June 4, 2025

We're Hiring!

Litigation Attorney – Institute for Free Speech – Virtual

.....IFS is hiring an Attorney with at least seven years of experience to support its ongoing litigation efforts. The position is located either in the Washington, DC office or remotely at any location within the United States with reasonable access to air travel.

This is a rare opportunity to litigate to protect and advance Constitutional rights. IFS challenges laws, practices, and policies that infringe upon First Amendment freedoms of speech, assembly, press, and petition concerning politics. Cases typically secure people’s rights to speak at public meetings, such as school boards and legislative hearings, protect people’s ability to give and receive campaign contributions, and ward off any intrusion into people’s private political associations. You would work to hold censors accountable and secure legal precedents clearing away a thicket of laws, regulations, and practices that suppress speech about government and candidates for political office, threaten citizens’ privacy if they speak or join groups, or impose heavy burdens on political activity.

The Courts

Politico: Judge tosses Democratic Party challenge to Trump order’s impact on FEC

By Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney

.....A federal judge has dismissed a Democratic Party lawsuit claiming an executive order issued by President Donald Trump was intruding on the independence of the Federal Election Commission.

In a ruling Tuesday night, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali said the Democratic Party groups’ case was simply too speculative to justify emergency intervention from the court. The FEC had pledged to remain independent, had received no directive from the White House to change its practices and vowed to abide by the law. Without evidence undermining those promises, Ali said he was compelled to dismiss the suit.

The Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee filed the suit in February after Trump issued an executive order that sought to assert greater control over executive branch agencies that have traditionally operated with considerable independence from the White House.

Reuters: US appeals court rules for watchdog Media Matters in fight over Texas subpoena

By Mike Scarcella

.....A U.S. appeals court on Friday rejected Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's demand for internal records from liberal watchdog group Media Matters, calling the state’s probe a retaliatory campaign against the nonprofit.

In its ruling, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld a lower judge’s order that blocked a Texas subpoena for financial records and other information from Media Matters.

Courthouse News: Fourth Circuit orders review of merit board as it revives judges’ free speech suit

By Steve Garrison

.....A Fourth Circuit panel ordered a district judge to review whether the Merit Systems Protection Board and Office of Special Counsel are fulfilling their duties in light of President Donald Trump’s fight to oust his critics at the agencies.

U.S. Circuit Judge Nicole Berner, a Joe Biden appointee, writes in a 32-page opinion that the panel has “serious questions” about the ability of the board and special counsel to independently review adverse actions taken against federal employees.

If the quasi-judicial agencies cannot process claims, either for lack of quorum or other reasons, then the purpose of the Civil Service Reform Act has been thwarted, Berner wrote.

Tallahassee Democrat: Federal court in Florida halts DeSantis-backed youth social media ban, cites free speech

By Stephany Matat

.....A federal judge in Tallahassee has temporarily blocked part of a Florida law restricting minors' access to social media, finding it "likely unconstitutional."

Chief U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker on June 3 said he recognized First Amendment protections to prevent the state from "substantially burdening speech unless (it) can show that doing so is necessary to achieve its significant interests."

The law (HB 3), passed in 2024, was supposed to go into effect this Jan. 1, but the state attorney general's office agreed not to enforce it until the judge ruled on a request for what's known as a preliminary injunction. Such orders are issued early in a lawsuit to temporarily stop something, like enforcement of a law, until the case is fully decided.

Independent Groups and Nonprofits

Politico (New Jersey Playbook): Super PAC spending smashes records

By Matt Friedman

.....An obscene amount of money is being thrown around in the primary by super PACs and mostly backing the Democratic candidates.

I counted $70 million spent this year by super PACs on the gubernatorial candidates as of May 27, and that’s being conservative. Several super PACs have spent more than the actual candidates are allowed to spend in the gubernatorial public financing program.

To put this in perspective, during the 2021 race for governor, independent expenditure groups spent $58 million — on the primary and the general, and for both gubernatorial and legislative candidates. This year we went way over that with two weeks left in the primary.

Wall Street Journal: This Conservative Is Doing Just Fine, Thank You, After Getting Dumped by Trump

By Maggie Severns, Josh Dawsey, and John Jurgensen

.....Leo has since fallen out of favor with the president, who believes Leo tried to take too much credit for the judicial picks, according to four advisers close to the president. Last week, angry over a string of judicial setbacks, Trump in a Truth Social post blamed the Federalist Society and called Leo a “sleazebag” who “probably hates America.” …

“You can make investments in politics and public policy, but ultimately you’re going to be a lot more successful at that game if social and cultural institutions have the right sort of frame of reference, in terms of what life ought to be like in our country,” Leo said. That will take a new generation of conservative movie makers and like-minded production studios.

Leo is seeding the effort, alongside similarly aimed projects, with millions of dollars flowing through dozens of nonprofit groups and for-profit companies, according to tax and financial documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal and interviews with more than 20 people familiar with Leo’s investments and entertainment projects. 

David Axelrod, a former top adviser to President Obama, called it “gilded guerrilla warfare.”

The States

Reason: Nevada Becomes the 21st State To Strengthen Donor Privacy Protections

By Autumn Billings

.....On Thursday, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) signed Assembly Bill 197 into law, prohibiting state agencies from demanding or releasing personal information of nonprofit supporters—actions that could potentially chill speech or violate the right to privacy. With the bill's passage, Nevada becomes the 21st state to strengthen First Amendment protections for donors, volunteers, and members of nonprofit organizations.

NJ.com: Case closed? Not so fast. N.J. law could hit those who file lawsuits with legal costs.

By Colleen Murphy

.....Several people and organizations can pursue a claim for reimbursement of attorney’s fees, even after a case against them was dropped, a New Jersey appeals court has ruled in a precedent setting decision...

They based their request on New Jersey’s new Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, a law passed in 2023 to prevent people from using lawsuits to silence others who speak out on public issues.

ALEC: Free Speech Concerns with Legislation Regulating Use of AI

By Rose Laoutaris and Jake Morabito

.....A 2024 report published by NYU’s Center on Technology Policy found that mandatory AI disclaimers on campaign ads have counterproductive effects and may not reliably increase trust in political communication. NYU’s research revealed that political candidates are rated as less trustworthy, less appealing, and less accurate when mandatory AI disclaimers are displayed—whether the use of AI is intentionally deceptive or is a more harmless application of generative AI.

These laws also faced strong headwinds in the courts on First Amendment grounds. One California law that prohibits “materially deceptive” media about a candidate within 60 days of an election was halted in U.S. District Court late last year. Judge John Mendez of the Eastern District of California ruled that AB 2839 “acts as a hammer instead of a scalpel, serving as a blunt tool that hinders humorous expression and unconstitutionally stifles the free and unfettered exchange of ideas which is so vital to democratic debate.”

Instead of stifling freedom of expression, states can work constructively with Congress to fulfill President Trump’s vision for a Golden Age of AI innovation in America. For more of ALEC’s policy solutions on free speech and AI, look to Essential Policy Solutions for 2025.