The Supreme Court got this one right. In National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission, decided today, the court struck down the federal limits on coordinated expenditures between political parties and their candidates. The vote was 6–3, with Justice Kavanaugh writing for the majority, joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Barrett. For decades, these restrictions rested on a bizarre fiction, that a political party could somehow corrupt the very candidate it nominates. Nobody who has ever worked in politics believes that. Parties exist to elect candidates. The court has now said what practitioners have known all along: the government cannot punish them for doing so.
The court did not mince words. Justice Kavanaugh wrote that Colorado II’s “reasoning has been rejected by subsequent cases and is no longer good law in light of the court’s more recent precedents. To the extent that Colorado II has retained any vitality, it is now overruled.” That 2001 decision, FEC v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee, had upheld the coordinated-expenditure limits by a 5–4 vote over a powerful dissent by Justice Thomas — the only member of that court still serving. Twenty-five years later, his dissent has been vindicated. As the majority acknowledged, Justice Thomas “explained that ‘the ordinary means for a party to provide support is to make coordinated expenditures’” and that “‘breaking the connection between parties and their candidates inhibits the promotion of the party&#8217;s message.’”
I have some stake in saying so. As a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, I was at the commission when this litigation began. The Biden administration chose to defend the restrictions. When President Donald Trump returned to office, the solicitor general shifted the government’s position, rightly, in my view, and conceded the limits were unconstitutional. That was not a political stunt. It was an honest acknowledgment of what the First Amendment requires. Because the government declined to defend the law, the court appointed Roman Martinez, a former clerk to both Chief Justice Roberts and then-Judge Kavanaugh, as amicus curiae to argue in defense of the statute.
The history matters. When the case went to the en banc Sixth Circuit, a majority of the judges questioned the continued validity of Colorado II, considering later Supreme Court decisions, particularly McCutcheon v. FEC (2014) and FEC v. Ted Cruz for Senate (2022), but felt bound by the 2001 precedent. The Supreme Court freed them, and us, from that constraint.
Look at what these coordination limits did. They did not reduce the amount of money spent on politics. They just pushed spending away from political parties and toward outside groups. The court recognized this directly: the coordinated-expenditure limits imposed a “stifling effect on the ability of the party to do what it exists to do.” Meanwhile, donors sent their funds to Super PACs and other outside groups with a First Amendment right to spend unlimited money. The numbers are staggering: in the 2024 cycle, PACs raised over $15.7 billion, compared to $2.7 billion by political parties. A Super PAC run by consultants could spend without limit, but the Republican or Democratic party committee could not coordinate a mail piece with its own nominee. The First Amendment does not require that absurdity.
The majority applied what it called the “closely drawn” scrutiny from McCutcheon and Cruz, requiring that any restriction on political speech be “necessary,” “narrowly tailored,” and not “disproportionate” to the government’s interest. The only permissible interest in campaign finance restrictions, the court reaffirmed, is “preventing corruption or the appearance of corruption” — and only the narrow, quid pro quo kind. Not “influence.” Not “access.” Not “ingratiation.” The court wrote plainly: “Ingratiation and access &#8230; are not corruption,” but instead “embody a central feature of democracy.”
As for the government’s circumvention argument, the idea that donors would funnel money through parties to evade contribution limits, the court concluded that three existing tools already address that concern: base contribution limits to candidates, earmarking rules that treat directed contributions as direct donations, and robust disclosure requirements. The coordinated-expenditure limits were a “fourth line of defense” — a “prophylaxis-upon-prophylaxis” that was disproportionate to the interest it served. The majority pointedly observed that a majority of states “largely give parties free rein to make coordinated expenditures on behalf of their state-level nominees,” and yet “no evidence of corruption” via circumvention “has materialized.”
It is important to remember: parties disclose their donors. Their leadership is public. They file detailed reports with the FEC. The court itself emphasized that disclosure “offers much more robust protections against corruption” today than ever before, because of advances in technology and the Internet. If you care about transparency in elections, you should want more money flowing through parties, not less.
Critics will say this opens the floodgates. It does not. Contribution limits to the political parties still exist. Parties still cannot raise unlimited money the way Super PACs can. What changes is that parties can now spend what they raise in coordination with their candidates instead of pretending they operate independently. As the court stressed, the decision “treats all political parties equally” and will “allow all political parties, including the DNC and RNC and the respective Senate and House campaign committees, to participate more freely and compete more fully in the political process.” Some money will migrate back from Super PACs to party committees. That means more disclosure, more accountability, and more coherent campaigns.
Campaign finance reformers have spent decades getting this wrong. Every time Americans find a way to participate in political speech, the reformers’ knee-jerk response is the same: restrict it. They pushed for the coordinated-expenditure limits. They got them. The predictable result was that money flowed to outside groups while parties withered. The court has now corrected part of the problem by eliminating the coordination restriction, but the underlying contribution limits, themselves an unconstitutional restraint on political association, remain in place because the same misguided reform impulse that created them still dominates the conversation in Washington.
At bottom, this case asked a simple question: Can the government restrict political speech because regulators think there is too much of it? The answer is no. It has always been no. As the court reminded us, the “Framers were even more famously suspicious of government suppression of political speech” than they were of political parties. And it closed with the most powerful point of all: “For nearly 200 years after the ratification of the First Amendment, parties could spend on campaigns in coordination with candidates,” and no one suggests “that these elections were not functional or that they were marred by corruption.” The First Amendment is not a suggestion, and it does not come with a carve-out for election season.
That should not be a controversial statement. But in Washington, apparently it still is. Credit the court for moving the conversation in the right direction — toward freedom, and away from the reflexive assumption that government knows best when Americans speak about politics.
***
Trey Trainor is a partner at Dhillon Law Group, Inc., board certified in Legislative and Campaign Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and former Commissioner and Chairman of the Federal Election Commission.

Insider Trading

The Supreme Court Restores Some Common Sense To Campaign Finance

DW Opinion

Federal Election Commission (FEC)

First Amendment

Free Speech

political speech

Special Reporting

Supreme Court

A libertarian law professor who responded to FIRE’s recent <a href="https://www.fire.org/research-learn/free-expression-climate-self-censorship-national-survey-american-law-faculty">national survey of law faculty</a> offered a striking admission:
<blockquote>
Whether justified or unjustified, I regularly hide beliefs from colleagues who are openly discussing important topics in the public interest out of fear of retaliation, particularly as a junior faculty member.
</blockquote>
No administrator had disciplined him. No student had filed a complaint. Yet, by his own admission, he and another colleague routinely conceal their views at faculty meetings and other public events, not because anyone ordered them to stay silent, but because they worry that candor can exact professional costs.
That kind of silence is tricky to measure, but carries serious implications. And new data suggest it is relatively common in American law schools.
For a <a href="https://www.fire.org/research-learn/free-expression-climate-self-censorship-national-survey-american-law-faculty">report</a> released this week, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) surveyed 1,959 law faculty at 192 ABA-approved law schools. The findings reveal a profession caught in a contradiction: law professors overwhelmingly endorse free expression in principle, yet many describe an academic culture that discourages them from practicing it.
That should alarm anyone who cares about legal education. Law schools are supposed to be places that train students to make arguments they may not personally believe, stress-test ideas against the strongest opposing case, and examine precedents, doctrines, and historical cases that may offend some modern sensibilities. But that model depends on faculty willing to speak frankly and institutions willing to tolerate dissent.
More than half of the law faculty surveyed (56%) report that they at least occasionally feel unable to express their opinion because of how students, colleagues, or administrators might respond. And that number becomes even more striking when ideology is taken into account. Conservative law faculty, who are outnumbered three to one in the sample, were more likely than their liberal colleagues to report self-censoring (72% versus 50%), and three times as many conservatives, compared to liberals, reported at least occasionally hiding their political beliefs from other faculty in an attempt to keep their job (52% versus 17%).
The survey also found clear asymmetries in perceptions of institutional fit. While majorities of law faculty said a liberal individual would fit well in their law school, far fewer said the same about a conservative individual.
As one law professor put it:
<blockquote>
In my law school, students get only half the story in most of their courses. There are no conservatives as full-time professors, and only a few moderates. Students who are moderate to conservative rarely share their views in class.
</blockquote>
And this same professor connected that climate directly to his own choices:
<blockquote>
For the past 15 years, I&#8217;ve seen our law students become less prepared for the adversarial nature of legal practice. I&#8217;m partly to blame, as I have modified my exams and exercises to avoid potentially controversial fact patterns and claims.
</blockquote>
That self-indictment — “I’m partly to blame” — isn’t a complaint about administrators or colleagues (though they could be the other part). Rather, it’s an acknowledgment that retreating from difficulty is something he’s done, incrementally, over many years. All within the context of diminishing ideological diversity. Multiplied across a profession, that accumulation of small adjustments doesn’t just reflect the culture of law schools. It creates one.
Another law professor, a self-described strong Democrat, described the specific calculus self-censorship dynamics produce in his classes:
<blockquote>
I teach cases without ever saying what actually happened in the case because I&#8217;m afraid to say those words (notably some First Amendment cases address words I didn&#8217;t even know were slurs before reading the case).
</blockquote>
A First Amendment professor, self-censoring while teaching First Amendment cases. By this professor’s honest admission, we can see how his students are learning about free speech firsthand, but in this case by what isn’t being said. They are watching their professor decide that engagement with certain material is too risky, and filing that lesson away.
This is how habits can form and a culture can shift. Not necessarily through any speech code or disciplinary action (though it can come from there too). But through hesitation and daily acts of omission that students observe, absorb, and over time likely begin to mimic themselves.
Law students go on to become lawyers who argue cases in court, prosecutors who decide what charges to bring, judges who make rulings, policymakers who debate and enact laws and regulations. What they learn in law school isn’t just the law. It’s instinct. Habits. Principles. How to respond when an idea is uncomfortable. What to do when they’re on the unpopular side of an issue. Where to turn when silence is the path of least resistance.
In February 2024, the American Bar Association adopted <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/legal_education_and_admissions_to_the_bar/guidance-memos/2025/25-april-standard-208-guidance-memo.pdf">Standard 208</a>, which requires law schools to adopt, publish, and adhere to written policies that protect academic freedom and encourage free expression. More than 9 in 10 law faculty support free expression policies. But the professor who hides his views at faculty meetings already knows his school has a free expression policy. The policy is not the problem, and though it is a good step, it isn’t the complete solution either.
What we see from our new data from law faculty is that the culture within law schools appears to have taken a concerning turn. And written commitments alone don’t change cultures; people do. Through individual decisions about whether to speak or stay quiet. To participate in a debate, or pass. To publicly defend a colleague, or only offer private condolences. To prepare students for their professional careers by teaching the messy topics, or avoiding them in hopes of receiving better student evaluations. These decision points provide opportunities for faculty to model courage or model calculation.
Right now, for too many law faculty, silence appears to be winning… and their students are watching.
***
Nathan Honeycutt is a research fellow and manager of polling and analytics at FIRE.

