Conservative Florida Attorney Appeals License Suspension, Denounces Political Censorship over Calling His Opponent ‘Corrupt’ and ‘Swampy’

Florida Attorney Chris Crowley

Conservative attorney Chris Crowley, a decorated Gulf War veteran who ran for a state attorney position in Florida, is appealing a recommendation to suspend his law license for 60 days over speech he made during the campaign. His attorney Scott Tozian argued the appeal before the Florida Supreme Court last week. 

A Referee for the The Florida Bar recommended the suspension due to Crowley referring to his opponent Amira D. Fox, who eventually won the race for state attorney’s office in Florida’s 20th Judicial Circuit, as “corrupt” and “swampy” and for observing that she had “close family ties to the [Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)] terrorist organization.”

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Attorneys File Petition for Certiorari with the Supreme Court in Long Running Lawsuit to End Mandatory Nature of State Bars

American Bar Association

Oregon attorneys represented by the Goldwater Institute filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court last week requesting consideration of their lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of mandatory bar associations for attorneys. Crowe v. Oregon State Bar originated after the Supreme Court ruled in 2018 in Janus v. AFSCME that public-sector unions cannot require non-members to pay fees to support union activities. Attorneys Daniel Crowe, Lawrence Peterson, and the Oregon Civil Liberties Attorneys filed the lawsuit in 2018, asserting violations of free speech and freedom of association.

The lawsuit has wound its way twice up the courts through appeals. The case arose after the bar published a statement in its magazine claiming that President Donald Trump promoted white nationalism. The plaintiffs argued that the statement was non-germane to the bar’s regulatory purpose, constituted compelled political speech, and infringed on their freedom of association by forcing them to be members of an organization engaging in ideological activities they disagreed with.

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Judge Strips Immunity from Ohio State Officials for Firing Professor Who ‘Triggered’ Student

Ohio State University campus

Major decisions on campus free speech from the Supreme Court and an influential federal appeals court in recent years have apparently not reached public universities under their jurisdiction, given their treatment of faculty and a Christian apologist.

U.S. District Judge Michael Watson slapped down Ohio State University for allegedly violating its own lofty ideals by terminating a lecturer for his pedagogy in a “Crucial Conversations” class that he taught 48 times with no complaints from students, until one complained in the 49th.

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Trump Declares ‘Golden Age of America’ in First International Address at Davos

President Donald Trump addresses WEF in Davos

In his first international address since taking office, President Donald Trump spoke on Thursday to an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, emphasizing a “revolution of common sense” and outlining a series of America-First policy initiatives aimed at reversing what he described as the economic and social damages of the previous administration.

Trump began his speech – delivered stateside via video teleconference – by reflecting on his recent inauguration, describing the election as a “massive mandate” with victories in all seven swing states, leading to what he called the “golden age of America.”

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Appeals Court Reinstates Doctor’s First Amendment Retaliation Suit for Challenging Critical Race Theory, BLM

Tara Gustilo, M.D.

“Can a workplace demand ideological conformity from employees, especially when those employees are expected to represent certain racialized or gendered perspectives?”

That’s the core issue in a reinstated lawsuit by a Filipina-American doctor with black children who alleges a witch hunt by her former Minneapolis public hospital for criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement and critical race theory, calling COVID-19 the “China virus” and categorizing protests against George Floyd’s death as “riots,” according to her lawyer.

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Conservatives Question Constitutionality of KOSA Legislation

Student with Cell Phone

Federal legislation designed to curb harmful online content exposure for minors is facing mounting criticism from conservatives for empowering government bureaucrats to infringe on free speech. The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), introduced in 2022, aims to impose sweeping responsibilities on digital platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and X when it comes to content minor children can consume. The bill, which passed the U.S. Senate in July, has faced significant opposition in the House, where Republicans have expressed concerns over its constitutionality regarding free speech, and its potential to expand the power of the federal government. Supporters of KOSA argue that the bill is crucial for protecting children from online dangers such as explicit content and harmful influences. However, critics such as House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Speaker Mike Johnson, argue that the bill’s vague language could lead to significant overreach by the federal government, infringing on Americans’ First Amendment rights and personal control over their children’s online access. One of the primary criticisms of KOSA is that it imposes broad restrictions on speech. While intended to protect minors, the bill’s vague language could lead to censorship of a wide range of online content. The bill’s provisions require platforms…

