Knight First Amendment Institute

”Lawyering Without Law,” is an Anthem Awards finalist, and we’re in the running for an Anthem Community Voice Award! Listen wherever you get podcasts and help us win the Community Voice Award here: celebrate.anthemawards.com/PublicVoting... Voting ends on Oct. 29, so vote today!

Trump wants to punish reporters for stories he doesn’t like. Grateful that @knightcolumbia.org & @yalelawschool-yls.bsky.social's Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic are fighting back, because the president doesn’t get to decide what the press can report or what the public has a right to know.

Love this story about Ethan Young, the student journalist who joined the @knightcolumbia.org @mfia-clinic.bsky.social lawsuit filed yesterday. "As someone who wants to be a journalist, I see upholding the First Amendment as synonymous with pursuing that profession." www.inquirer.com/education/un...

Just filed: new @knightcolumbia.org @mfia-clinic.bsky.social lawsuit challenging Trump's "policy and practice" of punishing members of the White House press corps whose reporting he views as “fake news." knightcolumbia.org/content/trum...

Double the honor for “Lawyering Without Law” 🎉 The Knight Institute’s podcast won a Silver Award and the Listener’s Choice Award at the 2026 Signal Awards. Thank you to everyone who listened and voted! Find the full series here, or wherever you get your podcasts: knightcolumbia.org/content/lawy...

INTERNSHIP ALERT: We are accepting applications for our Spring 2027 Research, Policy, & Communications Internship. Open to @columbiauniversity.bsky.social & Barnard College students. Details: knightcolumbia.org/page/spring-...

Did you know that not all court records are available to the public online? @mfiadave.bsky.social of @mfia-clinic.bsky.social explains the difficulty of accessing some court records and how to solve this problem of access below: knightcolumbia.org/blog/bring-j...

I've been writing some short thoughts about our @knightcolumbia.org Lawyering Without Law podcast and the future of the legal profession. This one's about the law firms that folded, how Congress and FOIA can find out what they agreed to, and making this shameful episode part of their legacies.

A federal judge late last night issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from barring CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House press facilities. Read more here: knightcolumbia.org/content/knig...

How do we hold law firms accountable for capitulating to Trump? The Institute’s @katygb.bsky.social draws on her podcast discussion with @lessig.bsky.social and Madhav Khosla to answer this question. knightcolumbia.org/blog/account...

This is a great conversation between computer scientist and former @knightcolumbia.org visiting scholar Arvind Narayanan (@randomwalker.bsky.social) and @ezraklein.bsky.social about Arvind's @knightcolumbia.org essay, "AI as Normal Technology." www.nytimes.com/2026/10/09/o...

FOIA is plagued by, in simple terms, bullshit, writes @kevinhbell.bsky.social. Drawing on his experience as an agency FOIA processor and litigator, Bell traces its collapse to disinvestment, judicial backsliding, and public complacency, and calls for new congressional committees to revive it.

We’re hiring! The Knight Institute is seeking legal interns (1Ls, 2Ls, or LLMs) for the summer of 2027. Apply here: knightcolumbia.org/page/summer-...

This September’s Forever War symposium examined how post-9/11 surveillance has evolved. #TBT to 2019, when Edward Snowden explained how it took hold: technology made collecting everyone's communications cheaper than targeting suspects. Watch the full interview: youtu.be/OSOlbUdMP-g

JUST FILED: “This report concerns allegations of serious misconduct by the nation’s highest public official. ... The court should reject this latest attempt at delay and hear the case on November 2,” @scottbwilkens.bsky.social knightcolumbia.org/content/knig...

"There will be a moment, as there was in Reconstruction, where a window of reform and revolution opens," says Vanderbilt Professor @pastpunditry.bsky.social. "You have to be prepared for that." From "The Forever War and the First Amendment." Watch the full panel: youtu.be/caIcoWqLzHQ

A 1969 Supreme Court ruling still gives the FCC power over what airs on broadcast TV and radio. Lisa Zycherman of @rcfp.org says it's time to overturn Red Lion, a precedent born of a White House-backed campaign to harass stations, and a tool any president can use. 👇

“When you get tortured, you become another person.” Mohamedou Ould Slahi spent 14 years detained at Guantánamo Bay without ever being charged with a crime. At “The Forever War and the First Amendment,” he reflected on the impact of torture. Watch the full interview: youtu.be/XmEgCwsct_U

“People around me were scared that they were going to be the next Mahmoud Khalil.” @veenadubal.bsky.social, General Counsel of @aaup.org, recalls the fear faculty and students felt when their free speech was threatened on campus. Watch the full interview: youtu.be/5VBJJKjwjFM

Should journalists advocate more for free speech — not just their own, but everyone's? In an essay for the Institute, @joelsimonsays.bsky.social asks whether press freedom groups and news organizations should defend the free expression rights of all Americans. Read more:

"It's hard, actually, to identify a First Amendment case on the merits that Trump has actually won," says @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social. Law firms. Harvard. NPR + PBS. Sen. Mark Kelly. All took the administration to court and won. From "The Forever War and the First Amendment" youtu.be/pKMIcsptS7A

"Lawyering Without Law," @knightcolumbia.org's podcast about the role and responsibility of lawyers in an era of authoritarianism, is up for a Signal award because, well, it's really good. Listen here: www.knightcolumbia.org/content/lawy...

