Email from The Institute for Free Speech The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech September 12, 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]. Ed. note: The Media Update will return Wednesday, Sep. 17. New from the Institute for Free Speech Statement on the Assassination of Charlie Kirk .....The assassination of Charlie Kirk is a shocking and horrifying reminder of what’s at stake when violence is perceived as a valid response to speech. However strongly one may disagree with Mr. Kirk’s views, no disagreement can ever justify silencing a voice through force or other unlawful means… As the civil rights movement showed, free speech has fueled America’s greatest strides toward freedom. Rev. Walter Fauntroy, a pastor and former member of Congress, as well as a close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., once credited the movement’s success to “Almighty God and the First Amendment.” His point was clear: faith provided its moral foundation, but the First Amendment provided the valuable legal protections that allowed marchers to assemble, advocates to petition their governments, and voices of conscience to be heard. Without those freedoms, the peaceful protests and appeals that reshaped our nation might have been silenced. But, then and now, the threat of violence casts a chilling shadow on political speech of all kinds. Mr. Kirk’s assassination was a harrowing example of how violence can silence speech. Although questions remain about the circumstances and details of the assassination, the impact is clear: violence against speakers strikes at the heart of free expression and civil society. Free Speech Arguments – Can Arizona Expand Donor Disclosure Beyond Election Campaign Speech? (Center for Arizona Policy, Inc., et al. v. Arizona Secretary of State, et al.) .....Center for Arizona Policy, et al. v. Arizona Secretary of State, et al., argued before the Arizona Supreme Court on September 11, 2025. Argued by Andrew Gould (on behalf of Center for Arizona Policy, Inc., et al.) and Eric Fraser and Alexander Samuels on behalf of Arizona. Background of the case [from the Institute for Free Speech amicus brief]: Proposition 211 imposes sweeping disclosure rules unlike anything seen before. On every metric, the law expands on its predecessors. It covers more people, more speech, for longer time. Where other laws narrow, Proposition 211 widens. It is a drastic evolution in compelled disclosure—and one that should not survive constitutional scrutiny. But what kind of scrutiny even applies? The First Amendment requires what’s called “exacting scrutiny.” See Ams. for Prosperity Found. v. Bonta, 594 U.S. 595, 607 (2021) (“AFPF”). It’s a high bar in theory—part of the increasingly convoluted “tiers of scrutiny” the federal courts have adopted. Under this standard, a law’s constitutionality often boils down to “if, in the judge’s view, the law is sufficiently reasonable or important.” United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. 680, 731 (2024) (Kavanaugh, J., concurring). Yet that “kind of balancing approach to constitutional interpretation” is inconsistent with “what judges as umpires should strive to do.” Id. (Kavanaugh, J., concurring). Congress The Hill: GOP’s Higgins seeks ‘ban for life’ of social media users celebrating Kirk’s shooting By Ashleigh Fields .....Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) on Thursday said he will seek to have social media companies place lifetime bans on users who celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist shot Wednesday while speaking on the campus of Utah Valley University. “I’m going to use Congressional authority and every influence with big tech platforms to mandate immediate ban for life of every post or commenter that belittled the assassination of Charlie Kirk,” Higgins wrote in a post on the social platform X. “If they ran their mouth with their smarta– hatred celebrating the heinous murder of that beautiful young man who dedicated his whole life to delivering respectful conservative truth into the hearts of liberal enclave universities, armed only with a Bible and a microphone and a Constitution… those profiles must come down,” he added. The Courts Fox News: Michigan city may ban LGBTQ+ flags on public property, judge rules By Landon Mion .....A Michigan city may enforce its rule banning LGBTQ+ flags from being displayed on publicly owned property, according to a federal judge. U.S. District Judge David Lawson dismissed a lawsuit against the city of Hamtramck on Monday, two years after the city council voted to allow only five flags, including the American flag, the Michigan flag and flags that "represent the international character" of the community. "Hamtramck’s refusal to display the Gay Pride flag did not violate the Constitution," Lawson said. Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): Teacher Disciplined for Saying "Privilege" Training Involved "White-Bashing BS" Can Go Forward with First Amendment Claim By Eugene Volokh .....An excerpt from the long opinion in Grande v. Hartford Bd. of Ed., decided Tuesday by Judge Sarah Russell (D. Conn.): Herald-Tribune: Florida law upheld: Noncitizens can't gather petitions, federal appeals judges say By Stephany Matat .....Groups obtaining signatures for marijuana or Medicaid expansion measures for next year's ballot got an unexpected roadblock from federal judges, who say their First Amendment rights aren't being violated by a Florida law regulating their conduct. A sharply divided three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a law that went into effect July 1 (HB 1205) preventing nonresidents and noncitizens from gathering signatures for these measures. The majority of Barbara Lagoa and Elizabeth Branch, who sided with the state, agreed that the law doesn't "restrict any speech elements of the petition-circulation process." Trump Administration Washington Times: State Department bars foreigners who ‘glorify’ Charlie Kirk assassination from entering U.S. By Jeff Mordock .....The State Department announced Thursday that any foreigner found