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Conservative Florida Attorney Chris Crowley Continues Battling Suspension of His Law License over Political Speech

Florida Attorney Chris Crowley

Florida attorney Chris Crowley filed a Cross-Answer/Reply Brief with the Florida Supreme Court earlier this month in his appeal challenging the suspension of his law license for 60 days.

A Referee for the Florida Bar disciplined him for engaging in political speech while he campaigned for the state attorney’s office in Florida’s 20th Judicial Circuit due to referring to his opponent as “corrupt” and “swampy” and for observing that she had “close family ties to the [Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)] terrorist organization.”

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Trump’s Choice for FCC Chairman Vows to End Promotion of DEI, Dismantle ‘Censorship Cartel’

Brendan Carr

Brendan Carr, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has promised to end the agency’s promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies as part of his agency.

“The FCC’s most recent budget request said that promoting DEI was the agency’s second-highest strategic goal. Starting next year, the FCC will end its promotion of DEI,” Carr said.

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Commentary: Foreign Censorship Threatens American Free Speech

Facebook User

On the eve of a highly-anticipated live X “Spaces” conversation between Elon Musk and former president Donald Trump, the powerful European Union Commissioner Thierry Breton warned in August that authorities would be “monitoring” the conversation for “content that may incite violence, hate, and racism.” 

While reminding Musk that the EU was already investigating X for alleged failures “to combat disinformation,” Breton said he and his colleagues “will not hesitate to make full use of our toolbox … to protect EU citizens from serious harm.”

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Conservative Florida Attorney Appeals License Suspension, Denounces Political Censorship over Calling His Opponent ‘Corrupt’ and ‘Swampy’

Chris Crowley

Chris Crowley, a conservative attorney in Florida, filed an appeal with the Florida Supreme Court last month contesting 60-day suspension of his law license for exercising free speech during his political campaign for Office of the State Attorney in Florida’s 20th Judicial Circuit. His attorney said this is the first time an attorney has been disciplined for partisan political speech in Florida, and likely anywhere in the U.S.

Crowley, a decorated Gulf War veteran, said the Florida Bar should be subject to the state’s anti-SLAPP law, which prohibits the use of the courts to suppress free speech. SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. 

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‘This Is Our Last Chance to Stop Them’: RFK Jr. Calls on His Supporters Nationwide to Vote for Trump

Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Donald Trump

Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is urging his supporters nationwide to vote in the November 5 general election for Republican nominee former President Donald Trump.

Kennedy, who suspended his presidential campaign on August 23 and subsequently backed Trump, initially encouraged his supporters in reliably Democratic or Republican states to vote for him in the general election.

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University of Virginia Ranks First for Free Speech

UVA Students

The University of Virginia tops the 2025 free speech ranking on college campuses, a first for the school founded by Thomas Jefferson.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression surveyed over 250 colleges and universities in its rankings. The foundation survey, administered by College Pulse, surveyed nearly 60,000 undergraduates enrolled full-time in four-year degree programs.

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Elite Universities Ranked Lowest for Free Speech, Report Finds

NYU Students

Some of the most prominent elite universities in the nation have been ranked lowest for freedom of speech, according to a report released Thursday.

Harvard, Columbia, New York University (NYU), the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) and Barnard College make up the bottom five in a free speech ranking of 251 universities, according to a report by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and College Pulse. The report cited several incidents of “suppression of free expression” at the schools, including disruption of events and sanctions on students and staff for expressing their views as the reasoning behind the schools’ low rankings.

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Majority Says First Amendment ‘Goes Too Far,’ According to Poll

Peaceful Protest

Free speech suppression on college campuses and social media censorship often spur debates over how far the First Amendment should go to protect Americans’ rights to express their opinions – and who should be entrusted with those decisions. 

