of state colleges and universities. Under the new law, individuals or groups that establish an “encampment” are no longer lawfully present on campus for the purpose of speech protections under Arizona law; they are criminally liable to prosecution for trespass; and they are liable for any damage they cause, including the "direct and indirect costs" of removing the encampment and "restoring" campus. The new law defines “encampment” as “temporary shelter” installed on campus and used to stay overnight or “for a prolonged period of time.” The law requires colleges and universities to order individuals to dismantle and vacate any encampment; if the individuals refuse to comply, the institution is required to take disciplinary action and report the individuals to local law enforcement for trespassing. The sponsor of the new law said that it was motivated by #ProPalestine protests on college campuses.
Full bill text:
https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/83353
Status: enacted
Introduced 12 Feb 2025; Approved by House 3 March 2025; Approved by Senate 30 April 2025; Signed by Governor Hobbs 7 May 2025
Issue(s): #CampusProtests, #Trespass, Camping
Kentucky
HB 399: New penalties for protesters at the capitol
Creates serious new criminal offenses that can cover #PeacefulProtesters at the state capitol, as well as anyone who “conspires” with or otherwise supports them. The first new offense applies to someone who enters the capitol, or impedes access to the capitol by a legislator or legislative staff, with intent to disrupt or impede legislative business—regardless of whether legislative business was in fact “impeded.” “Conspir[ing]” to engage in such conduct or “facilitat[ing]” another person to engage in the conduct is subject to the same penalties as actually engaging in it. It is a Class B misdemeanor (punishable by up to 3 months in jail) for a first incident, and a Class A misdemeanor (up to one year in jail) for subsequent incident. The law creates a second, more serious offense for someone who engages in “disorderly or disruptive conduct” inside the Capitol with intent to disrupt or impede legislative business, if their conduct in fact “disrupts” or “impedes” the legislature’s business—even momentarily. As written, the offense could cover a demonstrator who shouts a single chant during a legislative hearing. “Conspir[ing]” to engage in such conduct or “facilitat[ing]” another person to engage in the conduct is subject to the same penalties as actually engaging in it. The offense would be a Class A misdemeanor (punishable by up to one year in jail) for the first incident, and a Class D felony (up to 5 years in prison) for third and subsequent incident. Prior to passing the bill, lawmakers added an amendment which provides that the law will not be construed "to prohibit... [a]ssembly in traditional public forums, including but not limited to the Capitol rotunda and outdoor areas of the Capitol grounds." While helpful, the amendment does not immunize all peaceful protest activity that the law could potentially punish, including protest organizing. When he vetoed the bill (later overridden), Governor Beshear noted the risks it poses to lawful #FirstAmendment activity.
Full bill text:
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/25rs/hb399.html
Status: enacted
Introduced 6 Feb 2025; Approved by House 7 March 2025; Approved by Senate 13 March 2025; Vetoed by Governor Beshear 25 March 2025; Veto overridden 27 March 2025
Issue(s): Protest Supporters or Funders, Police Response
Texas
#SB2972: New restrictions on #CampusProtests
Requires public colleges and universities to adopt new limitations on campus protests that among other things would ban protest encampments, limit protesters’ ability to wear a mask, and restrict vigils and other demonstrations at night. Under the law—which revises Texas’s 2019 law on campus speech—all public colleges and universities in the state must have policies that among other things prohibit: a) erecting tents or otherwise “camping” on campus; b) wearing a mask or other disguise while engaging in “expressive activities” on campus with certain intent, including intent to “intimidate others;” c) engaging in “expressive activities” between 10pm and 8am; d) engaging in “expressive activities” in the last two weeks of a school term by inviting speakers or using sound amplification or drums; and e) using sound amplification while engaging in “expressive activities” during class hours if it “intimidate[s] others.” Preexisting provisions of the law define “expressive activities” broadly as “any speech or expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment,” including but not limited to assemblies, protests, speeches, carrying signs, or distributing written material. As such, colleges and universities would seemingly be required to ban all kinds of expression between 10pm and 8am, from conversations in the dining hall to someone sending a text or wearing expressive clothing. The law repeals a provision in the 2019 law that established all common outdoor areas of campus as traditional public forums where anyone could engage in First Amendment activity, and replaced it with a provision authorizing the governing boards of schools to designate select areas as public forums.
