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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 10, 2025

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Public statements of support for organizations (including bad ones) are protected by the First Amendment. I can't see how this would survive a constitutional challenge unless he did something more substantial than "express support" for Hamas.

Well, not absolutely protected in all possible cases.

Someone who publicly expresses support for a foreign adversary can, for example, be denied employment with certain government agencies or denied a security clearance, or discharged from the military, or possibly imprisoned to the extent there's reason to think they've committed espionage or similar acts.

Similarly, it seems likely that Congress can prohibit Federal Funds from being spent on types of speech that are protected but that Congress doesn't want to subsidize. I.e. you can't compel the government to give you funding to spread your speech, nor can you force them to give you funding that they've withdrawn because of some specific speech you engaged in, provided they are doing so within the bounds of a given program they've established.

Seems likely, for instance, that if you started up an otherwise accredited college called "The Death to America School for Anti-United States Activities" that offered courses on "Undermining the Federal Government" and "Foreign Espionage 101" as part of a degree program in "Domestic Subversion Studies" that you couldn't complain if the government denied federal grants to your school or refused access to Federally-backed loans to you due to the particular type of speech you were engaged in.

There's probably a fight to be had over whether somebody here on a visa or as a permanent resident can have their status revoked for what is implicitly an 'Anti-American' position.