About 53% of Americans believe the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it protects, according to a new poll by the nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE.

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Historian Turned Lawyer Finds Second Career Suing ‘Ridiculous, Clearly Out of Control Universities’

Michael Thad Allen

“These universities are so arrogant and so disrespectful of their taxpayers’ wishes and, quite frankly, their money, that it’s infuriating.”

So says Michael Thad Allen, once a tenured history professor who found a second career as a lawyer defending college students and faculty against “hallucinatory” accusations from what he calls “Campus Cloudcuckooland.”

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New Ohio Law Requires Schools to Honor Religious Beliefs, Free Speech

Classroom

Ohio school districts must adopt a policy to accommodate students’ sincerely held religious beliefs.

The new law, signed Friday by Gov. Mike DeWine, was introduced more than a year ago. It requires the district to adopt a policy prohibiting the encouraging of students, employees, and applicants to specific beliefs or ideas about political movements or ideology.

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ACLU Tennessee Silent on Judge’s Contempt of Court Threat Over Covenant Shooter Reporting

MPL Courtroom

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee (ACLU-TN) has remained silent during the past week as The Tennessee Star Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy was ordered to appear before a judge for a show cause hearing called on the heels of a false allegation by WSMV reporter Stacey Cameron that Leahy violated a court order by publishing journals left behind Covenant School shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale.

Leahy could face a contempt of court charge, which comes with a possible jail sentence of 10 days.

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Commentary: Stanford, Silicon Valley, and the Rise of the Censorship Industrial Complex

This summer the Supreme Court will rule on a case involving what a district court called perhaps “the most massive attack against free speech” ever inflicted on the American people. In Murthy v. Missouri, plaintiffs ranging from the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana to epidemiologists from Harvard and Stanford allege that the federal government violated the First Amendment by working with outside groups and social media platforms to surveil, flag, and quash dissenting speech – characterizing it as mis-, dis- and mal-information – on issues ranging from COVID-19 to election integrity.

The case has helped shine a light on a sprawling network of government agencies and connected NGOs that critics describe as a censorship industrial complex. That the U.S. government might aggressively clamp down on protected speech, and, certainly at the scale of millions of social media posts, may constitute a recent development. Reporting by RCI and other outlets – including Racket News’ new “Censorship Files” series, and continuing installments of the “Twitter Files” series to which it, Public, and others have contributed – and congressional probes continue to reveal the substantial breadth and depth of contemporary efforts to quell speech that authorities deem dangerous. But the roots of what some have dubbed the censorship industrial complex stretch back decades, born of an alliance between government, business, and academia that Democrat Sen. William Fulbright termed the “military-industrial-academic-complex” – building on President Eisenhower’s formulation – in a 1967 speech.

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Florida Bar Judge Recommends 60-Day Suspension for Conservative Attorney Exercising His Free Speech During Political Campaign

Chris Crowley

A referee judge for the Florida State Bar recommended suspending decorated Gulf War veteran Chris Crowley’s law license for 60 days over his criticism of an opponent he ran against for the Office of the State Attorney in Florida’s 20th Judicial Circuit.

During the 2018 race, Crowley referred to Amira D. Fox, who eventually won, as “corrupt” and “swampy” and observed that she had “close family ties to the PLO terrorist organization.” The Florida Bar had requested a 91-day suspension for allegedly violating the bar’s ethics rule prohibiting criticism of judges, election officials, and candidates running for office.

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Commentary: Biden FCC Threatens Free Speech by Restoring Internet Regulations

Jessica Rosenworcel Net Neutrality

The Federal Communications Commission has revived regulations for “net neutrality.” According to FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, “the action we take here is good for consumers, public safety, national security and network investment.” The people have room for doubt and the “neutrality” concept requires some explanation.

The internet developed in fine style long before any such regulation appeared, but in 2015, the FCC reclassified Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from “information services,” to “common carrier services.” The government treated an innovative new technology like a public utility monopoly, in effect turning back the clock to the Communications Act of 1934.

