Columbia Students’ Lawsuit Potentially “Raises Serious Questions” Under the First Amendment
From Judge Arun Subramanian’s order today in Khalil v. Trustees of Columbia Univ. (S.D.N.Y.):
Plaintiffs are students who say the federal government has unlawfully coerced Columbia University to suppress their protected speech. They claim that the government investigated Columbia and threatened to cut off $400 million in funding to enlist the university in stifling political advocacy the government disfavors.
Shortly after filing their complaint, plaintiffs filed a motion for a temporary restraining order. Among other things, the motion seeks to prohibit the government from terminating Columbia’s funding and to block Columbia from turning over any student records to Congress or taking the steps it announced two weeks ago to combat antisemitism on campus.
Judge Subramanian noted that plaintiffs may have a sound claim on the substance:
If plaintiffs can overcome the hurdles defendants raise, this case raises serious questions as to whether two branches of government violated the First Amendment by leveraging the “‘threat of invoking legal sanctions and other means of coercion … to achieve the suppression’ of disfavored speech.” NRA v. Vullo (2024) (quoting Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan (1963)).
But he declined to issue a TRO in favor of plaintiffs:
But as plaintiffs all but conceded at la
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