David Cole

How Strict?

A Right to Commit Malpractice?

If the Supreme Court overturns a law banning licensed therapists from offering “conversion therapy,” it would throw into doubt how states have always regulated professional speech. 

Getting Away with Murder

Trump has now ordered the killing of at least seventeen people on the high seas—with no accountability.

Umpires No More

In several major cases in its 2024–2025 term, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority reached its desired results not by overturning precedent but by ignoring it.

Universities: Know Your Rights!

Most recently in a flimsy report on antisemitism at Harvard, the Trump administration has been weaponizing discrimination claims to remake the country’s universities. How can they fight back?

From Evasion to Defiance

As the courts resist his deportation orders, Trump has responded with shockingly bad-faith arguments—and brought the country to the brink of a constitutional crisis.

Why Harvard Defied Him

How the university fares in its struggle with Donald Trump may well determine the future of academic freedom in the United States.

Academic Freedom in Peril

Two books by leading First Amendment scholars offer a timely defense of the principle that politicians should not try to control what universities and professors teach their students.

A Constitutional Redline

“It is unprecedented for the federal government to proceed with a challenged action while in a court hearing on whether they can lawfully do so. It is a subversion of the rule of law.”

A Statement from Constitutional Law Scholars on Columbia

The government may not threaten funding cuts as a tool to pressure recipients into suppressing First Amendment–protected speech. 

Profiles in Self-Censorship

Under pressure from the Trump administration, many universities are preemptively scaling back their DEI programs—even though no law requires them to.

The Wrong War on the War on Drugs

The war on drugs has failed, but so has the constitutional counteroffensive in the courts. What should reformers do instead?

The Unhinged Presidency

Many of the legal challenges to Donald Trump’s executive overreach will come down to the Supreme Court. Will it rein him in?

Free Speech for TikTok?

As the Supreme Court decides whether to let the US ban a hugely popular social media platform, it can either learn from its earlier mistakes or repeat them.

Gender-Affirming Care & the Courts

The Supreme Court will rule this term on whether a Tennessee law denying minors treatment for gender dysphoria discriminates on the basis of sex.

What Could Stop Him?

Our Constitution includes multiple guardrails against Trump-like presidents. But those checks and balances only work when citizens resist.

The Supreme Court’s Power Grab

In a series of disturbing decisions this term, the Supreme Court drastically weakened the power of the executive agencies that govern financial markets, agriculture, health care, energy, the airwaves, the environment, the workplace, and so much else.

The Right to Speak Freely Online

“The reality is that we want some content moderation. We just want the ‘right’ content moderation. But under the First Amendment, that’s not a decision we can entrust the government to make.”

Who Should Regulate Online Speech?

A number of cases before the Supreme Court this term will determine the future of free speech on the Internet.

Free Speech on Campus: An Exchange