Lady Justice and Censorship

Law Professors Say They Support Free Speech. Many Are Afraid To Practice It.

Fire

Law schools

The Canadian Parliament is poised to pass a bill that would ramp up restrictions on so-called hate speech and remove religious protections in a move that concerns conservatives and Christians whose worldview stands in opposition to the LGBT ideology. 
Canada&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/45-1/bill/C-9/third-reading">Combatting Hate Act</a>,&#8221; or Bill C-9, targets so-called hate crimes such as the public display of the Nazi swastika and other terrorist symbols, and it also increases the punishment for “intimidation” around places of worship and safe places. But also buried inside the bill is a controversial section that removes Canada&#8217;s religious exemption for so-called hate speech. Some worry that the bill could be used to silence Christian expression that opposes gay marriage.
The bill passed the country&#8217;s House of Commons in March and was adopted by the Senate last week. It was then sent back to the House of Commons to resolve amendments made in the Senate, and it is expected to be accepted without opposition and be signed into law by the governor general.
Canada&#8217;s Liberal government made an <a href="https://www.cccb.ca/media-release/proposed-restrictions-on-religious-freedom-bill-c-9/">agreement</a> with the secular Bloc Quebecois, a party devoted to Quebecois nationalism, to include in the bill a section that removes the religious exemption clause to hate speech that is currently in Canadian law code. With the removal of the religious exemption, people can be prosecuted for hate speech even if “the person expressed or attempted to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text.” 

Josh Dehaas from the Canadian Constitution Foundation <a href="https://theccf.ca/bill-c-9-has-passed-heres-what-you-need-to-know/">warned</a> that the bill could even target the reading of certain scripture passages due to the removal of this religious protection. 
“It is unlikely passages from religious texts read on their own will lead to criminal charges,” Dehaas stated. “The Crown would need to believe that the intention of reading the text was to incite hatred, promote hatred or promote antisemitism.”
&#8220;However, with the defence now removed, certain passages from religious texts could now lead to charges depending on the context including when they are read, where they are read, and what other words are used when they are read,&#8221; he added. 
The Canadian Supreme Court has made a test for hate speech by looking for &#8220;hallmarks of hatred.&#8221; The &#8220;hallmarks&#8221; include calling a specific group a “powerful menace,” accusing “a group of carrying out secret conspiracies to gain global control or that they are plotting to destroy western civilization,” calling a group “liars, cheats, criminals and thugs,” labeling a people group “subhuman,” or blaming a group for the problems of society. 

The bill does include at least one protection against abuse, requiring the approval of the provincial attorneys, so the charge cannot be weaponized by local police.
Hillsdale assistant professor Dr. John Petrakis, an expert in comparative political systems and Canadian and American law, told The Daily Wire that the Canadian Supreme Court would likely defend bill if it becomes law, following its decision in Saskatchewan (Human Rights Commission) v. Whatcott, in which the court upheld a penalty for a man who spread anti-gay pamphlets.
&#8220;It is difficult to predict exactly how these legal changes will operate in practice, and whether people might be able to challenge them on constitutional grounds (freedom of speech and freedom of religion,)&#8221; Petrakis declared. &#8220;I will say that the Court&#8217;s Whatcott decision should make one pessimistic. The courts are likely to dismiss constitutional challenges by saying that the laws and their application to specific cases are &#8216;reasonable&#8217; limitations to constitutional rights.&#8221; 

Petrakis said that with the advent of this new legislation, Canada will likely emulate countries such as Great Britain in their crackdown on reported hate speech.
&#8220;My overall take is that Canadian free speech law and culture is much less robust than the U.S., though more robust than Western Europe, but that this new law will reinforce our trend away from American-style speech culture towards the European version,&#8221; Petrakis said.
The Senate sponsor of the bill, the Honorable Kristopher Wells, <a href="https://theprogressives.ca/in-the-senate/speeches/third-reading-of-bill-c-9-an-act-to-amend-the-criminal-code-hate-propaganda-hate-crime-and-access-to-religious-or-cultural-places/">described</a> his experience working with the “Jewish, Muslim, Asian, black, indigenous and 2SLGBTQI+ communities,” stating that their universal plea to the government is that “they do not feel safe, do not feel seen and do not feel the law is there to help them at their time of greatest need.” 

“Bill C-9 is our answer to those responses,” Wells stated. “It is an opportunity for Parliament to say, with unwavering moral clarity and with the strength of criminal law, that our country sees you, Canada will stand with you and hate will not be tolerated in this country.”
One section of the bill creates a separate hate crime offense for an “offense &#8230; motivated by hatred based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, color, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.” Previously, the charge of a hate crime could only be used to extend the sentence for a crime, but this bill creates it as a separate, punishable offense.
Wells argued that Canada needs a separate hate crime offense after claiming to witness a rise in so-called hate crimes against the LGBT community. 
“Drag storytimes are protested; pride flags are burned or removed from municipalities and schools; and 25% of adolescents in Canada have experienced at least one form of cyberbullying, with trans and non-binary adolescents almost twice as likely to be targeted,&#8221; Wells said. 
“Bill C-9 corrects this by creating a dedicated hate crime offence, ensuring that when someone wilfully commits a criminal act motivated by hatred against an identifiable group, that motivation is recognized as the very essence of the wrongdoing,” he added.
The bill also prohibits the public display of a symbol that “is principally used by, or principally associated with, a listed entity.&#8221; This bans hosting the flags for <a href="https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/lstd-ntts/crrnt-lstd-ntts-en.aspx#2025-02-20-7">designated</a> terror organizations, such as the Palestine Liberation Front, the Taliban, and Al Qaida, and gangs such as La Mara Salvatrucha, along with far-Right groups such as the Proud Boys.
The bill seeks to prevent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-hamas-protesters-chant-allahu-akbar-as-they-tear-down-and-burn-american-flags-hamas-is-coming">terrorist demonstrations</a> like the pro-Hamas demonstrations in the United States, where Left-wing rioters shouted “Allahu Akbar&#8221; and burned the American flag in response to a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