Full bill text: https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB2972
Status: enacted
Introduced 14 Mar 2025; Approved by Senate 14 May 2025; Approved by House 28 May 2025; Signed by Governor Abbott 20 June 2025
Issue(s): Campus Protests, Face Covering, Camping
#USPol #CriminalizingProtest #CriminalizingDissent #AntiProtestLaws #TexasProtestLaws #KentuckyProtestLaws #ArizonaProtestLaws #ClothingBans #CollegeCampusProtests #MaskBans #EncampmentBans
#Facebook suspends popular #Chicago #ICE sightings group at #Trump administration’s request
The group ICE Sighting-Chicagoland has been increasingly used in the last 5 weeks of Trump’s intense #deportation campaign to warn neighbors that #FederalAgents are nearby.
#law #FirstAmendment #immigration #FuckMarkZuckerberg #FuckMeta #WhiteSupremacy #technocracy #plutocracy #fascism
https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/14/facebook-suspends-popular-ice-sightings-group-at-trump-administrations-request
Gee, I wonder why the LAPD is asking a judge to temporarily suspend the court order forbidding them from using force against the press?
__________________
Ahead of this Saturday’s No Kings protests, the Los Angeles Police Department has filed an emergency motion asking a judge to lift an injunction that restricts the use of force against the press.
The injunction creates “undefined and operationally impracticable standards that expose the city and its officers to contempt for good-faith actions taken to protect the public,” according to lawyers for the city, including City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto, and the police department.
#LosAngeles #ACAB #FirstAmendment #LAPD #UseOfForce #LosAngelesPoliceDepartment #Protests #Press #FreedomOfThePress #FirstAmendment
https://laist.com/news/politics/lapd-use-of-force-against-press-no-kings-protests
“We have some of the best special agents, criminal investigators,” Lyons said on Beck’s podcast. “We are going to track the money. We are going to track these ringleaders.”
Lyons said the investigations will focus on “ringleaders” & “professional agitators” who he said are out to turn protests into violent confrontations.
#Trump #law #privacy #immigration #tech #SurveillanceState #MilitaryState #fascism #tyranny #NoKings
But Democratic lawmakers, #CivilRights watchdogs & fmr officials have expressed concern that #ICE now has a green light not only to monitor immigrant communities, but also to carry out broad #surveillance of Americans exercising their #FirstAmendment right to oppose government action.
#Trump #law #privacy #immigration #tech #SurveillanceState #MilitaryState #fascism #tyranny #NoKings
#BrownUniversity Rejects #Trump #Extortion Attempt
#Brown was the second #university to turn down the *deal*, which would have given a #funding preference to #universities that agreed to conform to #conservative *values* including #censorship & restrictions on #InternationalStudents.
#law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/us/brown-university-trump-compact-funding.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
The proposal, for which the #Trump admin asked #Brown & 8 other universities to submit feedback by Monday, calls for limits on #InternationalStudents, potentially “abolishing institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle & even spark violence against conservative ideas,” & policies enshrining “that #AcademicFreedom is not absolute,” among other conditions.
#extortion #law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
The document, partially the brainchild of the #billionaire financier #MarcRowan, says that #schools are “free to develop models & values” other than the ones the #Trump admin proposed if they choose to “forego federal benefits.” And the government had dangled the possibility of “multiple positive benefits” for schools that agreed, including “substantial & meaningful federal grants.”
#extortion #law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #education #democracy #fascism #tyranny
“I am concerned that the compact by its nature & by various provisions would restrict #AcademicFreedom & undermine the #autonomy of #Brown’s governance, critically compromising our ability to fulfill our mission,” the #university’s president, Christina H. Paxson, told #Trump admin officials in a letter Wednesday.
#extortion #law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
The proposal, for which the #Trump admin asked #Brown & 8 other universities to submit feedback by Monday, calls for limits on #InternationalStudents, potentially “abolishing institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle & even spark violence against conservative ideas,” & policies enshrining “that #AcademicFreedom is not absolute,” among other conditions.
