First Amendment Watch

We've released a first-of-its-kind database tracking strategic lawsuits against public participation, potentially meritless or malicious legal actions that chill speech and deter scrutiny. Check out The SLAPP Back Initiative: slappback.org

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on May 15 commuted the sentence of election conspiracy theorist Tina Peters following pressure from President Donald Trump. firstamendmentwatch.org/colorados-demo…

The bitter divorce between an Ohio congressman and his former wife, the daughter of one of the state’s U.S. senators, has escalated into new legal action.firstamendmentwatch.org/us-rep-max-mil…

President Donald Trump’s efforts to sanction some of the nation’s most prestigious law firms “strike at the heart of the rule of law” and must remain blocked by the courts, an attorney for law firms told a panel of appellate judges on Thursday. firstamendmentwatch.org/law-firms-urge…

4 Memphis residents are suing U.S. and Tennessee officials, saying they have been harassed, arrested and physically mistreated for engaging in activities protected by the First Amendment such as observing and recording law enforcement agents in their city.firstamendmentwatch.org/memphis-reside…

President Donald Trump won’t have to pay an $83 million defamation award to a longtime advice columnist until the U.S. Supreme Court gets a chance to review the case or reject an appeal, according to a court entry Tuesday.firstamendmentwatch.org/appeals-court-…

@TEDxTalks "Stand up to the bullies, because when we defend free speech, we defend each other, and we defend democracy itself," Prather (@1stAmLawyer) said.

"Bullies use the courts to silence, intimidate and harass people whose voices they don't like, and whose message they don't want heard." -Laura Prather, The SLAPP Back Initiative advisor, in @TEDxTalks about strategic lawsuits against public participation. youtube.com/watch?v=_IV7ve…

Two South Florida police officers claim Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s recent action thriller “The Rip” used too many real-life details, causing harm to the officers’ personal and professional reputations, according to a defamation lawsuit.firstamendmentwatch.org/south-florida-…

In a strongly worded filing, ABC accuses the Trump administration of trying to chill its constitutionally protected free speech and hinder open political discussion.firstamendmentwatch.org/in-legal-dispu…

Raymond Epps, a former Marine, was falsely accused by Fox of being a government agent causing trouble near the Capitol that day so that it would be blamed on Trump fans.firstamendmentwatch.org/federal-judge-…

Rutgers University has canceled a planned graduation speech by business leader Rami Elghandour after some students raised concerns about his criticism of Israel on social media.firstamendmentwatch.org/rutgers-univer…

The number of antisemitic incidents in the United States tallied by the Anti-Defamation League declined sharply in 2025 — the first drop in five years — due in part to what the ADL said was a dramatic decrease of incidents on college campuses.firstamendmentwatch.org/adl-reports-a-…

President Donald Trump’s lawyer, hoping for an eventual Supreme Court victory, has asked a federal appeals court in New York to temporarily block a longtime columnist from collecting an $83 million defamation award.firstamendmentwatch.org/trump-hoping-f…

After the Wyoming GOP voted to defy a state law prohibiting the party from backing one Republican over another before the primary election, statewide candidates are split on whether they would accept such an endorsement. firstamendmentwatch.org/statewide-cand…

New Mexico state prosecutors are seeking fundamental changes to Meta’s social media apps and algorithms to safeguard children in the second phase of a landmark trial on allegations that platforms such as Instagram have created a public safety hazard.firstamendmentwatch.org/new-mexico-see…

Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted again Tuesday, this time over a social media photo of seashells arranged on a beach that officials said constituted a threat against President Donald Trump.firstamendmentwatch.org/ex-fbi-directo…

The Defense Department can require journalists to be escorted on Pentagon grounds while the Trump administration appeals a judge’s decision to block its enforcement of a press access policy challenged by The New York Times, an appeals court ruled Monday. firstamendmentwatch.org/pentagon-can-r…

Donald and Melania Trump both called for ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel on Monday after a joke last week in which the late-night comic described the first lady as having “the glow of an expectant widow.” firstamendmentwatch.org/trumps-call-fo…

An appeals court on Friday reversed an $8.2 million defamation verdict awarded to Alabama politician Roy Moore, who sued a super PAC over a 2017 political ad detailing misconduct accusations against him.firstamendmentwatch.org/appeals-court-…

Three professors at Atlanta’s Emory University filed a lawsuit Thursday over their arrests during a 2024 campus protest over the Israel-Hamas war, saying the university broke its own free speech policies.firstamendmentwatch.org/emory-professo…