Email from The Institute for Free Speech The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech July 11, 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]. New from the Institute for Free Speech California City Law Unconstitutionally Silences Government Critics .....The City of Oxnard in California crafted a campaign finance law to silence its most vocal critic, blatantly violating the First Amendment’s protection against government viewpoint discrimination. That’s why the Institute for Free Speech filed an amicus brief in Moving Oxnard Forward, Inc. v. Lourdes Lopez before the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The brief argues that “the city’s deliberate attempt to silence a challenger by eliminating the financing that only he used is an attack on the democratic process, and the First Amendment requires an ‘independent and careful’ review under closely drawn scrutiny.” The Courts Courthouse News: Far-right lecturer asks Third Circuit to restore retaliation claims over suspension By Jackson Healy .....A far-right college lecturer who was suspended and denied a renewed contract for reportedly espousing off-campus comments supporting Adolf Hitler and white supremacy asked a Third Circuit panel on Wednesday to consider whether his employment should have been protected under the First Amendment.. Wall Street Journal: Planned Parenthood Is People, My Friend By James Taranto .....Which brings us back to Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. v. Kennedy. The corporate plaintiffs…allege that the defunding measure violates their freedom of speech by punishing their advocacy of “access to sexual and reproductive health care, including the right to safe and legal abortion.” They also claim violations of their rights to free association under the First Amendment and equal protection under the Fifth Amendment. New York Times: Immigration Officials Used Shadowy Pro-Israel Group to Target Student Activists By Zach Montague .....A senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official testified in federal court on Wednesday that his office had used opaque pro-Israel blacklisting websites to help target international student activists for investigation and possible deportation. The admission by Peter Hatch, the assistant director of the Homeland Security Investigations department within ICE, appeared to be the first time that an administration official had acknowledged taking cues from the shadowy groups behind the sites, including Canary Mission, which has been accused of doxxing individuals engaged in pro-Palestinian activism. FEC Campaigns & Elections: New FEC Chair: ‘The Mission of This Agency Cannot Be Neglected’ By Max Greenwood .....Federal Election Commissioner Shana Broussard is in a tough spot. She became chair of the commission last week, but lacks the four-person quorum needed to fulfill some of the agency’s most important functions. At the same time, President Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget is recommending steep cuts to the FEC’s funding in 2026, threatening additional strains to an agency that its members say is already underfunded. In an interview with C&E this week, Broussard – one of two Democrats on the commission – acknowledged the challenges that lie ahead for the FEC. But she also insisted that the agency is in a far-better position than it was four years ago during her first stint as the commission’s chair, and expressed hope that it could soon get back to its rulemaking responsibilities. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.  IRS Jonesing on Nonprofits: Stakeholders React to IRS Allowing Church Endorsements By Darryll K. Jones .....I did a quick and entirely unscientific survey of statements and press releases issued after news broke earlier this week that the Service will not challenge political endorsements (or, presumably, statements opposing a candidate) made to congregants in a church’s “customary communications.” Most stakeholders who bothered to speak on the issue expressed opposition. For example, the Union for Reform Judaism’s said this: Free Expression New York Times: Why Hiring Professors With Conservative Views Could Backfire on Conservatives By Jennifer M. Morton .....Is hiring more conservative professors and admitting more conservative students a solution to liberal bias in American higher education? Many people think so. The Trump administration, in threatening to cut Harvard’s federal funding, demanded that the university foster greater “viewpoint diversity,” including by recruiting faculty members and students who would restore ideological balance to campus. Other political actors have embraced the idea, too. At least eight states have passed or introduced laws to require viewpoint diversity at public educational institutions. Certainly, there is not enough engagement with conservative ideas on college campuses. Schools can and should do more to ensure that students encounter a greater range of political perspectives in syllabuses and among speakers invited to give talks. But a policy of hiring professors and admitting students because they have conservative views would actually endanger the open-minded intellectual environment that proponents of viewpoint diversity say they want. By creating incentives for professors and students to have and maintain certain political positions, such a policy would discourage curiosity and reward narrowness of thought. Candidates and Campaigns Politico: Advice for Elon Musk from the Most Successful Third-Party Campaign in Modern History By Catherine Kim .....Russell Verney: Well, I think his use of the term third party is tremendously vague. It’s not what [Musk is] doing: He’s not creating a political party, he’s creating a political committee that is going to encourage people to run and may make independent expenditures on their behalf. A political party essentially has a big structure, and the most important asset of a political body is ballot access — in other words, the right to place the name of its candidate on the general election ballot. Musk doesn’t have that. He may assist people to get ballot access, but the candidates themselves are going to have to get the ballot access. Brookings: Are small donors the solution to democracy’s problems? By Raymond La Raja and Zachary Albert .....Our research indicates that small donors are not like other Americans. As Figure 1 shows, small donors in both parties occupy a middle ground between large donors and ordinary citizens—they are generally wealthier, more educated, older, and whiter than the average American, but less so than large donors. Importantly, women now make up a significant share of small donors, particularly in the Democratic Party, where they are almost equal in number. The political profile of small donors is even more skewed. As Figure 2 shows, small donors strongly resemble large donors in their intense partisanship and ideological commitments. On specific issues (not shown here) like abortion, immigration, minimum wage, and guns, small donors are as extreme in their views as large donors. We also found that small donors exhibit even stronger animosity than large donors toward the opposing party. Figure 2 also illustrates that small donors follow the news closely and are highly engaged politically, participating in at least one act beyond voting and donating. This means that small donors influence politics beyond their financial contributions. The States Miami Herald: DeSantis vetoes bill aimed at limiting corruption in office By Lawrence Mower .....Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill intended to limit his officials from asking lobbyists and donors for campaign contributions while on the clock. HB 1445, which passed with a single “no” vote in the Republican-controlled Legislature this year, would in part have prohibited state officials from using their position to solicit campaign contributions. The City: Eric Adams’ Chances of Getting Public Campaign Matching Funds Just Got Worse By Greg B. Smith .....The city’s campaign finance watchdog has greatly expanded its investigation into Mayor Eric Adams’ fundraising, targeting alleged illegal straw donations arranged by an agent of the Uzbekistan government and demanding records related to several fundraisers Adams failed to disclose to the agency. The Campaign Finance Board (CFB) has repeatedly denied Adams’ requests for public matching funds as he runs for re-election, charging that credible evidence of illegal donations render him ineligible for generous matching funds paid for by taxpayers. In response, Adams has sued the board. On Tuesday, lawyers for the CFB filed papers in Brooklyn federal court demanding that the judge toss the lawsuit. The filings included recent correspondence with the Adams’ campaign demanding more records to explain even more suspect contributions and secret fundraisers. 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