David Cole

3 weeks ago | aclu.org | David Cole |Eugene Volokh |Michael C. Dorf |Mahmoud A.F. Khalil

Free Speech PROVIDENCE, R.I. — On behalf of art organizations, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Rhode Island argued today that an ideological restriction from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) on grant funding violates the First Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, and the Administrative Procedure Act.

1 month ago | aclu.org | David Cole |Eugene Volokh |Michael C. Dorf |Mahmoud I. Khalil

Free Speech The government may not threaten funding cuts as a tool to pressure recipients into suppressing First Amendment–protected speech. By: David Cole, Eugene Volokh, Michael C.

Jul 10, 2024 | aclu.org | David Cole

The Supreme Court’s 2023-24 term will be remembered for one case above all: Trump v. United States, in which the court granted former President Donald Trump immunity from criminal liability for attempts to use his office to obstruct the peaceful transition of power after he lost the 2020 election. At the ACLU, we submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in the case urging the justices to affirm that no person – including presidents – are above the law.

Jul 8, 2024 | aclu.org | Kendall Ciesemier |David Cole

Another Supreme Court term has come to a close. This year, the court delivered major decisions on reproductive freedom, voting rights, free speech, this women’s rights, gun rights, and presidential immunity, among other decisions. The ACLU was involved in cases throughout the term, and as far as wins and losses, we’re coming out somewhere in the middle. Here to discuss it all and help us reconcile this term’s decisions is returning favorite David Cole, the ACLU’s national legal director.

Jul 3, 2024 | aclu.org | David Cole |Brett Max Kaufman

The Supreme Court’s decision to grant presidents immunity from prosecution for criminal acts committed while in office not only gives Donald Trump a free pass for his past crimes, but sets a dangerous precedent for all future presidents. Before Trump, no one had even argued that presidents are absolutely immune from criminal liability after they leave office. Indeed, every president – including Trump himself – assumed the opposite.