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Push Begins to Guarantee Free Speech on Ohio College Campuses

An Ohio lawmaker believes the state’s current political climate creates a negative environment for some speech on college campuses and wants to make sure staff and students are protected.

Rep. Adam Holmes, R-Nashport, said legislation prohibiting colleges and universities from requiring support of specific ideas or political movements is becoming increasingly necessary.

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Commentary: VDARE’s Fight Against Letitia James Is Our Fight, Too

New York AG

For all its gesticulations about “free speech,” the conservative mainstream often plays a supporting role in America’s censorship regime. It’s a two-step dance: The Right styles itself as the sworn defender of free speech and the mortal enemy of censorship while simultaneously downplaying or outright ignoring brazen censorship of speech that ventures a bit too far outside the Overton window. By claiming to defend all free speech in principle but only defending some in practice, the Right concedes, by omission, that certain ideas fall outside the bounds of free expression — and that it’s perfectly appropriate (or, at least, not particularly objectionable) to bring the full force of regime power to bear against any individual so unwise as to express them.

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Mike Benz Warns: The Supreme Court Needs to Exercise ‘Bravery’ in Murthy v. Missouri Case to ‘Dismantle the Government Censorship Complex’

Mike Benz, former Trump State Department official and current executive director of the Foundation for Freedom Online, said the Supreme Court is going to have to exercise “bravery” as opposed to “wisdom” in its ruling of Murthy v. Missouri for the government censorship complex to be dismantled.

Murthy v. Missouri seeks to determine whether the government’s “challenged conduct transformed private social media companies’ content-moderation decisions into state action and violated respondents’ First Amendment rights” related to COVID-19 and the 2020 presidential election.

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Conservative Publication Launches $1 Million Lawsuit Against Celebrity Pennsylvania Climate Scientist

Michael Mann

The National Review is suing Penn State climate celebrity scientist Michael Mann for $1 million. “We cannot recover the time and effort that Mann has wasted, but we can recover more than a million of the dollars that we have lost defending our unalienable right to free speech,” the Review’s editors wrote Wednesday.

Mann won a defamation suit against two conservative writers who had criticized his “hockey stick” graph, which other climate scientists have questioned. Mann and his colleagues say the research demonstrates a sharp rise in unprecedented temperatures in the past few decades.

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Free Speech Expert: 2020 Election and COVID-19 Pandemic Most Censored Events in Human History

Mike Benz Tucker Carlson

An expert in online free speech told Tucker Carlson in a wide-ranging interview that he believes the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 election were the two most censored events in human history.

“The two most censored events in human history, I would argue to date, are the 2020 election and the COVID-19 pandemic, and I’ll explained how I arrived there,” Mike Benz, founder and executive director of the Foundation for Freedom Online (FFO) told Carlson.

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Arizona Free Enterprise Club Files Lawsuit Against Adrian Fontes over ‘Illegal’ and ‘Most Radical’ Elections Procedures Manual in Arizona’s History

The Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) filed a lawsuit last week against Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, accusing him of making illegal changes to the state’s Election Procedures Manual (EPM). Represented by the America First Policy Institute, Davillier Law Group, and Grand Canyon Legal Center, AFEC said the revisions improperly place protected political speech at risk of criminal prosecution and have an unconstitutional chilling effect on protected political speech.

“Secretary Fontes has produced one of the most radical elections procedures manuals in our state’s history,” said Scot Mussi, AFEC’s president. “If the illegal provisions of this manual are allowed to stand, the integrity and transparency of state elections would continue to dissipate at the hands of leftwing ideologues. We hope the court agrees with our arguments and forces the Secretary to adhere to state law.”

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Arizona Supreme Court Intervenes in Recorder’s Defamation Case Against Kari Lake; Puts Proceedings on Hold to Consider Early Appeal

The Arizona Supreme Court has placed a defamation lawsuit that Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer filed against Kari Lake on hold. The court said no more proceedings in the lawsuit can take place in the trial court until Richer responds to Lake’s Petition for Review she filed with the higher court. While higher courts don’t usually intervene until a case has made its way through trial court proceedings, Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law  First Amendment Clinic joined Lake in her defense requesting that the lawsuit be dismissed, a sign the clinic may believe Richer’s lawsuit is without merit. 