#extortion #law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
#Brown was the 2nd #university to rebuff the government’s proposal of so-called compact, after #MIT did so last week. But Brown’s decision was likely to carry extraordinary weight in #HigherEducation because it had previously reached a settlement with the #Trump admin to restore hundreds of millions in #federal #research #funding.
#extortion #law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
“I am concerned that the compact by its nature & by various provisions would restrict #AcademicFreedom & undermine the #autonomy of #Brown’s governance, critically compromising our ability to fulfill our mission,” the #university’s president, Christina H. Paxson, told #Trump admin officials in a letter Wednesday.
#extortion #law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
#Brown was the 2nd #university to rebuff the government’s proposal of so-called compact, after #MIT did so last week. But Brown’s decision was likely to carry extraordinary weight in #HigherEducation because it had previously reached a settlement with the #Trump admin to restore hundreds of millions in #federal #research #funding.
#extortion #law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
#BrownUniversity Rejects #Trump #Extortion Attempt
#Brown was the second #university to turn down the *deal*, which would have given a #funding preference to #universities that agreed to conform to #conservative *values* including #censorship & restrictions on #InternationalStudents.
#law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/us/brown-university-trump-compact-funding.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
#BrownUniversity Rejects #Trump #Extortion Attempt
#Brown was the second #university to turn down the *deal*, which would have given a #funding preference to #universities that agreed to conform to #conservative *values* including #censorship & restrictions on #InternationalStudents.
#law #US #Constitution #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #education #democracy #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/us/brown-university-trump-compact-funding.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
#Facebook suspends popular #Chicago #ICE sightings group at #Trump administration’s request
The group ICE Sighting-Chicagoland has been increasingly used in the last 5 weeks of Trump’s intense #deportation campaign to warn neighbors that #FederalAgents are nearby.
#law #FirstAmendment #immigration #FuckMarkZuckerberg #FuckMeta #WhiteSupremacy #technocracy #plutocracy #fascism
https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/14/facebook-suspends-popular-ice-sightings-group-at-trump-administrations-request
“Judge William Young’s righteously angry ruling holding that the Trump administration has violated immigrants’ First Amendment rights by revoking their visas over their protest activity”
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.282460/gov.uscourts.mad.282460.261.0_1.pdf
From: Grand Jury Shopping
Josh Barro and Ken White
Serious Trouble Podcast, 2 Oct 2025
#firstamendment #williamyoung #podcast
https://www.serioustrouble.show/p/grand-jury-shopping
Latest comic: What does not belong?
#cartoon #comic #politics #democracy #firstamendment #monarchy #authoritarianism #uspol
Latest comic: What does not belong?
#cartoon #comic #politics #democracy #firstamendment #monarchy #authoritarianism #uspol
Another federal district court understands that journalism and peaceful protests are protected by the constitution.
https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/09/judge-rules-feds-cant-pepper-spray-tear-gas-journalists-after-block-club-chicago-and-others-sue/
"A federal judge ruled Thursday that federal agents can’t use tear gas, pepper spray and other weapons against journalists and peaceful protesters after Block Club Chicago and others sued the federal government over its actions against journalists outside the Broadview ICE detention facility."
#FirstAmendment #Journalism #Trump #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics
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![Scanned Civil Action No. 25-10685-WGY US Federal District Court, District of Massachusetts, Findings document dated 30 Sep 2025
Post card dated June 19, 2025
(On file in Chambers)
Trump has pardons and tanks….
What do you have ?
[handwritten]
Dear Mr. or Ms. Anonymous,
Alone, I have nothing but my sense of duty.
Together, We the People of the United States –- you and me -- have our magnificent Constitution.
Here’s how that works out in a specific case –-
Rubio et al vs American Association of University Professors et al
Civil Action No. 25-10685-WGY
Federal Judge William Young
United States District Court
District of Massachusetts](https://cdn.masto.host/federatesocial/media_attachments/files/115/361/917/006/959/046/original/7666394e976a8366.png)