“Spyware manufacturers that participate in the persecution of journalists shouldn’t be able to operate with impunity, and U.S. courts must ensure that they are held accountable for their actions where those actions violate U.S. law," @carriedecell.bsky.social. knightcolumbia.org/content/cour...

Can AI fix FOIA's backlog without handing the executive branch more control over what the public gets to see? In a new essay for the Institute, @a-marshall-plan.bsky.social of @rcfp.org proposes a risk framework and calls for empirical testing to make sure AI upholds FOIA's core values.

"Lawyering Without Law" is a Signal Awards finalist 🎙️ Our series on lawyers' role in defending democracy, or enabling its collapse, is up for Listener's Choice. Voting closes Oct. 15: vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting...

FOIA backlogs keep growing, and government transparency is paying the price. Fixing it means more funding, a closer look at agencies' internal operations, and rethinking how they use technology, writes Michele Kimball for our Reconstructing Free Expression project.

The War on Terror "never ended," said @rozinaali.bsky.social at "The Forever War and the First Amendment." One of 9/11's lasting legacies, she said, is that it has "entrenched us in a wartime mentality," with the structures built in its wake still firmly in place. youtu.be/gTYQkE_CCKE

Thrilled that Vanita Gupta and Karen Kaiser have joined @knightcolumbia.org's board. As Lee Bollinger says, their appointments will strengthen the Institute at a critical moment for our work. knightcolumbia.org/content/vani...

“There is a duty that I’m after, and it’s in the principle of telling the truth.” At “The Forever War and the First Amendment,” @mohamhawish.bsky.social spoke about his time reporting in Gaza and how, for him, journalism is beyond a job. It’s a “responsibility.” Full panel: youtu.be/JuEWOn43gvM

Should lawyers consider the implications for democracy of their legal arguments? @katygb.bsky.social considers this question and more as she reflects on the conversations she’s had on the Institute’s Lawyering Without Law podcast. Read more: knightcolumbia.org/blog/reflect...

ICYMI: Here's a recap of our recent symposium with links to panel recordings. Columbia’s Knight Institute Co-Hosted Symposium on ‘Forever War and the First Amendment’ | Columbia News news.columbia.edu/news/columbi...

Government secrecy doesn't deter most reporters. It makes them dig harder, says @washingtonpost.com investigative reporter Dana Priest. She spoke about covering government power at "The Forever War and the First Amendment." Watch the panel: youtu.be/JuEWOn43gvM

What are the best ways to preserve quality journalism? @mattfieldwood.bsky.social of @freepress.bsky.social discusses finding, and funding, new models of journalism amid attacks on the press: knightcolumbia.org/blog/beyond-...

“We hope that Judge Kelly will soon make his TRO permanent, and that his permanent order addresses the news organizations’ First Amendment claims ... The First Amendment bars the president from transforming the press corps into a propaganda machine.” knightcolumbia.org/content/judg...

Judge Kelly has scheduled a hearing in this case for 3:30. I guess we'll find out whether he thinks it's as straightforward as I told @profmmurray.bsky.social it is. www.ms.now/the-beat-wit...

In a new blog post for the Knight Institute’s Reconstructing Free Expression project, Ryan P. Mulvey explains the steps Congress needs to take to reinvigorate FOIA’s judicially enforceable right of access. knightcolumbia.org/blog/restori...

Trump’s resort to “national security” isn't going to save his actions from unconstitutionality. What he's imposed is a prior restraint, and prior restraints are unconstitutional even in the national security context. See Pentagon Papers (1971). www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

The White House's brief responding to CNN/Ms Now/Politico's TRO motion is a joke - legally, constitutionally, and logically. (1/5) storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Margaret Kwoka writes in her essay for the Knight Institute how a centralized FOIA portal, based off of models in Mexico and other countries, could revolutionize public access to U.S. government information. Read more here: knightcolumbia.org/blog/reimagi...

“The president is kicking news organizations out of the press pool, out of the White House on the basis of his dislike of their coverage,” @jameeljaffer.bsky.social told @maddow.bsky.social. Watch their discussion on Trump’s latest assault on the free press. www.youtube.com/watch?v=39TX...

The Trump administration's banning of CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House is “just the latest in President Trump and his administration's onslaught against the press,” said the Knight Institute’s @katiefallow.bsky.social on @democracynow.org. www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5oq...

The Knight Institute plans to support @cnn.com, @ms.now, and @politico.com in court. These news outlets announced today that they’re suing President Trump and three advisors after the administration banned them from the White House and confiscated their reporters’ press credentials.

This is so important and should have happened last year when the White House banned the AP from the pool because it still uses “Gulf of America”

Over the weekend, journalists with CNN, MS NOW and Politico reported their press badges were confiscated when they attempted to enter White House grounds. The outlets have announced they will file a First Amendment lawsuit against the Trump administration in response.

“We’re glad to see that these news organizations are suing. The president’s decision to bar them from the White House for the content of their reporting is a flagrant violation of the First Amendment. ... We'll support [them] in court,” @jameeljaffer.bsky.social knightcolumbia.org/content/knig...

If President Trump “means to expel these news organizations from The White House press pool, his action is doubly unconstitutional because the press pool is a ‘public forum’ under the First Amendment, which means the president can’t exclude journalists from it on the basis of their viewpoints.”