Email from The Institute for Free Speech The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech June 23, 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]. In the News Wall Street Journal: Newsletter: All Things with Kim Strassel By Kimberley A. Strassel .....Pity Oregon taxpayers, who just got a lesson in the high (dollar) cost of censorship. Judge John Acosta on Monday awarded $191,000 to the Institute for Free Speech and other attorneys who represented Portland State university professor Bruce Gilley. The University of Oregon’s Division of Equity and Inclusion blocked Gilley in 2022 from its diversity Twitter account after he dared to post words from the Declaration of Independence—“all men are created equal”—in response to a tweet. U of O agreed to a settlement in March that involved instituting free-speech reforms. The Institute for Free Speech writes that—factoring in the university’s own lawyer fees—the “total public cost” of defending this “unconstitutional censorship” now amounts to “at least $724,000.” IFS notes that Gilley’s fees will be paid by the university’s insurers, but still . . . think about those premium hikes. Election Law Blog: Montana Plan is not Without Its Skeptics By Tabatha Abu El-Haj .....Earlier this week, I blogged about a new initiative in Montana that seeks to rein in corporate political spending by amending the state’s constitution to limit the powers conferred on corporations. In a new article for the local Independent Record, Brad Smith, chairman of the Institute for Free Speech and a former commissioner for the Federal Election Commission, dismissed the plan as unserious: “the state cannot condition a benefit (in this case, the right to incorporate) on citizens giving up their constitutional rights.” Meanwhile, our very own, Rick Hasen, despite his general sympathy for regulating money in politics, told reporters he was “skeptical of the legal strategy behind this maneuver, given the incredible skepticism of the Supreme Court about the constitutionality of regulating corporate political spending.” I agree. Union Leader: Couple seeks reversal ruling against flying controversial flag at Nashua City Hall By Paul Feely .....Attorneys for a Nashua couple who sued the city last year after their request to display right-wing flags outside City Hall was denied filed an appeal with the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Massachusetts on Tuesday, claiming Nashua officials believe they can “manipulate” government rules to support viewpoints they like and “discriminate against citizens whose views they disfavor.” Beth and Stephen Scaer filed a lawsuit against the city in U.S. District Court in Concord in September 2024, claiming their free speech rights were violated after they applied to fly two different flags — a pro-life flag and a Pine Tree flag, the latter of which has been adopted by the Christian Nationalist movement and insurrectionists, on flagpoles at City Hall Plaza in Nashua. New from the Institute for Free Speech Grassroots Activists Challenge Minnesota’s Speech-Chilling Vendor Disclosure Rules .....Minnesota’s invasive lobbying disclosure laws practically hand-deliver an “enemies list” to activists looking to harass or threaten groups and their vendors. Now, two Minnesota advocacy organizations are fighting back, saying the state’s disclosure laws violate their First Amendment rights and make political violence easier. Minnesota Right to Life and Minnesota Gun Rights are challenging the state’s sweeping disclosure requirements that force grassroots groups to publicly reveal private vendor information whenever they spend more than $2,000 on advertising that encourages people to contact their elected officials. The groups, represented by attorneys from the Institute for Free Speech and local counsel Lee U. McGrath, have filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota challenging the state’s lobbying disclosure laws that chill protected speech and expose advocacy organizations and their business partners to harassment intended to drive such groups out of the public square. The Courts Courthouse News: Musk’s X sues New York over disclosure law By Josh Russell .....The social media company X Corp., formerly Twitter, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in New York federal court against Empire State Attorney General Letitia James, challenging the constitutionality of a state law that requires social media companies to publicly divulge how they monitor hate speech, extremism, harassment, disinformation, and foreign political interference. Represented by Joel Kurtzberg of Cahill Gordon & Reindel, X argues that New York’s “Stop Hiding Hate Act” violates its free speech rights under the U.S. and state constitutions by threatening lawsuits and fines unless it discloses content the state may deem objectionable. The Texas-based company seeks a ruling striking down the law’s content reporting requirements. Sacramento Bee: In a Sacramento federal courtroom, immigration hearings evoked the Dark Ages By Austin Sarat .....In the Middle Ages and early modern England, the king’s justice was often arbitrary and carried out in secret, in so-called Star Chamber proceedings. In those proceedings, officials known for their loyalty to the sovereign heard cases involving criminal offenses and acts defying the king’s proclamations. The Star Chamber courts were not governed by ordinary law. They did not accord people accused of crime the kinds of protections that were available in the regular, public court system. Secret, quick and unencumbered by procedures to safeguard rights, Star Chamber proceedings may have served the king’s justice, but they stoked public resentment. In 1641, they were abolished by an act of Parliament. But what happened last week in Sacramento’s Immigration Court suggests that the Star Chamber may be making a comeback under the Trump Administration. The Sacramento Bee reports that federal authorities “restricted public access to the building, amid a week of heightened scrutiny and local protests against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics statewide.” NBC News: Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil released after months in detention By Chloe Atkins