LGBTQ2S+ Protest In Edmonton

Canada Poised To Escalate Crackdown On Christian Resistance To LGBT Ideology

Canada

Freedom of Religion

Hate Crime

Hate Speech

Our schools are a breeding ground for domestic terrorists — I’ve witnessed it firsthand.
A business professor in the University of North Carolina system called for the assassination of President Donald Trump before being arrested for assaulting a woman and resisting a police officer. Despite the arrests occurring weeks ago, the university has not addressed the story.
<a href="https://go.unca.edu/business/#faculty">Susan Clark Muntean</a>, 54, is an associate professor of <a href="https://go.unca.edu/business/">business</a> at my alma mater, the <a href="https://go.unca.edu/">University of North Carolina Asheville</a> (UNC Asheville). There are two active criminal cases against her, one for <a href="https://portal-nc.tylertech.cloud/app/RegisterOfActions/#/0403CCFF563DC2625754A56A0699833D3252177284B42720FE83D76A5716425E7BA00829A8ACAD4941C58D38AA400EAB1EB41B408F1E93BFCD68015EB7E63E050ACE0F25A99BE595B54B52D1FF45267C/anon/portalembed">trespassing on UNC Asheville’s campus and resisting an officer</a>, and another for <a href="https://portal-nc.tylertech.cloud/app/RegisterOfActions/#/02E5A6C947841B290E6453FE58E1BC57D49BEE490A52E3FFABECBDCBB0C578F83BB37265D70B95C448C32FEC65B396A0FBF36550C30C94B7D54004EA5612261CFD86A4A464B7E08CCC5848D251852DA9/anon/portalembed">assaulting a government official or employee and simple assault</a>.
Court documents reveal that on April 8, Muntean went to the UNC Asheville campus and refused to leave “after having been notified not to enter and remain there” by university officials. When a campus police officer tried to escort her off the property, she “did resist, delay, and obstruct” by lying on the ground and “refusing to cooperate in any manner.” It is unclear why the university originally asked Muntean to stay off UNC Asheville property.
Muntean was released on a $2,000 unsecured bond only to be arrested days later for kneeing a member of the Asheville Police Department. The incident occurred after she assaulted a woman by “grabbing her wrist in an aggressive twisting motion” at Asheville Yoga Center. She was released on a $1,000 unsecured bond.
These events come after a series of troubling social media posts by the professor. On <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-clark-muntean-6380b630/">her LinkedIn profile</a>, Muntean released <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/susan-clark-muntean-6380b630_activity-7448181737211334656-8DCV?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAFEgmpEBN9hlpRHNt9qXH1ChM_YGMT3PYj4">a rambling video</a> of nonsensical statements, including that President Trump “must be taken down now.”
The call to violence against the president was followed by her saying she would not “kill” members of the Trump administration before taking them to The Hague, a site in the Netherlands that hosts the United Nations’ International Court of Justice. She also stated she wants to wrestle Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on her trampoline.
Other LinkedIn posts from Muntean include her <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-clark-muntean-6380b630/recent-activity/all/">claim</a> that the current chancellor of UNC Asheville, Kimberly van Noort, along with several of the college’s professors, “will be brought before trial at The Hague and are preparing their defenses.”
“I will serve as the new acting emergency Chancellor until the State of North Carolina is purged of corruption,” <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-clark-muntean-6380b630/recent-activity/all/">wrote Muntean</a> in the post.
She also used the hashtag “#Muntean4President” while <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/susan-clark-muntean-6380b630_muntean4president-activity-7448752128552087552-A2Xm?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAFEgmpEBN9hlpRHNt9qXH1ChM_YGMT3PYj4">asking her LinkedIn followers</a> for “consent to remove Donald Trump from the Office” of the presidency.
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/susan-clark-muntean-6380b630_this-is-our-new-political-party-ill-be-activity-7448447285123969026-RrGR?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAFEgmpEBN9hlpRHNt9qXH1ChM_YGMT3PYj4">On her LinkedIn</a>, she boasts about her affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America in Asheville before saying that UNC Asheville’s “campus is being evacuated and the fascist in North Carolina are being prosecuted in the Hague.”
Clark Muntean has worked as an associate professor at UNC Asheville since August 2014. She previously taught at Ball State University, the London School of Economics, and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), <a href="https://smuntean.wp.unca.edu/">according to her website</a>. She received her PhD from UCSD and her Master of Business Administration from the University of Oregon.
Despite the obvious danger this professor poses to students, current students told me they never knew or were notified of the events she was involved in.
This isn’t shocking. UNC Asheville is known for its violent far-left ideology — and I was victimized by it when I was a student there.
Just last year, <a href="https://www.thecollegefix.com/angry-student-wrecks-pro-life-clubs-table-at-unc-asheville-video/">a student destroyed the pro-life table</a> hosted by <a href="https://unca.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/tpusa-unca">the chapter of Turning Point USA</a> I founded and led in partnership with Students for Life of America. I was behind the table. The student who attacked me was <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DH3qSBCRVdQ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">voted into the student government days later</a>, only for the university to force him to resign. But do not mistake this for appropriate action: This year, he was allowed to be <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DWcp216GkC3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">voted back in as a senator</a>.
Not long after my tabling, the university’s now <a href="https://www.thecollegefix.com/unc-asheville-dean-caught-on-video-admitting-she-breaks-rule-to-advance-dei/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">former Dean of Students, Megan Pugh, was caught</a> admitting to violating North Carolina’s ban on DEI offices and programs <a href="https://aim.org/2025/06/03/unc-asheville-dean-admits-she-loves-breaking-anti-dei-rules/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on camera</a>. Pugh was <a href="https://abc11.com/post/megan-pugh-fired-unc-asheville-dean-students-secretly-recorded-dei-comments-surface/16687007/">ousted</a> shortly after public outrage, but the ideology that infects this school remains unaddressed.
My experience is not unique. The trend of enabling unstable teachers, which has gone unaddressed, doesn’t end with Asheville. The nation just witnessed yet another assassination attempt on President Trump, this time executed by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-what-we-know-about-whcd-shooter-cole-tomas-allen?row=1&amp;elementPosition=6&amp;rowType=Web+Search">a California tutor</a> recognized as “Teacher of the Month” in 2024.
Since then, the internet has been filled with educational leaders wishing that the would-be assassin had been successful. Educators, from a <a href="https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/2048838314526945342?ref_src=twsrc%255Etfw%257Ctwcamp%255Etweetembed%257Ctwterm%255E2048838314526945342%257Ctwgr%255Ed3930ec477213c58abfca9ed0a596a8ef1b82b46%257Ctwcon%255Es1_&amp;ref_url=https://www.hungarianconservative.com/articles/current/trump-assassination-online-support-teachers/">Wisconsin high school social studies teacher</a> to a <a href="https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/2048880206899724425?ref_src=twsrc%255Etfw%257Ctwcamp%255Etweetembed%257Ctwterm%255E2048880206899724425%257Ctwgr%255E2df4292761587c112752b842787cca6f3a459e66%257Ctwcon%255Es1_&amp;ref_url=https://www.hungarianconservative.com/articles/current/trump-assassination-online-support-teachers/">Cincinnati kindergarten teacher</a>, have been documented lamenting the failure of this pathetic man’s horrific plan. Nowhere in America is safe from this radical ideology.
Many of these schools — including UNC Asheville — are public institutions, meaning our tax dollars are funding the perpetuation of violent indoctrination. Even private schools receive some government grants, meaning any school not addressing this problem is profiting from government-funded brainwashing that could eventually kill our president — or even us.
North Carolina and other states must do more than enact weak bans on DEI labels and departments. Taxpayers must demand that their legislators stop funding schools that promote an ideology that has repeatedly been shown to lead to violence and domestic terrorism, as well as conduct investigations into how this ideology spreads and impacts students.
If we do not, the consequences could be much worse than what we have already seen.
***
Olivia D’Angelo is a journalist, editor, and policy analyst who graduated from UNC Asheville. She has also been featured in Newsmax, The Washington Post, and The College Fix. Follow her on X: @olivia_dangelo

