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Justice Deferred

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The Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse of the University of Michigan Law School has compiled abstracts of sixty-three lawsuits brought against the Trump Administration under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on immigration policies alone . In each case, plaintiffs asserted the government failed to honor record requests in compliance with the act and that none of the nine exemptions and exclusions under the act applied. In American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security , for example, the ACLU submitted an FOIA request to Homeland Security regarding its use of G45 Secure Solutions, a private contractor, to detain and transport immigrants without due process. The ACLU was investigating numerous reports of violence against detainees by G45 personnel, including a 2014 instance in which a detainee died. The purpose of the request was to determine how the government selected such contractors and awarded contracts totaling more than $20...

Not Your Founding Fathers' First Amendment

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Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. How do we remain true to the ideals of the Constitution’s authors while adjusting to the realities of change and the lingering effects of an imperfect republic? Unfortunately, many Americans remain ignorant of both the original intent of the amendment and its current legal interpretations. We’ve fallen prey to countless misconceptions and lies, including the followin g :   Social media bans and website delisting violate the First Amendment In Knight Institute v. Trump , the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia Law School sued Donald Trump for removing people from his Twitter site. According to Knight’s Executive Director, Jameel Jaffer, “This case stands for a principle that is fundamental to our d...