Email from The Institute for Free Speech The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech March 5, 2025 Click here to subscribe to the Daily Media Update. This is the Daily Media Update published by the Institute for Free Speech. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]. Ed. note: The Daily Media Update will return Friday, March 7. The Courts Law & Crime: ‘They specifically target viewpoints the government seems to disfavor’: Judge gives lengthy First Amendment lecture to Trump admin over failed effort to enforce anti-DEI orders By Colin Kalmbacher .....The Trump administration has failed to convince a federal judge that its efforts to penalize “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) initiatives should be allowed to go forward amid an ongoing lawsuit… On Feb. 21, U.S. District Judge Adam B. Abelson, a Joe Biden appointee, issued a preliminary nationwide injunction against the three anti-DEI directives. On Feb. 25, the government filed a motion to stay the court’s order pending appeal. On Feb. 28, the plaintiffs in the case urged the judge to stick to his guns. On Monday, the court denied the government’s motion to stay the injunction. In a 10-page memorandum opinion and order, the judge opined at length that the government’s anti-DEI policies constitute one of the “most egregious” violations of the First Amendment. Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): D.C. U.S. Attorney Drops Probe Over Sen. Schumer's 2020 Statements About Gorsuch and Kavanaugh By Eugene Volokh .....The Washington Post (Spencer Hsu) reports: “Interim D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin has dropped plans to investigate the country's most powerful elected Democrat over a statement he made about two conservative Supreme Court justices five years ago, concluding that a probe is unfounded, two people familiar with the matter said Tuesday.” The possibility had been aired by Mr. Martin in a Jan. 21 letter (and again in follow-up letters): … It seems to me clear that Schumer's statement wasn't a punishable true threat of criminal attack; rather, it was a constitutionally protected threat of political retaliation: New York Times: Maine Lobster Industry Can Sue Seafood Watchdog for Defamation, Judge Rules By Neil Vigdor .....Maine’s lobster industry can proceed with a defamation lawsuit that it brought against a seafood watchdog group, which had placed a do-not-buy designation on the crustaceans because of the dangers it said that the industry’s fishing nets posed to an endangered whale species. A federal judge last month denied a motion to have the case dismissed, drawing an appeal on Thursday from the group Seafood Watch, a nonprofit run by the Monterey Bay Aquarium that publishes seafood sustainability ratings. Congress People United for Privacy: IRS Overreach Must End .....Wrongdoing at the IRS is putting Americans’ privacy and First Amendment rights at risk. Congress must take action to build on President Trump’s efforts to end the weaponization of government against its citizens... Congress can begin by supporting key budget riders to prevent the IRS and SEC from invading the privacy of nonprofit donors through new regulations. Members of Congress should also pass the Speech Privacy Act. This legislation codifies privacy reforms that were adopted during President Trump’s first term and reaffirmed by Supreme Court rulings. Lastly, Congress should take care not to inadvertently expand the power of the IRS to invade Americans’ privacy when considering legislation on other topics, such as preventing foreign influence in elections. Washington Times: Nonprofit concerns with the Corporate Transparency Act By Brian Hawkins and Tyler Martinez .... On its face, the law does not appear to target charities and nonprofits. The CTA contains an exemption for tax-exempt organizations. Yet despite this apparent protection, the law will expose many Americans’ private giving to an army of bureaucrats, financial institutions, and even foreign governments. Snuck through Congress as part of an omnibus spending bill, the CTA requires small businesses to report personal information about their beneficial owners to FinCEN, the federal agency tasked with enforcing the law). This includes home addresses and photocopies of passports or driver’s licenses. FinCEN is authorized to provide access to the database to a wide range of public and private entities. While the CTA does not cover nonprofits, philanthropists who utilize LLCs as vehicles for charitable giving are. These individuals will be entered into FinCEN’s database, and their donation history will be easily traced. Since charitable donors often use LLCs to help protect their privacy, revealing beneficial owners will negate many of the benefits of this arrangement. The database is not open to the public in theory. In practice, the government has little credibility to promise that personal data will be secured. From OPM to the IRS, millions of Americans have been victimized by hacks, leaks, and accidental disclosures of data that receive greater protections than the CTA affords. The CTA’s database of small business owners will make for an especially juicy target. Free Expression The Bedrock Principle: Mill Rolls in His Grave By Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff .....In 2019, Dias Toffoli, then-Chief Justice of Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court, appointed fellow judge Alexandre de Moraes to lead an inquiry to investigate "fake news, false reports of crimes, slanderous reports, threats, and other infractions" that "affect the honor and security of the Federal Supreme Court, its members, and family." De Moraes soon dramatically expanded the scope of his powers to include "fake news" and propaganda aimed at democratic institutions more generally, with wide-ranging consequences for political speech in Brazil. By 2022, when appointed President of the Electoral Court, de Moraes received expanded authority to police political speech during elections to prevent the "distribution and sharing of knowingly untrue or gravely decontextualized information affecting the electoral process”. de Moraes’ controversial methods have divided Brazilian opinion — some see him as a defender of democracy, others as the censorial Grand Inquisitor of the Brazilian public sphere. Candidates and Campaigns Sludge: Think Tank Funded by Elites and Corporations Tells Democrats to Drop Small Donors By Donald Shaw .....In a five-page memo of “takeaways” from a recent retreat with Democratic staffers and consultants, Third Way asserts that small-dollar donors’ preferences “may not align with the broader electorate” and urges a shift away from their dominance. The memo stops short of naming alternative funding sources, but the implication is clear: less grassroots support would likely mean more reliance on big checks from super PACs and wealthy donors. Alongside calls to curb “far-left influence,” adopt a “pro-capitalist” stance, and stop “demonizing wealth and corporations,” the memo paints a picture of a party steered by the wealthy, for the wealthy. Election Law Blog: “The reality is anything that empowers online donors mechanically disempowers non-white and working class Democrats” By Richard Pildes .....That line is from this tweet, by David Shor, who is one of the top political data analysts on the Democratic side. You will see that he references a new academic study that makes this point. As readers of this blog know, this is also something I have been saying in my work, such as this article in the Yale Law Journal Forum. The States Fox 5 Atlanta: Georgia Senate bill to ban DEI programs advances to floor vote .....A Georgia Senate bill that would formally ban Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in the state’s public schools is heading to the Senate floor for a vote. If passed, schools that violate the proposed rules would risk losing both state funds and federally managed funds distributed by the state. What we know: State Sen. Marty Harbin, R-Tyrone, the bill’s sponsor, argues that the legislation aims to restore academic excellence and fairness in Georgia’s colleges, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Harbin claims DEI initiatives have evolved beyond their original purpose, turning into ideological filters that suppress free speech, emphasize group identity over individual merit, and foster division rather than unity. Boston Globe: ‘Turtleboy’ blogger seeks to dismiss witness intimidation charges on free speech grounds By Travis Andersen .....Aidan Kearney, the controversial blogger known as Turtleboy who’s charged with intimidating and harassing witnesses in the Karen Read case, is due in court Wednesday for a hearing on his motion to dismiss the indictment against him. Kearney, 43, of Holden, will appear for the hearing at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Norfolk Superior Court, records show. In a 42-page motion to dismiss, Kearney’s lawyers said he’s seeking to have all 16 pending counts tossed on the grounds that “the charges implicate only protected speech,” and that prosecutors engaged in the “impairment of the integrity of the Grand Jury by misrepresenting the state of the evidence and the law” to obtain the indictments. Read an article you think we would be interested in? Send it to Tiffany Donnelly at [email protected]. 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