USC Students Hold Protest In Support Of Gaza

The Places Turning American Kids Into Domestic Terrorists

higher education

Political Violence

A judge in the United Kingdom convicted a Christian pastor on Thursday for preaching on one of the Bible’s most well-known verses outside of a hospital that performs abortions. 
Pastor Clive Johnston was fined over $600 by Judge Peter King for preaching on John 3:16 inside a so-called “Safe Access Zone” outside the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland&#8217;s “Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act” sets up buffer zones outside facilities where abortions are done, restricting protests, sidewalk counseling, or other pro-life activities. 
Johnston was prosecuted after leading an open-air Sunday service outside the Causeway Hospital on July 7, 2024, that did not mention abortion. Prosecutors accused him of attempting to influence a “protected person” or “recklessly” behaving in a way that could influence a person. 
“This is a dark day for Christian freedom,” he said after the conviction. “And yet the buffer zones law is so broad that holding a Sunday service has been found to be a criminal offence. And at 78 years of age I find myself, for the first time, convicted of a crime.”
“I know it was an unusual place to hold an open-air service but that was the point: There shouldn’t be any public spaces in Northern Ireland where you can be prosecuted and convicted simply for preaching the gospel,” he added. 
Video from the day of the open-air service shows a police officer warning Johnston that he may only share the gospel in a &#8216;safe&#8217; chaplaincy room inside the hospital.
“However, if you are reckless as to the effect that they could have on patients, staff, or any protected person, then you may be committing an offense,” the officer said. 
“But while you&#8217;re out here in the safe access zone, any act in that area, which may” dissuade a “protected person” from using a “service” could be an offense, the officer said. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨NEW CLIP 🚨: 👮UK police officer tells pastor he may ONLY share the gospel in a “safe” chaplaincy room inside the hospital, not on the street where it MAY offend someone or dissuade them from getting an abortion.
What an utterly incredible exchange 👇 <a href="https://t.co/SmeBIwfzNA">pic.twitter.com/SmeBIwfzNA</a>
— Lois McLatchie Miller (@LoisMcLatch) <a href="https://twitter.com/LoisMcLatch/status/2046858116688499019?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Johnston was supported in his legal defense by The Christian Institute, a United Kingdom-based organization devoted to “upholding the truths of the Bible.” The organization’s director, Ciarán Kelly, said they would help Johnston look at appealing the ruling. 
“Despite assurances to the contrary when this legislation was being considered, we now see that an already controversial and deeply unjust law has now been selectively applied to criminalise gospel preaching,” Kelly said. “If the ruling stands it will represent a shocking new restriction on freedom of religion and freedom of speech so we will be helping Clive to consider the options for appeal.”
Last month, a State Department spokesman <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/04/16/us-prosecution-british-pastor-abortion-clinic/">said</a> that the United States was monitoring the case with concern. 
“The UK’s persecution of silent prayer represents not only an egregious violation of the fundamental right to free speech and religious liberty, but also a concerning departure from the shared values that ought to underpin US-UK relations,” a spokesman told The Telegraph.

Clive-Johnston-5D0A8180_2-2

Pastor Convicted For Preaching On John 3:16 Outside Hospital

Abortion

Ireland

United Kingdom

Free speech isn’t free at Texas universities. Apparently, it comes with strings attached, or at least that’s what I was told when I tried to host a pro-life event that got so derailed, I had to call on Students for Life of America’s (SFLA) attorneys for a demand letter to try and get it back on track.
It&#8217;s not just me. Students at the University of Texas, both at Dallas and Austin, <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fwww.fire.org*2Fcases*2Ffellowship-christian-university-students-university-texas-dallas-v-eltife&amp;data=05*7C02*7Ckhamrick*40studentsforlife.org*7Cae0cee521ae1404d4ffe08dea14d89f3*7Cb3f92ab929b141449c57d11e0e7a368a*7C0*7C0*7C639125551563320391*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ*3D*3D*7C0*7C*7C*7C&amp;sdata=dtwwVKn*2B7xobXYzqajEbrkoh5HCW2yQ9KzvUpM4bZnU*3D&amp;reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSU!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!0i32ArPoKX2-mdXVxc7iuAHJ4NhaXGwgerdqxyBS4y8AQGn5PgFiv_nhctfg-IW_6ARf_artpEf-AcuVwNDD$">are suing</a> the University of Texas system after being censored when schools used a Texas law as an excuse to limit free speech on college campuses. While the law is not currently enforceable, college campuses across Texas are still holding strong to their censorship regime — and it&#8217;s up to students to stand up for their rights.
My story began <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fstudentsforlife.org*2F2026*2F04*2F16*2Ffree-speech-in-name-only-how-ut-austin-is-preventing-my-student-group-from-speaking-up-for-life*2F&amp;data=05*7C02*7Ckhamrick*40studentsforlife.org*7Cae0cee521ae1404d4ffe08dea14d89f3*7Cb3f92ab929b141449c57d11e0e7a368a*7C0*7C0*7C639125551563353206*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ*3D*3D*7C0*7C*7C*7C&amp;sdata=e8RMiNBNMTNvEhywCUtnjeGTk91xp6Ut*2FmysB6LmWgw*3D&amp;reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSU!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!0i32ArPoKX2-mdXVxc7iuAHJ4NhaXGwgerdqxyBS4y8AQGn5PgFiv_nhctfg-IW_6ARf_artpEf-AT4BsCBy$">when I tried to host</a> a speaker on campus at the University of Texas as part of my SFLA activities. Rather than welcoming pro-life voices, the university demanded almost complete disassociation from SFLA for the event to go on, which made the event itself virtually impossible.
More specifically, the office told my group that our event could not include branded or promotional materials featuring both the outside organization and my student organization, Horns for Life; help managing the event; filming for social media; or co-sponsorship with SFLA or any off-campus organization.
That not only impacted my free speech rights, but my freedom of association, too.
In 2019, when Texas passed <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fcapitol.texas.gov*2FBillLookup*2FHistory.aspx*3FLegSess*3D86R*26Bill*3DSB18&amp;data=05*7C02*7Ckhamrick*40studentsforlife.org*7Cae0cee521ae1404d4ffe08dea14d89f3*7Cb3f92ab929b141449c57d11e0e7a368a*7C0*7C0*7C639125551563396873*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ*3D*3D*7C0*7C*7C*7C&amp;sdata=2AtQpIrbbtYNbU9928Xk5Ce1V*2F0kaoX7X6S88V6pMqE*3D&amp;reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUl!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!0i32ArPoKX2-mdXVxc7iuAHJ4NhaXGwgerdqxyBS4y8AQGn5PgFiv_nhctfg-IW_6ARf_artpEf-AT4TymyG$">Senate Bill 18</a>, it reinforced <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fwww.congress.gov*2Fcrs_external_products*2FLSB*2FHTML*2FLSB10438.web.html&amp;data=05*7C02*7Ckhamrick*40studentsforlife.org*7Cae0cee521ae1404d4ffe08dea14d89f3*7Cb3f92ab929b141449c57d11e0e7a368a*7C0*7C0*7C639125551563716854*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ*3D*3D*7C0*7C*7C*7C&amp;sdata=0Ikog9aHx*2F*2BTRI1Hd*2FIaOF5Tv00HLGpukZuopplhmec*3D&amp;reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUl!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!0i32ArPoKX2-mdXVxc7iuAHJ4NhaXGwgerdqxyBS4y8AQGn5PgFiv_nhctfg-IW_6ARf_artpEf-AXDU25Tu$">Supreme Court precedent</a> that outdoor campus spaces are public forums, thereby ensuring free speech protections at universities. In a total betrayal of these values, Texas passed <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fwww.capitol.texas.gov*2Ftlodocs*2F89R*2Fbilltext*2Fhtml*2FSB02972F.htm&amp;data=05*7C02*7Ckhamrick*40studentsforlife.org*7Cae0cee521ae1404d4ffe08dea14d89f3*7Cb3f92ab929b141449c57d11e0e7a368a*7C0*7C0*7C639125551563753706*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ*3D*3D*7C0*7C*7C*7C&amp;sdata=6JsTyqVn9QKarsTn9xQlqdGZFCPXSqtmSTYTXV8fzvA*3D&amp;reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJQ!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!0i32ArPoKX2-mdXVxc7iuAHJ4NhaXGwgerdqxyBS4y8AQGn5PgFiv_nhctfg-IW_6ARf_artpEf-AakeQ9It$">Senate Bill 2972</a>, or the Campus Protection Act, in September 2025 under the guise of protecting campuses from disruptions and preserving safety during &#8220;end-of-term&#8221; periods and even during specific times of the day.
The Campus Protection Act stopped students from engaging in acts of speech between 10 pm and 8 am, as well as from bringing guest speakers, amplifying sound, or using percussive instruments at demonstrations in the final two weeks of each semester. It is extremely broad, even disallowing student speech in private conversations, whether in dorm rooms or outdoor meeting spaces.
“The First Amendment doesn’t set when the sun goes down,” <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fwww.fire.org*2Fnews*2Flawsuit-texas-bans-first-amendment-public-universities-after-dark&amp;data=05*7C02*7Ckhamrick*40studentsforlife.org*7Cae0cee521ae1404d4ffe08dea14d89f3*7Cb3f92ab929b141449c57d11e0e7a368a*7C0*7C0*7C639125551563782445*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ*3D*3D*7C0*7C*7C*7C&amp;sdata=HEWBXSC*2Fhwx*2BevsjFIdxTtMbqSIAgPUB8HyXIE8*2Fo7g*3D&amp;reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJQ!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!0i32ArPoKX2-mdXVxc7iuAHJ4NhaXGwgerdqxyBS4y8AQGn5PgFiv_nhctfg-IW_6ARf_artpEf-ARkj-qwy$">said FIRE senior supervising attorney</a> JT Morris. “University students have expressive freedom whether it’s midnight or midday, and Texas can’t just legislate those constitutional protections out of existence.”
The bill was so unprecedented and broad that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas issued an injunction <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fwww.fire.org*2Fnews*2Fvictory-federal-court-halts-texas-no-first-amendment-after-dark-campus-speech-ban&amp;data=05*7C02*7Ckhamrick*40studentsforlife.org*7Cae0cee521ae1404d4ffe08dea14d89f3*7Cb3f92ab929b141449c57d11e0e7a368a*7C0*7C0*7C639125551563806965*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ*3D*3D*7C0*7C*7C*7C&amp;sdata=7lyWqt1IQI12zcaFa09*2FX18T*2B8bYA8g1mtYVoxfCsUY*3D&amp;reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUl!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!0i32ArPoKX2-mdXVxc7iuAHJ4NhaXGwgerdqxyBS4y8AQGn5PgFiv_nhctfg-IW_6ARf_artpEf-AXgQLXpH$">stopping the law from being enforced</a> only a month later.
Despite the injunction, Texas universities continue to use these rules at the campus policy level. UT Austin cites SB 2972 as a justification for their policy that “states that a guest speaker may not staff a table or set up exhibits.”
Not only is pro-life speech being targeted, but religious speech and expression as well.
A group of students has sued the UT system and its various representatives on behalf of their Texas college groups, including <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fanyfocus.org*2Fut-dallasabout*2F&amp;data=05*7C02*7Ckhamrick*40studentsforlife.org*7Cae0cee521ae1404d4ffe08dea14d89f3*7Cb3f92ab929b141449c57d11e0e7a368a*7C0*7C0*7C639125551563827587*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ*3D*3D*7C0*7C*7C*7C&amp;sdata=10DzF9ua0ems*2Fv6r2pUNa7R2NCSTEvMT39b8EOvqKu8*3D&amp;reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSU!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!0i32ArPoKX2-mdXVxc7iuAHJ4NhaXGwgerdqxyBS4y8AQGn5PgFiv_nhctfg-IW_6ARf_artpEf-AaH94gSd$">The Fellowship of Christian University Students at UT-Dallas,</a> after they were <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fwww.fire.org*2Fnews*2Flawsuit-texas-bans-first-amendment-public-universities-after-dark&amp;data=05*7C02*7Ckhamrick*40studentsforlife.org*7Cae0cee521ae1404d4ffe08dea14d89f3*7Cb3f92ab929b141449c57d11e0e7a368a*7C0*7C0*7C639125551563845212*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ*3D*3D*7C0*7C*7C*7C&amp;sdata=81BT5sQASX2Am2oAbSw8QqBI3F9I8zpii4CCpOrfB8A*3D&amp;reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJQ!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!0i32ArPoKX2-mdXVxc7iuAHJ4NhaXGwgerdqxyBS4y8AQGn5PgFiv_nhctfg-IW_6ARf_artpEf-AZIZuNqu$">prevented from bringing a minister</a> to campus to pray for them during their class finals.
Texas Woman’s University <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Ftwu.edu*2Fdean-of-students*2Fon-campus-free-speech*2F&amp;data=05*7C02*7Ckhamrick*40studentsforlife.org*7Cae0cee521ae1404d4ffe08dea14d89f3*7Cb3f92ab929b141449c57d11e0e7a368a*7C0*7C0*7C639125551563861696*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ*3D*3D*7C0*7C*7C*7C&amp;sdata=QxqF1fMSVVmEqVQ6S9YMFl30Hhf3aQFPtddVwfx6GEw*3D&amp;reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSU!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!0i32ArPoKX2-mdXVxc7iuAHJ4NhaXGwgerdqxyBS4y8AQGn5PgFiv_nhctfg-IW_6ARf_artpEf-AZofybQy$">enacted regulations on free speech,</a> calling it a “limited public forum.” The school placed limits on the times, places, and methods in which students can demonstrate on campus <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fpublic.powerdms.com*2FTWU1*2Fdocuments*2F1745744&amp;data=05*7C02*7Ckhamrick*40studentsforlife.org*7Cae0cee521ae1404d4ffe08dea14d89f3*7Cb3f92ab929b141449c57d11e0e7a368a*7C0*7C0*7C639125551563879914*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ*3D*3D*7C0*7C*7C*7C&amp;sdata=JrNy4CupwORxR0Rmvy2W7WemASJ882EPoCMuSXltjcM*3D&amp;reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSU!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!0i32ArPoKX2-mdXVxc7iuAHJ4NhaXGwgerdqxyBS4y8AQGn5PgFiv_nhctfg-IW_6ARf_artpEf-AZcH0uUL$">while telling them</a> “nothing in this policy may be construed to limit or infringe on a person’s right to freedom protected by the United States and Texas Constitutions,” as if the rules do not inherently do exactly this. Texas Tech University’s Lubbock campus also has <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fwww.yahoo.com*2Fnews*2Farticles*2Ftexas-tech-free-speech-policy-172434017.html&amp;data=05*7C02*7Ckhamrick*40studentsforlife.org*7Cae0cee521ae1404d4ffe08dea14d89f3*7Cb3f92ab929b141449c57d11e0e7a368a*7C0*7C0*7C639125551563896751*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ*3D*3D*7C0*7C*7C*7C&amp;sdata=c2DWOzTb5QmJ5ujYoCvwua7v2CKCf41fUBiC3W*2FmR*2FY*3D&amp;reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJQ!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!0i32ArPoKX2-mdXVxc7iuAHJ4NhaXGwgerdqxyBS4y8AQGn5PgFiv_nhctfg-IW_6ARf_artpEf-ASiBSwsP$">similar rules</a> now coming under fire.
While it is always advisable to follow campus rules, that does not mean Texas students cannot challenge them in the courts or otherwise.
Disallowing all guest speakers, claiming a limited public forum, imposing time limits, and limiting amplified sound all have precedent for being deemed impermissible in certain circumstances, especially if the university is using Senate Bill 2972 as an excuse to enforce these rules.
Using field representatives or coordinators from affiliate organizations to assist students in challenging university decisions against student organizations is a great first step. SFLA staff are equipped and eager to help our students. Additionally, reaching out to organizations like <a href="https://www.fire.org/">FIRE</a> allows student groups without resources from a larger organization to seek help navigating <a href="https://www.fire.org/defending-your-rights/legal-support">legal routes</a> addressing free speech challenges.
A university is a place to experience new ideas, diverse opinions, and freedom of discourse. The acts of tabling on campus and hosting speakers are not separate from this mission.
These unconstitutional rules do not disappear on their own. To see students’ free speech rights protected on university campuses again, students must speak up against the injustices happening on their campus and beyond — and the courts must follow their lead.
***
Tiffany Lomax is a senior student at the University of Texas at Austin. She serves as president of the Horns for Life chapter, where she is involved in pro-life advocacy and organizing events on campus.

