Email from The Institute for Free Speech The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech April 29, 2025 Click here to subscribe to the Daily Media Update. This is the Daily Media Update published by the Institute for Free Speech. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]. In the News Courthouse News: Fifth Circuit signals support for free speech claims in legal services dispute By Cameron Thompson .....A Fifth Circuit panel appeared likely Monday to side with a campaign finance advocacy group in a dispute over a small piece of Texas election law. The Institute for Free Speech, a nonprofit focusing on First Amendment and campaign finance litigation, appealed to the three-judge panel that the Texas Election Commission’s 2022 advisory opinion on providing free legal services to political candidates unfairly restricted their First Amendment rights. The institute wanted to represent a City Council candidate in a small town south of Dallas, Texas, who himself wanted to challenge a separate piece of the election code related to a warning printed on political signs. When they asked the commission if that conduct would violate campaign contribution laws, the commission voted 5-3 to find it would be a form of “in kind” contribution. Months later, the institute sued the five commissioners who voted in its favor. The group argued the advisory opinion unconstitutionally prohibited them from exercising their First Amendment rights to provide legal services to candidates in Texas. And though a federal judge dismissed the institute’s claims a year later for lack of standing, the three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit seemed open to reviving the case. New from the Institute for Free Speech Free Speech Arguments – Can States Prohibit Pro-Bono Litigation Services for Candidates? (Institute for Free Speech v. J.R. Johnson, et al.) .....Institute for Free Speech v. J.R. Johnson, et al. argued before Chief Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod and Judges Kurt D. Engelhardt and Greg Gerard Guidry in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on April 28, 2025. Argued by Del Kolde (on behalf of the Institute for Free Speech) and Cory R. Liu (on behalf of J.R. Johnson, et al.). The Courts College Fix: Conservative students turn to appeals court in free speech battle against U. Buffalo By David Glasser .....A conservative student group at the University at Buffalo recently filed an opening brief to an appeals court in an ongoing lawsuit, claiming the student government illegally discriminated against the Young Americans for Freedom chapter by derecognizing the group. The brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit requests a preliminary injunction, which would immediately resume the operation of UB YAF and reinstate its rights as a student organization, pending the outcome of the case. “[YAF and the students] have demonstrated a strong likelihood to succeed on the merits of their claims,” the opening brief states. Trump Administration Axios: DOJ ends Biden-era policy against subpoenaing journalists By Andrew Solender, Marc Caputo, and Sara Fischer .....Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday she is resuming the practice of attempting to seize reporters' phone records in order to smoke out leakers. Why it matters: It is a complete reversal of the policy that former President Biden and former Attorney General Merrick Garland put in place restricting subpoenas of reporters' news-gathering materials. "This conduct is illegal and wrong, and it must stop," Bondi, referring to recent administration leaks, wrote in an internal memo obtained by Axios. "I have concluded that it is necessary to rescind Merrick Garland's policies precluding the Department of Justice from seeking records and compelling testimony from members of the news media in order to identify and punish the source of improper leaks," she wrote. The big picture: Bondi's announcement comes as her office prepares to investigate at least three suspected leakers referred Wednesday by National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard. Washington Examiner: Trump bashes Democrats’ fundraising platform ActBlue: ‘Illegal scam’ By Zach LaChance .....President Donald Trump slammed the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue on Sunday, days after he directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate it for alleged illegal contributions. In a Truth Social post, Trump called the fundraising platform an “illegal scam” that has taken in unallowed “foreign contributions,” likely a reference to hundreds of donations made on ActBlue over a 30-day period ahead of the 2024 election that came from foreign internet protocol addresses. “Hopefully ACTBLUE, the Democrats ILLEGAL SCAM used to raise money, including from not allowed ‘foreign contributions,’ is being looked at by authorities. The Dems only know how to win by CHEATING, something which they do better than any group or party in history,” Trump said. FEC Vox PPLI: Allen Dickerson to resign from Federal Election Commission on April 30, 2025 .....For many years, the Federal Election Commission was stalemated by clashes between Commissioners with differing views of the role and power of the federal agency over federal elections and campaign finance. Then, at the end of 2020, Allen Dickerson was confirmed as a new