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First Amendment

Illustrative: Children play at a public school in San Francisco, California, August 30, 2022. (AP/Eric Risberg)
July 30, 2026, 6:49 pm
US court dismisses free speech challenge to California’s school antisemitism law
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee claimed legislation was unconstitutionally vague and discriminatory, but federal judge says there is no evidence of free speech infringements
By Shira Li Bartov
Mohsen Mahdawi speaks outside the courthouse after a US judge released the Palestinian student activist on April 30, 2025 in Burlington, Vermont. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)
July 21, 2026, 9:03 pm
US court overturns order releasing pro-Palestinian Columbia activist Mohsen Mahdawi
Judges reject lower court’s authority to free Mahdawi, opening the door to the re-arrest and deportation of the West Bank-born activist
By AP and ToI Staff
A copy of the Ten Commandments is posted along with other historical documents in a hallway of the Georgia Capitol, June 20, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
February 21, 2026, 4:39 pm
US court okays Louisiana law requiring Ten Commandments to appear in classrooms
US state’s Republican governor hails ‘comeback’ of ‘common sense’ after appeals court lifts earlier block on bill, rejecting plaintiffs’ concerns about government-endorsed religion
By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM and Rebecca Boone
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, September 10, 2011. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
December 3, 2025, 6:45 pm
U of Florida must readmit student banned for antisemitic posts, US federal judge rules
Judge orders Preston Damsky, expelled for posts including calling for Jews to be ‘abolished,’ be allowed back to school on free speech grounds, says posts didn’t constitute threat
By Grace Gilson
Far-right US Congress candidate Valentina Gomez, a Republican from Texas, burns a Quran in an advertisement posted on August 26, 2025. (Screen capture via X)
August 27, 2025, 11:39 am
‘Stop Islam’: Far-right US House candidate in Texas burns Quran in campaign ad
Colombian-American influencer Valentina Gomez, who came in 6th last time she ran for office, uses flamethrower against Islamic holy book, winning praise from Trump confidante
By ToI Staff
An Islamic boys' school is depicted under construction, in a promotional video for 'EPIC City,' a proposed Islam-centered development project in Texas, posted April 7, 2024. (Screen capture via YouTube)
April 14, 2025, 8:50 pm
Islam-centered neighborhood plan draws backlash from Texas governor, locals
Republican governor condemns proposal for self-described ‘meticulously designed community that brings Islam to the forefront,’ but developers say they’re committed to local law
By ToI Staff
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the media during a refueling stop at Shannon Airport in Shannon, Ireland, on March 12, 2025. (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP)
March 12, 2025, 6:23 pm
Arrest of Columbia anti-Israel activist ‘not about free speech,’ says Marco Rubio
Secretary of state says Mahmoud Khalil, a US permanent resident who distributed Hamas pamphlets on campus, is a ‘visitor’ to the US and has no ‘right’ to stay in the country
By Agencies and ToI Staff
Screenshot of a video on X of anti-Israel protesters outside The University of Minnesota's Morrill Hall, October 22, 2024 (used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law).
October 22, 2024, 2:27 pm
Anti-Israel protesters arrested after occupying University of Minnesota building
Demonstrators demanding the school divest from Israel barricade doors, damage property, and block staff from exiting during brief takeover, school says; at least 11 arrested
By Agencies and ToI Staff
Anti-Israel demonstrators protest outside Columbia University, September 3, 2024, in New York. (AP/Yuki Iwamura)
October 22, 2024, 1:10 am
Anti-Israel US campus groups radicalize, with no one to stop them, experts warn
Former security officials say increasingly violent rhetoric mimics that of 1960s students who pivoted to domestic terror. It’s going unhindered as students point to First Amendment
By Cathryn J. Prince
Police patrol as workers clean up anti-Israel graffiti at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus after police evicted pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters, May 2, 2024. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP)
August 15, 2024, 4:07 am
UCLA criticizes ruling that pro-Palestinian protesters can’t exclude Jews from campus
US judge finds Jewish students were blocked from parts of university ‘because they refused to denounce their faith… a fact so unimaginable and so abhorrent’ to First Amendment
By Andrew Lapin
Employees seen inside the TikTok Inc. building in Culver City, California, March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
March 13, 2024, 11:07 am
Major US Jewish group backs bipartisan bill that could see TikTok banned
Jewish Federations of North America says it supports the proposed law due to concerns of antisemitism proliferating on the platform
By Asaf Elia-Shalev
Light illuminates part of the Supreme Court building at dusk on Capitol Hill in Washington, November 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
February 21, 2023, 8:53 pm
US Supreme Court keeps Arkansas anti-BDS law in place, declining to intervene
Justices reject appeal on behalf of an Arkansas newspaper that objected to a state law that reduces fees paid to contractors who refuse to sign pledge not to boycott Israel
By AP and ToI Staff
Illustrative photo of signs calling for the boycott of Israel at an anti-Israel protest in San Francisco, April 2011. (CC BY-dignidadrebelde, Flickr)
June 23, 2022, 9:46 am
US appeals court rules that laws against Israel boycotts don’t violate Constitution
Ruling by St. Louis-based Eighth Circuit court is a major victory for pro-Israel activists who have pushed some 30 states to adopt anti-BDS laws
By Andrew Lapin
A protester stands outside Beth Israel Congregation in Ann Arbor, Michigan, flanked by anti-Israel and antisemitic signs, in 2020. On Jan. 18, 2022, the Ann Arbor City Council formally condemned the weekly protests, which had been going on for 18 years. (Alex Sherman/Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
May 26, 2022, 8:18 am
US Supreme Court rejects petitions against longtime Ann Arbor anti-Israel protesters
Plaintiffs, one of them a Holocaust survivor, argued the protests targeted Jews at their place of worship, violating their First Amendment rights
By Andrew Lapin
'The Fight for Free Speech' (NYU Press) by author and free speech legal expert Ian Rosenberg. (Portrait photo by Larry Bercow)
June 6, 2021, 4:56 pm
US free-speech lawyer: Government legislation a threat to First Amendment rights
In his new book ‘The Fight for Free Speech,’ author, professor, and ABC News legal counsel Ian Rosenberg cites 10 contemporary cases that highlight how fragile that freedom is
By Cathryn J. Prince
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