Schwarzenegger Skips Debate To Rally Before Students

The Texas College Students Fighting Back Against Free Speech Censors

College

Students for Life of America (SFLA)

A federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed Texas to enforce a law requiring public schools to display posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms. 
In a 9–8 vote, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that S.B. 10 does not violate the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, marking a significant victory for conservatives who support a greater role for religion in public schools.
“S.B. 10 looks nothing like a historical religious establishment,” <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca5.226084/gov.uscourts.ca5.226084.507945887.1.pdf">the 5th Circuit’s opinion said.</a> “It does not tell churches or synagogues or mosques what to believe or how to worship or whom to employ as priests, rabbis, or imams. It punishes no one who rejects the Ten Commandments, no matter the reason. It levies no taxes to support any clergy. It does not co-opt churches to perform civic functions. These are the kinds of things “establishments of religion” did at the founding. S.B. 10 does none of them.” 
In June 2025, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) signed <a href="https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/pdf/SB00010I.pdf">Senate Bill 10</a>, which requires public elementary and secondary schools to display in each classroom a &#8220;durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments.&#8221; In December 2025, a coalition of parents filed suit and obtained preliminary injunctions blocking the law in certain parts of the state. 
Challengers of the law argued that they didn’t want their children to “be forced to observe and venerate a state-mandated version of the Ten Commandments” every day at school, <a href="https://www.aclutx.org/press-releases/judge-orders-texas-school-districts-remove-ten-commandments-displays-response-second/">according to the ACLU.  </a>
Judges on the conservative-leaning Fifth Circuit disagreed, arguing the law does not mandate any religious exercise. 
&#8220;Students are neither catechized on the Commandments nor taught to adopt them. Nor are teachers commanded to proselytize students who ask about the displays or contradict students who disagree with them,” <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca5.226084/gov.uscourts.ca5.226084.507945887.1.pdf">the opinion said.</a> “It puts a poster on a classroom wall. Yes, Plaintiffs have sincere religious disagreements with its content. But that does not transform the poster into a summons to prayer.&#8221;
Republican Gov. Gregg Abbott hailed the ruling as a “HUGE WIN.” 
“The foundation of Western law &amp; morality belongs in our classrooms. Texas stands for faith, freedom, and the values that founded our great state,” he said on social media. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
HUGE WIN
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Ten Commandments can remain in Texas public school classrooms.
The foundation of Western law &amp; morality belongs in our classrooms. Texas stands for faith, freedom, and the values that founded our great state.…
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) <a href="https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/status/2046758634986590304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2026</a></blockquote>
Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX), who faces a contentious May 26 runoff with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), also took a victory lap. 
“This is a major victory for Texas and our moral values,” Paxton said. “My office was proud to defend SB 10 and successfully ensure that the Ten Commandments will be displayed in classrooms across Texas. The Ten Commandments have had a profound impact on our nation, and it’s important that students learn from them every single day.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨WIN: This is a major victory for Texas and our moral values. My office was proud to defend SB 10 and successfully ensure that the Ten Commandments will be displayed in classrooms across Texas.
The Ten Commandments have had a profound impact on our nation, and it’s important… <a href="https://t.co/6sh3uLnFpI">https://t.co/6sh3uLnFpI</a>
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) <a href="https://twitter.com/KenPaxtonTX/status/2046718781964378358?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2026</a></blockquote>
The ACLU expressed &#8220;disappointment&#8221; with the court’s ruling and vowed to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. 
“The Court’s ruling goes against fundamental First Amendment principles and binding U.S. Supreme Court authority,” <a href="https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/fifth-circuit-upholds-law-requiring-display-of-ten-commandments-in-public-school-classrooms">the ACLU said.</a> “This decision tramples those rights. We anticipate asking the Supreme Court to reverse this decision and uphold the religious-freedom rights of children and parents.”
Louisiana, Arkansas, and Alabama have passed laws requiring Ten Commandments posters in public schools, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/us/ten-commandments-schools-states.html">according to the New York Times</a>, with several other conservative-led states debating similar legislation.