to “glorify” or mock the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk will be barred from entering the U.S. “In light of yesterday’s horrific assassination of a leading political figure, I want to underscore that foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome in our country,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote on X. “I have been disgusted to see on social media praising, rationalizing or making light of the event and have directed our consular officials to undertake appropriate action,” he continued. Truthout: DHS Says Filming, Posting Videos of ICE Agents Is “Doxxing,” Vows Prosecutions By Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg .....The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says filming and posting videos of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents constitutes “violence,” and has threatened to potentially charge people who take videos and photos of agents conducting immigration raids in their communities, despite First Amendment protections. DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told the Center for Media and Democracy that “videotaping ICE law enforcement and posting photos and videos of them online is doxxing our agents.” “We will prosecute those who illegally harass ICE agents to the fullest extent of the law,” she said. Free Expression IW Features: Teacher and Moms for Liberty Member Stonewalled and Blacklisted by District Bureaucracy By Ashley McClure .....After losing her home to the devastating Hurricane Harvey in 2017, former science and special-education teacher Brooke Weiss hoped for a fresh start in Charlotte, NC. And yet, because of her membership in the nonprofit parents rights organization Moms for Liberty, Weiss found herself stonewalled, underemployed, and even targeted by the FBI––all at the hands of a bureaucracy that seemingly wanted silence and conformity more than it needed qualified teachers. Privacy Wired: A New Platform Offers Privacy Tools to Millions of Public Servants By Dell Cameron .....A first-of-its-kind marketplace rolled out on Tuesday offering free and discounted privacy and security services to America’s 23 million current and former public servants. The marketplace is offered by Public Service Alliance (PSA), a private company that says it formed in response to an unprecedented rise in threats against government workers across the United States. Candidates and Campaigns AP News: Josh Kraft, son of billionaire Patriots owner, drops out of Boston mayor’s race against Michelle Wu By Leah Willingham .....Despite spending millions of his own money on the race, Kraft struggled to find a message that would resonate with voters amid the popularity of Wu. The States Wall Street Journal: Vivek Ramaswamy: An Ohio County vs. the First Amendment By Vivek Ramaswamy .....The Seneca County, Ohio, Board of Elections has barred anyone who opposes the use of electronic voting machines from serving as a poll manager. While reasonable minds can differ on the best way to conduct elections, there’s no doubt that refusing to hire workers for expressing disfavored views is unconstitutional—a textbook First Amendment violation. New York Daily News: Cuomo’s campaign unlocked matching funds on donations from minors in violation of CFB rules By Chris Sommerfeldt .....Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral campaign unlocked $4,000 in public matching funds off of donations made in the names of minors in violation of fundraising compliance laws, according to records reviewed by the Daily News. The donors whose contributions produced the questionable matching cash include a 5-year-old son of a prominent Cuomo supporter, the records show. Under the city Campaign Finance Board’s matching funds program, mayoral candidates can get any donation from a local resident matched eightfold with taxpayer funds up to $250, providing a big incentive as every eligible contribution can be worth an extra $2,000 in public money. The program’s rules are strict and include a prohibition on candidates seeking matching funds on donations from anyone under 18. Still, records show Cuomo’s campaign secured $2,000 in matching cash off a $250 donation made on March 6 by the 5-year-old son of Marc Schneier, a Long Island rabbi who has called Cuomo “a dear friend” and hosts him for speaking engagements at his synagogue in the Hamptons. KERA News: 'Doctor' who? Candidate accused of misusing the title wants Texas Supreme Court to back his suit By Toluwani Osibamowo .....“For those who want to relate to the candidate, I am a physician,” said the qualifications section of Gonzalez’s voter guide. “Like most doctors, I care about people. I listen. I act decisively in the best interest of my patients.” It was statements like these that led the Texas Medical Board to issue a cease-and-desist in 2021 ordering Gonzalez to stop “holding himself out” to be a licensed doctor — and the Texas Supreme Court is now weighing the validity of Gonzalez's lawsuit against the board for allegedly trying to regulate his protected political speech. “What Rey Gonzalez wants is to be able to talk to voters about how his credentials support his public policy without a state agency telling him exactly how he's got to go about doing it,” his attorney Roger Hughes told justices. Rance Craft with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, representing the board, said the solution for Gonzalez is to simply clarify his educational background when he publicly claims he’s a physician, as the Healing Arts Identification Act requires. “I know it's political speech, but the answer is more speech, and that's what the statute requires,” Craft said. While oral arguments Wednesday mostly hinged on procedural requirements for Gonzalez’s lawsuit, a core question is how far the Texas Medical Board can go in dictating who can call themselves a doctor. KERA News reached out to the board for comment. Ed. note: Bloomberg Law also covered this story (paywalled). 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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