Lake told The Arizona Sun Times, “This is a censorship case — pure and simple. The government official suing me is being represented by Obama- and Soros-linked attorneys. Stephen Richer ran banana-Republic style elections in Maricopa County and he doesn’t want to be held accountable. His use of tyrannical lawfare is an assault on our freedom of speech and is election interference designed to distract me from the very important United States Senate race where I am the leading candidate. He is OK with the First Amendment being trampled so he can save face.”

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SEC Rules Tech Company Can’t Block Free Speech Resolution

Apple Store

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declined on Tuesday Apple’s request to block votes for a “free speech” shareholder resolution.

The resolution, submitted by the American Family Association (AFA), would have Apple investigate how it curates content and issue a report to address concerns that company policies enable restricting speech based on viewpoint. The SEC shot down Apple’s bid to exclude the resolution from the ballot at its upcoming 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, ensuring a vote on the resolution in the spring, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).

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Commentary: Pediatrician Is Fighting Back as Her Medical License Is Being Investigated for COVID-19 ‘Misinformation’

Renata Moon

Once she saw the data, pediatrician Dr. Renata Moon knew she had to speak out. Over her more than 20 years of practicing medicine, including more than 17 years of treating high-risk patients, Dr. Moon had never been anti-vaccine—until she saw what was happening with the COVID-19 vaccines.

In Dr. Moon’s words: “As the data rolled out on the vaccine and COVID-19, it became clear that children had basically a zero risk of death from infection by COVID [whereas] they have potential serious risk from taking the COVID-19 shots.”

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Judge Allows Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Kari Lake for Accusing Him of Election Improprieties to Proceed

A defamation lawsuit that Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer filed against Kari Lake is being allowed to proceed, despite the fact Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law  First Amendment Clinic joined Lake in her defense requesting that the lawsuit be dismissed.  Richer’s lawsuit, which is being paid for by the Protect Democracy Project,  accused Lake of falsely stating that he intentionally sabotaged the election. Approximately 300,000 ballots in the 2022 election lacked a chain of custody, a class 2 misdemeanor, but the county has strenuously fought litigation efforts to allow Lake to inspect the ballot affidavit envelopes and other requests from her and voter integrity groups related to the election anomalies.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jay Adleman, who heard oral arguments on Lake’s Motion to Dismiss on December 19, issued his ruling denying the motion that same day. He indicated he already found Lake guilty without putting on a trial first. “In the Court’s view, Defendant Lake’s statements are ‘provably false’ under prevailing Arizona law,” he said.

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Lawmakers Sue Oregon to Block ‘Misinformation’ Contract to Counter Election-Related Claims

Oregon is trying to silence “criticism of its election system” through a contract to “identify and mitigate” purported mis-, dis- and malinformation (MDM) related to its elections, surveilling those whom the state deems “misleading,” according to a First Amendment lawsuit against Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek, Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade and Elections Director Molly Woon.

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Michigan City to Pay $825K for Violating Farmer’s Free Speech

When the city of East Lansing excluded someone from a farmer’s market because of his religious beliefs, they violated his right to free speech and freedom of religion.

The exclusion of Country Mill Farms owner Stephen Tennes from the farmers market because he refused to play host to same-sex wedding ceremonies at his farm, detailed in a 2017 lawsuit, will cost East Lansing $825,000 in damages and attorney fees.

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European Union to Investigate Elon Musk and X over Possible Violations of Social Media Laws

Musk EU

On Monday, the European Union (EU) formally announced that it would be launching an investigation into X, the platform formally known as Twitter, over alleged violations of laws meant to crack down on free speech.

According to ABC News, the investigation will be the first one of its kind under new regulations passed by the 27-nation European bloc. In a post on X, European Commissioner Thierry Breton said in a statement that “Today we open formal infringement proceedings against @X” under the Digital Services Act.

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