Portside

Daniel McGowan is now serving the last six months of his seven-year sentence for an environmentally motivated arson at a halfway house in Brooklyn. The Bureau of Prisons has retaliated against McGowan for writing constitutionally protected political blogs by placing him in a special prison unit and then after he was released, re-imprisoned him when he exercised his free speech rights by writing an article complaining about it. Kafka is twirling in his grave.

Few figures on the left have been as committed to realizing the democratic promise of American politics as Eugene Debs.

Since October 7, academic institutions have applied overt and covert pressure to discourage Holocaust and genocide scholars from criticizing Israel’s actions in Gaza. Still, many academics are organizing new networks to defend free inquiry.

Video from around the US on "No Kings Day 3" and a (sort of) related video on the power of Free Speech.

The future of protesting in the US may have been decided in a cramped courtroom in Fort Worth, Texas, last week. An appeal is coming, but the conviction of several protesters on charges of providing “material support” for terrorism is a chilling sign

The ACLU is trying to overturn a current NLRB precedent that protects workers’ rights to complain about their working conditions.

Trump’s second-term crackdown on dissent started with pro-Palestinian activists. It didn’t end there.

When dissent becomes an “indicator,” the First Amendment stops being a right and starts being a risk…

As the Second Red Scare shows, when free speech is under attack, strategic compliance may be useful for individuals. However, bold and courageous acts of dissent are critical for protecting First Amendment rights for everyone.

Trump roundly decried for Truth Social post after lawmakers told military personnel to refuse illegal orders. Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, defended Trump’s claim that the Democrats had engaged in “sedition”. Watch original message.