Judge sounds alarm in ruling denouncing Trump's targeting student protesters [View all]

[Nevilledog]

https://www.allrisenews.com/p/aaup-trump-young-justice-kkk

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Early in his ruling, Judge Young frames the case filed by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) as a uniquely significant one in his four-decade long judicial tenure

“This case—perhaps the most important ever to fall within the jurisdiction of this district court—squarely presents the issue of whether non-citizens lawfully present here in [the] United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us,” Young wrote. “The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally ‘yes, they do.’ ‘No law’ means ‘no law.’ The First Amendment does not draw President Trump’s invidious distinction and it is not to be found in our history or jurisprudence.”

Led by Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, the academic advocacy groups challenged the Trump government’s practice of targeting student protesters. Students like Mahmoud Khalil, Rümeysa Öztürk, Mohsen Mahdawi, and Badar Khan Suri previously sued in their individual capacities, and judges presiding over their cases have largely found that they were targeted for their political opinions.

Young’s ruling affirms that Kristi Noem, Marco Rubio and “their several agents and subordinates acted in concert to misuse the sweeping powers of their respective offices to target non-citizen pro-Palestinians for deportation primarily on account of their First Amendment protected political speech.”

“They did so in order to strike fear into similarly situated non-citizen pro-Palestinian individuals, pro-actively (and effectively) curbing lawful pro-Palestinian speech and intentionally denying such individuals (including the plaintiffs here) the freedom of speech that is their right,” the ruling’s conclusion states. “Moreover, the effect of these targeted deportation proceedings continues unconstitutionally to chill freedom of speech to this day.”

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