Ten Commandments Display in Texas

Court Hands Massive Win For Judeo-Christian Values in Public Schools

ACLU

Bible

Politics

Texas

A human rights tribunal in British Columbia recently <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/barry-neufeld-former-chilliwack-bc-trustee-pay-hate-speech-tribunal-2slgbtq-9.7098536">fined</a> a man $750,000 for public statements he made opposing a school board’s promotion of gender ideology. The tribunal found his comments, speeches, and social media posts brought &#8220;injury to their dignity, feelings, and self-respect.&#8221; The same tribunal <a href="https://thenewamerican.com/world-news/canadian-womans-former-landlady-fined-10000-for-saying-transphobic-things-to-her/">fined</a> a woman $10,000 for privately disagreeing with a friend’s gender transition.
In Canada, enforcing gender ideology comes at a steep cost: the suppression of free speech, the erosion of medical integrity, and harm to the wellbeing — perhaps even the future fertility — of young Canadians. And it is all justified as a necessary sacrifice for the “greater good” of a tolerant society, an ideal now woven into Canada’s national identity.
The scientific evidence against so-called gender transition, however, is mounting. Most countries around the world are beginning to realize it — except Canada.
In 2024, the United Kingdom moved to <a href="https://londondaily.com/the-indefinite-ban-on-puberty-blockers-for-minors">ban</a> puberty blockers outright. Australia’s state of Queensland <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/28/queenslands-controversial-puberty-blocker-ban-overturned-by-supreme-court">prohibited</a> puberty blockers in January, while New Zealand <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/regulation-legislation/puberty-blockers">imposed</a> strict controls in November. In February, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons <a href="https://www.plasticsurgery.org/documents/health-policy/positions/2026-gender-surgery-children-adolescents.pdf">released</a> a position statement on gender surgery, warning against its potential harms.
Yet every Canadian health agency claims affirmation is the default solution for gender dysphoria. The Canadian Pediatric Society recommends accepting one’s gender identity as valid — even <a href="https://nationalpost.com/health/canadas-pediatricians-advised-to-support-affirming-gender-questioning-six-year-olds">six-year-olds</a>. The same organization explicitly <a href="https://nationalpost.com/opinion/canadian-paediatric-society-vows-to-continue-prescribing-puberty-blockers">dismissed</a> the findings of the Cass Review, a landmark <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/im-bloody-angry-j-k-rowling-scorches-critics-in-the-wake-of-cass-review-on-child-gender-transitions">study</a> that discovered the weak evidentiary basis for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
Such stark defiance of evidence-based care is nothing short of negligence — not surprising for a country that now includes <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/movement-barrels-forward-to-euthanize-12-year-old-children-in-canada">death</a> in its definition of health care. But negligence alone is an insufficient explanation. Canada is not catching up with the rest of the world to dismiss medical transition because their commitment to it is rooted in ideology, not science. And it is propagated by elites through a centralized system of top-down planning.
First, legislation enforces affirmation of gender identity. Canada <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8434497/conversion-therapy-ban-canada-royal-assent/">passed a ban</a> on so-called conversion therapy in 2021, defined as a practice designed to “change a person’s gender identity to cisgender.” But the “conversion therapy” of changing a person’s body to match their gender identity — which is defined in a circular way — is allowed. In fact, it’s effectively mandated. Those convicted under this law can receive up to five years in prison. There are no carve-outs for adults seeking sex-affirming therapy to help them with gender dysphoria.
Where there is no law directly prohibiting speech, Canadian courts create one. The latest examples both come from British Columbia: the man fined $750,000 for public statements and the woman fined $10,000 for a private conversation.
Such outrageous penalties have a chilling effect on speech. Absent any serious dissent, the monolithic worldview promoted in Canadian schools, hospitals, and traditional media will continue unchallenged. And the children don’t stand a chance.
Consider Julia Malbogat, a Toronto mom who <a href="https://www.todaysparent.com/blogs/opinion/stop-asking-me-if-my-eight-year-old-trans-kid-is-just-going-through-a-phase/">wrote</a> in 2021 about her daughter “coming out” as transgender. During a family trip to their cottage, her daughter said that she’s a boy, to which Julia replied with a simple “ok.” When asked how she knew, the child pointed to the school’s Rainbow Alliance, a grade 4-6 club teaching “sexual and gender diversity.” Julia dismissed the possibility her child was mistaken and noted that surgery wouldn’t be an option until 16. By then, she assumed the dysphoria would be “insistent, persistent, and consistent” enough to justify medical intervention.
But how could someone’s gender dysphoria be anything except persistent if they are affirmed from the moment it is expressed? Gender-confused children rarely hear a serious alternative from schools or clinicians — though some later wish they had. Ask the detransitioners.
The largest <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26895269.2025.2538744">study</a> of detransitioners in Canada and the United States suggests that many who reversed a gender transition wish doctors “took a more neutral approach to care.” The participants reported feelings of alienation, emphasizing the high social cost of detransition. One woman <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=detransitioners%20ghosted%20&amp;qs=n&amp;form=QBRE&amp;sp=-1&amp;ghc=1&amp;lq=0&amp;pq=detransitioners%20ghost&amp;sc=6-21&amp;sk=&amp;cvid=4BE657D5CF8D46BFA48C72A857DF33F8">said</a> she was “ghosted” by the doctor who did her mastectomy. Treating gender identity as immutable and patients as infallible leaves minors, who are already going through emotional and physical changes, at risk of serious harm.
Look no further than their chosen cultural symbols. Publicly funded spaces across the country are decked out in pride flags, including city halls, legislative assemblies, walkways, libraries. This imagery is so pervasive in places of cultural importance that a first-time visitor might mistake it for the national flag.
In the absence of their rich traditions, Canadians have united around a new vision of the good. This new orthodoxy is summed up well in Bill C-4’s preamble, which states that conversion therapy “propagates” the myth that “cisgender identity is to be preferred over other gender identities.” While Canada elevates the dubious idea of an inner, gendered essence, it denounces the view that our bodies are essential to who we are.
That is a philosophical claim, not a scientific one. Science can’t disprove it.
Until Canada re-examines its commitment to this new orthodoxy, it will keep ignoring the warnings — until the damage is too widespread to dismiss.
* * *
Liana Graham is a research assistant in domestic policy at The Heritage Foundation.

Close up of LGBT pin in the form of a flag with Canada pin is pinned on blue jeans jacket. LGBT rights in Canada concept.

He Spoke Out Against Gender Ideology. It Cost Him Nearly A Million Dollars.

