David Cole is the Honorable George J. Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy at Georgetown Law, where his scholarship focuses on constitutional law and free speech. Cole served as the National Legal Director of the ACLU until 2024.

His litigation has included freeing several Arab and Muslim immigrants detained on secret evidence, defending Palestinian immigrants from deportation for their political affiliations, and striking down the anti-communist provisions of the Immigration Act. 

He is the author and editor of 10 books, including Engines of Liberty: The Power of Citizen Activists to Make Constitutional Law, Enemy Aliens: Double Standards and Constitutional Freedoms in the War on Terrorism, and The Torture Memos: Rationalizing the Unthinkable. His books have been honored with multiple awards including the Palmer Civil Liberties Prize, the American Book Award, and prizes from the American Political Science Association, the Boston Book Review, and the Jesuit Honor Society.

Cole is also a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books and is the legal affairs correspondent for The Nation.