Commissioner. It was a pivotal moment in FEC history: it broke the stalemates, added a courageous defender of the First Amendment with an experienced litigator’s instincts and deep knowledge of the statutory and Constitutional laws which governed the FEC. Allen Dickerson joined the Federal Election Commission on December 18, 2020, following his confirmation by the U.S. Senate, filling an open Republican seat. He served as Chairman in 2022 and Vice Chair in 2021. FCC Newsweek: Former FCC Chairs: In the Name of the First Amendment, Trump's FCC Attacks Its Principles By Tom Wheeler and Al Sikes .....As former chairmen of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)—one appointed by a Democrat, the other by a Republican—we have seen firsthand how the agency operates when it is guided by its mission to uphold the public interest. But in just over two months, President Donald Trump and his handpicked FCC Chair Brendan Carr have upended 90 years of precedent and congressional mandates to transform the agency into a blatantly partisan tool. Instead of acting as an independent regulator, the agency is being weaponized for political retribution under the guise of protecting the First Amendment. Free Expression Wall Street Journal: Germany’s New Coalition Plans a Crackdown on Free Speech By Filipp Piatov .....Now, the center-right Christian Democratic Union, its Bavarian sister, the Christian Social Union, and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) are forming a coalition. Their agreement includes conservative immigration limits and massive defense spending—but also proposals to restrict speech. Rather than address voter concerns openly, Germany’s next government seems poised to contain them. The coalition pact includes Orwellian language: “The deliberate dissemination of false factual claims is not protected by freedom of speech.” A new “nongovernmental” media oversight body will target “information manipulation” and “hate.” This initiative has already earned a nickname in Germany: the “lying ban.” Online Speech Platforms Cato: Meta Oversight Board’s Mixed Bag of Decisions By David Inserra .....Meta’s Oversight Board, an independent review body sometimes called the Supreme Court for Facebook, recently issued a series of decisions on controversial issues, mostly regarding hate speech. Unfortunately, the Board’s decisions continue a concerning trend toward a limited and inconsistent view of free expression online. Candidates and Campaigns Politico: Andrew Cuomo is whispering to his super PAC By Jeff Coltin .....New York City mayoral campaigns aren’t allowed to strategize with super PACs that support their candidates, but Andrew Cuomo has found a way around that. With significantly less cash on hand than he’d hoped due to a paperwork error, the Democratic frontrunner is relying on a legal practice known as redboxing to communicate his preferred messaging to anyone squinting at the bottom of his website. And if the reader happens to work for a super PAC backing Cuomo, that messaging could find its way into the TV ads the group is airing on his behalf. The States EFF: Texas’s War on Abortion Is Now a War on Free Speech By Jennifer Pinsof .....Senate Bill (S.B.) 2880* seeks to prevent the sale and distribution of abortion pills—but it doesn’t stop there. By restricting access to certain information online, the bill tries to keep people from learning about abortion drugs, or even knowing that they exist. If passed, S.B. 2880 would make it illegal to “provide information” on how to obtain an abortion-inducing drug. If you exchange e-mails or have an online chat about seeking an abortion, you could violate the bill. If you create a website that shares information about legal abortion services in other states, you could violate the bill. Even your social media posts could put you at risk. On top of going after online speakers who create and post content themselves, the bill also targets social media platforms, websites, email services, messaging apps, and any other “interactive computer service” simply for hosting or making that content available. Gothamist: NY lawmakers poised to loosen campaign finance rules in state budget By Jeongyoon Han .....New York state lawmakers looked unlikely to reach a budget deal on Friday, but got behind a proposal to loosen campaign finance rules and ease restrictions on larger donations in the state’s public matching funds program. Lawmakers who met behind closed doors on Friday were on board with changes that would allow candidates to match the first $250 of donations up to $1,000, according to three sources familiar with the negotiations who were not authorized to discuss them publicly. Currently, donations higher than $250 are ineligible for matching, meaning the change would open eligibility to higher-dollar donations. Read an article you think we would be interested in? Send it to Tiffany Donnelly at [email protected]. For email filters, the subject of this email will always begin with "Institute for Free Speech Media Update." The Institute for Free Speech is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that promotes and defends the political rights to free speech, press, assembly, and petition guaranteed by the First Amendment. Please support the Institute's mission by clicking here. For further information, visit www.ifs.org. 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