How Pushing Back On Gender Ideology Cost One Man $750,000

Children

Gender

Gender Transition

Heritage Foundation

LGBTQ

Social Media Censorship

Teenagers

Transgender

American diplomats will push countries around the world to adopt policies that prioritize the online safety of kids while not jeopardizing free speech or digital privacy, according to an internal memo first obtained by The Daily Wire. 
The memo from the State Department directs diplomats to encourage their host countries to pursue policies that keep children safe from the dangers of online pornography and sexual abuse while not compromising fundamental freedoms. 
“The Trump Administration strongly prioritizes the protection of children online, advancing policies that combat exploitation while safeguarding privacy, free expression, and innovation,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott told The Daily Wire. “As countries explore frameworks to protect children online, we stand ready to engage and encourage approaches that are effective, balanced, and do not impose unintended consequences on fundamental freedoms or technological progress.”
The memo from the State Department says that it supports age verification technology if implemented within a scope that protects privacy, freedom of speech and digital innovation. In general the State Department said it favored an open internet, especially when it comes to political speech, with the exception to pornography and adult commercial activities such as gambling, tobacco, or alcohol. 
“The United States seeks to engage global partners to ensure that, if they implement or consider age assurance measures, they do so in close coordination with the U.S. government, tech companies, and civil society, including parents, to inform their approach,” the memo said. 
The memo added that its priority was prioritizing parental involvement. 
“The United States favors regulatory approaches that empower parents to prescribe access limitations for devices used by their child, rather than mandating one-size-fits-all access limitations imposed by the government.  The United States also favors digital-literacy campaigns that educate parents about how to manage relevant device settings,” the memo read.  
One form of age-verification the State Department said it favored was zero knowledge proof (ZKP) age verification systems. This approach is to be verified while precise personal details are kept private at the same time. 
“The United States encourages ZKP standards that are interoperable across platforms and regulatory regimes and encourages a diverse ecosystem of ZKP credentialing that includes relatively anonymous, low-friction options,” the memo added. 
It said it does not favor approaches that mandate the production of a driver&#8217;s license or a passport.
President Donald Trump has pushed for protections online for kids and signed “The Take It Down Act” in 2025, a law championed by First Lady Melania Trump requiring the removal of content featuring nonconsensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated deepfakes. 
Polling <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/where-americans-stand-on-forcing-age-checks-for-porn-sites">shows</a> that the vast majority of Americans support a federal law requiring age verification for app downloads or access to pornographic content online. A poll conducted by Cygnal in February found that 83% of likely voters support an age verification law for mobile app downloads, and 81% of likely voters support age verification for pornographic sites.

Girl lying on bed at night and using a mobile phone

Trump Admin Launches Global Crackdown To Shield Kids From Pornography, Online Abuse

Online porn

Pornography

State Department

The U.S. Supreme Court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-hands-down-major-conservative-win-in-near-unanimous-decision">ruled</a> on March 31 in <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/chiles-v-salazar/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped">Chiles v. Salazar</a> that voluntary conversations between a counselor and her young clients are protected under the First Amendment’s free speech clause. This monumental decision condemned the state’s unlawful and, according to the court, “egregious” attempt to censor discussions about biological reality in the counseling room.
In my role with Alliance Defending Freedom, I had the privilege of standing before the high court last fall and advocating on behalf of licensed Colorado counselor Kaley Chiles, who challenged the state’s counseling censorship law.
Kaley wants to provide what so many children and families are desperate for: A listening ear and compassionate advice as kids talk through what it feels like to wrestle with their identity and body. As more and more young people across the country are becoming distressed about their gender or sexuality, they want a professional to talk to about their feelings and struggles. The young clients who seek out Kaley for advice do so because they want to grow comfortable with their bodies and avoid harmful drugs and procedures.
<div id="attachment_1073215" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1073215" class="size-large wp-image-1073215" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/chiles14-scaled-1-864x576.jpg" alt="Source: Alliance Defending Freedom" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/chiles14-scaled-1-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/chiles14-scaled-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/chiles14-scaled-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/chiles14-scaled-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/chiles14-scaled-1-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/chiles14-scaled-1-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/chiles14-scaled-1-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Source: Alliance Defending Freedom</div>
Colorado’s law forbids Kaley from having those voluntary conversations with her clients under age 18. Indeed, the law violates her freedom of speech by prohibiting licensed counselors like her from engaging in voluntary counseling conversations with minor clients who want to change some expression, behavior, identity, or feeling associated with their “sexual orientation or gender identity.”
On the issue of gender identity, the law only censors counseling conversations in one direction. It allows conversations that push young people toward a gender identity different from their sex but forbids conversations that help them grow comfortable with their body and realign their identity with their sex when they desire to do that. The law also threatens severe penalties, including thousands of dollars in fines, suspension from practice, and even revocation of the counselor’s license.
This one-sided censorship comes amidst a growing national mental-health crisis and prevents many Colorado children from obtaining the counseling that they desire and that could help them. Roughly 90% of children who experience gender dysphoria before puberty will regain comfort with their sex if not pushed toward harmful drugs and procedures.
In its opinion, the Supreme Court explained, “We do not doubt that the question ‘how best to help minors’ struggling with issues of gender identity or sexual orientation is presently a subject of ‘fierce public debate.’ But Colorado’s law addressing conversion therapy does not just ban physical interventions. In cases like this, it censors speech based on viewpoint.”
“Colorado may regard its policy as essential to public health and safety,” the court continued. “Certainly, censorious governments throughout history have believed the same. But the First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country. It reflects instead a judgment that every American possesses an inalienable right to think and speak freely, and a faith in the free marketplace of ideas as the best means for discovering truth. However well-intentioned, any law that suppresses speech based on viewpoint represents an ‘egregious’ assault on both of those commitments.”
<div id="attachment_1073217" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1073217" class="size-large wp-image-1073217" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/chiles17-scaled-1-864x576.jpg" alt="Source: Alliance Defending Freedom" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/chiles17-scaled-1-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/chiles17-scaled-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/chiles17-scaled-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/chiles17-scaled-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/chiles17-scaled-1-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/chiles17-scaled-1-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/chiles17-scaled-1-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Source: Alliance Defending Freedom</div>
This is a massive win for free speech, common sense, and families desperate to help their children. The decision will help end the authoritarian days of Colorado inserting itself into the counseling room and silencing good counselors from speaking body-affirming messages their clients want to hear. It also takes us a long way down the road to ensuring that kids in Colorado, and around the country, who desire to embrace and live consistent with their sex are free to seek help by talking to licensed counselors like Kaley.
Significantly, the Supreme Court’s ruling will help protect counselors from similar laws in more than 20 states and over 100 localities across the country, giving them a path forward to help struggling youth seeking professional guidance.
From professional groups to medical malpractice verdicts, the tide is turning on how we as a society help young people struggling with gender issues. Those kids need quality counseling, not a one-way path to dangerous body-altering drugs and surgeries. All children deserve real help affirming that their bodies are not a mistake and that they are wonderfully made. The Supreme Court affirms that the First Amendment protects those messages in the counseling room.
* * *
Jim Campbell is chief legal counsel with <a href="http://www.adflegal.org/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped">Alliance Defending Freedom</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/ADFLegal">@ADFLegal</a>) and argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Kaley Chiles in Chiles v. Salazar.

Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Policy Gets Supreme Court Hearing

The Court Just Said The Government Can’t Control What Your Child’s Counselor Says

