Litigation
The Institute defends the freedoms of speech and of the press through strategic litigation designed to have a meaningful impact on the law, on public policy, and on public opinion. We litigate cases that have the potential to establish important new legal principles concerning the system of free expression, to influence the practices of powerful actors in that system, and to raise public awareness about contemporary structural threats to that system. We focus especially on complex and challenging cases that relate to new technology, including new communications platforms, and we favor cases that afford us the opportunity to draw on insights generated by our research program.
Our litigation prioritizes cases in our three focus areas, Free Speech & Social Media, Transparency & Democracy, and Privacy & Surveillance.
Featured
Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York v. USDA
A case challenging USDA’s purge of climate-related webpages.
LATEST NEWS & ANALYSIS
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Press Statement
AAUP, Middle East Studies Association, Knight Institute Sue Over Trump Policy of Arresting and Threatening to Deport Students and Faculty for Lawful Speech
Policy has created “climate of fear and repression” on campuses around the country, groups say
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Press Statement
Farmers and Advocates Seek Preliminary Injunction Requiring USDA to Restore Purged Climate Webpages
Farmers have been stripped of vital digital resources due to the Trump Administration’s climate webpage purge, motion seeks to restore access and prevent additional webpage removals
Our Docket
Showing 41–50 of 79
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Amicus Brief
Krasno v. Mnookin
A case challenging the suppression of speech on a public university’s social media accounts
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FOIA Lawsuit
Knight Institute v. ODNI
A FOIA lawsuit for the immediate release of the U.S. intelligence report on the killing of Jamal Khashoggi
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Amicus Brief
United States v. Xiang
An Eighth Circuit appeal addressing the constitutionality of warrantless electronic device searches at the border
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FOIA Lawsuit
Knight Institute v. Federal Bureau of Prisons
A FOIA lawsuit seeking records concerning the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ digitization and surveillance of mail
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FOIA Lawsuit
ACLU v. CIA & Knight Institute v. DOD
Three FOIA lawsuits seeking records related to the government censorship system of "prepublication review"
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Amicus Brief
Egbert v. Boule
A Supreme Court case addressing the scope of Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics
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