and David K. Li .....Pro-Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil was released from detention Friday evening, ending more than three months of custody in a test of the executive branch's power to unilaterally act against legal U.S. residents. Khalil, whose plight has been center stage in President Donald Trump's crackdown on vocal opponents of Israel's incursion into Gaza, had been in immigration agents’ custody since March. He was released from a detention center in Louisiana just after 6:30 p.m. Friday, hours after a federal judge ordered that he be freed. Political Parties Politico: Democrats spar over super PAC primary spending: ‘Let’s tie one hand around our backs’ By Aaron Pellish .....Democrats are fighting over the role of super PAC spending in primaries after a group of senators called for them to be banned on Tuesday, reopening old wounds that have pitted progressives against more centrist candidates for years. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and seven Democratic senators called on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin to curb the influence of wealthy donors and super PACs in Democratic primaries in an open letter published Tuesday. The eight senators urged the DNC to pass a resolution restricting super PACs and “dark money” groups from making contributions in the party’s primaries, arguing that voters need to see the party take action on an issue that could weigh on voters’ minds ahead of the 2026 midterms. Ed. note: Also read, "Bernie Sanders, seven other senators urge Democrats to break with billionaire donors" in The Washington Post. Online Speech Platforms RealClearPolitics: Obama: Distinguishing Between Fact And Opinion Will Require Government Constraints, "We Don't Want A Diversity Of Facts" By Ian Schwartz .....Former President Barack Obama, in conversation with historian and author Heather Cox Richardson, at The Connecticut Forum on June 17, 2025. FORMER PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I've said this before, but I always repeat it. You and I can have an opinion about this little side table. You know, you might not like the design, you might not like the color or how it's finished, but we can have that discussion. … We want diversity of opinion. We don't want diversity of facts. And how do we train and teach our kids to distinguish between those things? That, I think, is one of the big tasks of social media. By the way, it will require some government, I believe, some government regulatory constraints around some of these business models in a way that's consistent with the First Amendment, but that also says, look, there is a difference between these platforms letting all voices be heard versus a business model that elevates the most hateful voices or the most polarizing voices or the most dangerous, in the sense of inciting violence, voices. And that, I think, is going to be a big challenge for all of us that we're going to have to undertake. Independent Groups Politico: Bloomberg pours more cash into Cuomo super PAC, bringing his total contribution to $8.3M By Nick Reisman .....Mike Bloomberg’s vast wealth is continuing to power Andrew Cuomo’s front-running mayoral bid. The billionaire former mayor contributed $3.3 million to a super PAC supporting Cuomo’s attempted comeback in the nation’s largest city — a donation made public on Wednesday that comes just days after Bloomberg gave $5 million to the group. With the latest gift, Bloomberg is now single-handedly responsible for one-third of the PAC’s total haul of $24 million since it launched in March, according to a POLITICO analysis. Other real estate and finance executives who make up New York’s monied elite, including billionaire Donald Trump supporter Bill Ackman, have poured cash into the group… The super PAC, which is subject to higher ad rates than campaigns, has easily outspent Cuomo’s rivals and is the best-funded PAC ever to play a role in municipal elections in New York City. The States New York Times: As N.Y.C. Mayoral Primary Nears, Money Talks as Mamdani Walks By Jeffery C. Mays .....If New York’s Democratic primary for mayor was to be decided by whoever had the most money and energy, Zohran Mamdani would be at a cash disadvantage but with a surplus on vigor. He began Friday by asking the city’s Campaign Finance Board to give him a waiver to exceed the almost $8 million spending cap for the primary — hoping to come closer to leveling the huge spending advantage of his chief rival, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. Fix the City, a super PAC supporting Mr. Cuomo, has raised more than $24 million, with much of it fueling an expensive attack ad campaign against Mr. Mamdani, a Queens assemblyman and democratic socialist. The Campaign Finance Board quickly said increasing the spending cap per Mr. Mamdani’s request would be against the rules. Tim Hunter, a spokesman for the agency, said the only time the cap can be increased is when a candidate who is not participating in the matching funds program raises more money than those who are participating in the program. That happened in the 2021 mayoral primary when Ray McGuire, one of the longest-serving Black executives on Wall Street, blew through the spending cap. It was then raised from $7.3 million to $10.3 million. “We understand the challenge posed by independent spenders to the goals of the matching funds program,” Mr. Hunter said, but the “law does not apply to spending by participating campaigns or independent spenders.” Read an article you think we would be interested in? Send it to Tiffany Donnelly at [email protected]. For email filters, the subject of this email will always begin with "Institute for Free Speech Media Update." The Institute for Free Speech is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that promotes and defends the political rights to free speech, press, assembly, and petition guaranteed by the First Amendment. Please support the Institute's mission by clicking here. For further information, visit www.ifs.org. Follow the Institute for Free Speech The Institute for Free Speech | 1150 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 801 | Washington, DC 20036 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice