Hi John,

August is typically a slow time in Washington DC. A Supreme Court in recess, a Congress out of session, and for some of us, one last trip before the kids go back to school.

Unfortunately, the censors never seem to take a summer vacation…

Which means the Institute for Free Speech is working overtime, racking up three new legal victories just this month!

• Golden West College settles! After previously threatening students for conservative viewpoints, the college agrees to eliminate so-called “hateful behavior” restrictions that allow them to censor speech they don’t like and protect First Amendment expression. Read more about the case here.

• Federal Judge Strikes Down Unconstitutional Maine Law! The campaign finance restrictions created by Maine’s “Question 1” that passed last fall, imposed a $5,000 annual limit on contributions to groups making independent expenditures and required disclosure of all donors regardless of contribution size. The court’s ruling now aligns Maine law with other federal precedents—starting with the D.C. Circuit en banc decision in SpeechNow.org v. FEC, which was also litigated by the Institute for Free Speech. Read more about the case here.

• Ninth Circuit agrees our client faces a “credible threat” from DEI! Our client, a California professor, argues that speaking against DEI policies could lead to getting fired. But a lower court had previously ruled that Prof. Johnson lacked standing to sue. This month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Johnson’s conduct was arguably forbidden by certain provisions of California law, giving him standing to sue some community college officials.

"We're pleased that the court of appeals recognized that California's [DEI] regulations threaten Professor Johnson's First Amendment rights by compelling him to express ideological viewpoints he finds objectionable," said Alan Gura, vice president for litigation with the Institute for Free Speech. Read more about the case here.

These cases are only a small portion of the work we’re doing. Check out our digital quarterly newsletter to read about all our latest work to protect speech rights!

Want a printed copy of our quarterly newsletter in the mail? Email our Director of Development, Doug Granger, at [email protected] to be added to our print newsletter list.

Please support our vital work to protect free speech for all today.