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

Colorado

Conversion Therapy

Counseling

Opinion

SCOTUS

I have <a href="https://jonathanturley.org/2025/10/16/sixth-circuit/">previously written</a> about D.A. v. Tri-County Area Schools, one of the worst free speech decisions to come out of the appellate courts in years. In this case, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld a school ban on high school students wearing “Let’s Go Brandon!” sweatshirts. Sixth Circuit Judge John Nalbandian was joined by Judge Karen Nelson Moore in a deeply flawed holding that, under the “vulgarity exception,” the action was constitutional. The Supreme Court needs to grant review in this case and reverse this obnoxious decision.
As previously discussed, “Let’s Go Brandon!” has become a similarly unintended political battle cry not just against Biden but also against media bias. It derives from an Oct. 2 interview with race-car driver <a href="https://thehill.com/person/brandon-brown">Brandon Brown</a> after he won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race. During the interview, NBC reporter Kelli Stavast’s questions were drowned out by loud and clear chants of “F*** Joe Biden.” Stavast quickly and inexplicably declared, “You can hear the chants from the crowd, ‘Let’s go, Brandon!’”
“Let’s Go Brandon!” instantly became a type of <a href="https://jonathanturley.org/2021/11/05/yankee-doodling-the-media-how-lets-go-brandon-became-a-rallying-cry-against-news-bias/">“Yankee Doodling” of the political and media establishment.</a>
In this case, an assistant principal (Andrew Buikema) and a teacher (Wendy Bradford) “ordered the boys to remove the sweatshirts” for allegedly breaking the school dress code. However, other students were allowed to wear political apparel supporting other causes, including “gay-pride-themed hoodies.”
The district dress code states the following:
<blockquote>
Students and parents have the right to determine a student’s dress, except when the school administration determines a student’s dress is in conflict with state policy, is a danger to the students’ health and safety, is obscene, is disruptive to the teaching and/or learning environment by calling undue attention to oneself. The dress code may be enforced by any staff member.
</blockquote>
The district reserves the right to bar any clothing “with messages or illustrations that are lewd, indecent, vulgar, or profane, or that advertise any product or service not permitted by law to minors.”
The funny thing about this action is that the slogan is not profane. To the contrary, it substitutes non-profane words for profane words. Nevertheless, “D.A.” was stopped in the hall by Buikema and told that his “Let’s Go Brandon!” sweatshirt was equivalent to “the f–word.”
The district court showed an equally dismissive view of the free speech rights of these students, including that the phrase could “reasonably be interpreted” as profane. That was upheld by the Sixth Circuit in its 2-1 decision.
Judge John Bush offered an excellent dissent, stating:
<blockquote>
[T]he speech here—”Let’s Go Brandon!”—is neither vulgar nor profane on its face, and therefore does not fall into [the Fraser] exception. To the contrary, the phrase is purely political speech. It criticizes a political official—the type of expression that sits “at the core of what the First Amendment is designed to protect.” No doubt, its euphemistic meaning was offensive to some, particularly those who supported President Biden. But offensive political speech is allowed in school, so long as it does not cause disruption under Tinker. As explained below, Tinker is the standard our circuit applied to cases involving Confederate flag T-shirts and a hat depicting an AR-15 rifle—depictions arguably more offensive than “Let’s Go Brandon!” …
The majority says the sweatshirts’ slogan is crude. But neither the phrase itself nor any word in it has ever been bleeped on television, radio, or other media. Not one of the “seven words you can never say on television” appears in it . Instead, the phrase has been used to advance political arguments, primarily in opposition to President Biden’s policies and secondarily to complain about the way liberal-biased media treats conservatives. It serves as a coded critique—a sarcastic catchphrase meant to express frustration, resentment, and discontent with political opponents. The phrase has been used by members of Congress during debate. And even President Biden himself, attempting to deflect criticism, “agreed” with the phrase.
We cannot lose sight of a key fact: the students’ sweatshirts do not say “F*ck Joe Biden.” Instead, they bear a sanitized phrase made famous by sports reporter Kelli Stavast while interviewing NASCAR race winner Brandon Brown at the Talladega Superspeedway. The reporter said the crowd behind them was yelling “Let’s go, Brandon!” She did not report the vulgar phrase that was actually being chanted. The Majority even concedes Stavast may have used the sanitized phrase to “put a fig leaf over the chant’s vulgarity.” That is telling….
</blockquote>
The Sixth Circuit opinion constitutes a significant infringement on the free speech rights of students. I readily admit that I am critical of some past cases, including Morse v. Frederick, 551 U.S. 393 (2007), where the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Juneau-Douglas High School could suspend student Joseph Frederick after he displayed a banner reading “BONG HiTS 4 JESUS” across the street from the school during the 2002 Winter Olympics torch relay. In my view, the courts have honored Tinker largely in the breach in such cases.
FIRE has filed the petition below, and hopefully, the justices will add this case to the docket.
Here is the petition: <a href="https://jonathanturley.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Petition-for-Writ-of-Certiorari-D.A.-v.-Tri-County-Area-Schools.pdf">Petition for Writ of Certiorari – D.A. v. Tri County Area Schools</a>.
 * * *
Professor Jonathan Turley is a nationally recognized legal scholar who has written extensively in areas ranging from constitutional law to legal theory to tort law. He is a New York Times best-selling author of &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1668047047?tag=simonsayscom" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1668047047?tag%3Dsimonsayscom&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1775041193122000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1yfRPM-SD7lTbUvS3kC_vo">The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage</a>&#8221; and &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FCDSN1KR/ref=sr_1_5?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.RRwQP-jxib6FGPIATmKf_-qZ54EqdtHH96MILgFFNEu2d_chUIjFQbBNWZj6-YWIsRTxEeuGYCTw-gDvcdUE1puVoYeX2uBJyqcXA64EqxaA3kXW04dbyRE6t7mOEnrcSOf8BIA7KP47sQttP-6j4qWXwt_gUgP9AJ6jJ1HWnqU62QYxnVkcOQhwCaeyp8o8.-FQ90bYCtRhnfQk9vLhvb1kV2q0kmzaKPZqwWwUateA&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;qid=1749518291&amp;refinements=p_27%3AJonathan+Turley&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FCDSN1KR/ref%3Dsr_1_5?dib%3DeyJ2IjoiMSJ9.RRwQP-jxib6FGPIATmKf_-qZ54EqdtHH96MILgFFNEu2d_chUIjFQbBNWZj6-YWIsRTxEeuGYCTw-gDvcdUE1puVoYeX2uBJyqcXA64EqxaA3kXW04dbyRE6t7mOEnrcSOf8BIA7KP47sQttP-6j4qWXwt_gUgP9AJ6jJ1HWnqU62QYxnVkcOQhwCaeyp8o8.-FQ90bYCtRhnfQk9vLhvb1kV2q0kmzaKPZqwWwUateA%26dib_tag%3Dse%26qid%3D1749518291%26refinements%3Dp_27%253AJonathan%2BTurley%26s%3Dbooks%26sr%3D1-5&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1775041193122000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0iutNbOSt_wYahJ5z1jjFD">Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution</a>&#8220;. 
This article is <a href="https://jonathanturley.org/2026/03/31/supreme-court-asked-to-hear-lets-go-brandon-case/">republished for the Daily Wire</a> with the author’s permission from JonathanTurley.org.

Annual Pro Life Gathering, The March For Life Takes Place In Washington, D.C.

Supreme Court To Rule Whether Schools Can Ban ‘Let’s Go Brandon’

Supreme Court To Rule Whether Schools Can Ban 'Let’s Go Brandon'

Constitutional Law

Jonathan Turley

Let's Go Brandon

The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 Tuesday in favor of a Christian counselor who challenged a Colorado law she said could punish her for helping gender-confused children become comfortable with their own bodies instead of pursuing irreversible transgender medical procedures.
The case pitted the State of Colorado against counselor Kaley Chiles, who challenged a Colorado law that <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2019a_1129_signed.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prohibited</a> counseling that “attempts or purports to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” Chiles said that the law violates her First Amendment rights and has prevented her from accepting several clients.
&#8220;We conclude that the courts below failed to apply sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny in this case. Start with the most obvious point. While the First Amendment protects many and varied forms of expression, the spoken word is perhaps the quintessential form of protected speech. And that is exactly the kind of expression in which Ms. Chiles seeks to engage,&#8221; Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion.
Chiles, who was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), argued that Colorado’s law, passed in 2019, is a direct attack on professional speech.
&#8220;I hope this win for free speech will fuel a greater pursuit of truth. Both amongst the professionals and in the counseling room,&#8221; Chiles said on Tuesday in a press briefing attended by The Daily Wire. &#8220;Our kids deserve it.  The law I&#8217;m challenging harms kids and silences speech. Kids deserve real help, affirming that their bodies are not a mistake, and that they are wonderfully made. I&#8217;m grateful that my speech is protected.&#8221;
Chiles said the ruling would preserve more options for families.
&#8220;I am thrilled that the ruling will help struggling kids and families who are seeking professional guidance consistent with biological reality,&#8221; she said.
The court agreed that Colorado&#8217;s law did not hold up to First Amendment scrutiny.
&#8220;Colorado’s law banning conversion therapy, as applied to Ms. Chiles’s talk therapy, regulates speech based on viewpoint, and the lower courts erred by failing to apply sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny,&#8221; the majority held.
Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan wrote a concurring opinion. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the lone dissenter.
Jackson said in her dissent that Colorado&#8217;s law was constitutional because it was the state regulating healthcare.
&#8220;In my view, it cannot also be the case that Colorado’s decision to restrict a dangerous therapy modality that, incidentally, involves provider speech is presumptively unconstitutional,&#8221; she said. &#8220;In concluding otherwise, the Court’s opinion misreads our precedents, is unprincipled and unworkable, and will eventually prove untenable for those who rely upon the long-recognized responsibility of States to regulate the medical profession for the protection of public health.&#8221;
Jim Campbell, who argued the case for Alliance Defending Freedom, told The Daily Wire that the 8-1 decision was a major affirmation of free speech.
&#8220;It sends a message that viewpoint discrimination is egregious,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It is a really significant vote of confidence for the First Amendment. It is a condemnation of viewpoint discrimination, and it is a recognition that counselors must be free to have voluntary conversations with clients who are seeking their help.&#8221;
The ruling is expected to have broad implications for similar laws, called &#8220;conversion therapy bans,&#8221; across the country. Over 20 states have passed similar statutes and could now be in legal jeopardy.
Conservative groups like the American Principles Project praised the ruling from the court.
&#8220;The Supreme Court delivered a landmark victory for religious believers, parents, and, most importantly, vulnerable children,&#8221; said American Principles Project President Terry Schilling. &#8220;Colorado Democrats have shown they will stomp on the rights of anyone who stands in the way of the well-heeled gay and transgender lobby—whether it is bakers, doctors, or desperate families.&#8221;

MixCollage-31-Mar-2026-09-29-AM-4011

Supreme Court Hands Down Major Conservative Win In Near-Unanimous Decision

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