American Association of University Professors v. Rubio

Sadly, listeners to Law & Disorder are all too familiar with how the Trump administration has systematically created a climate of repression and fear on our university campuses. Federal agencies are attempting to deport multiple individuals for their pro-Palestinian advocacy, including Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. These actions have sent chills through the community of noncitizen students and faculty on campuses around the country, causing some to pull out of academic conferences, stay home from protests, and withdraw from other forms of public advocacy and engagement.

While Khalil and other students are actively pursuing their own lawsuits and habeas corpus petitions defending their own First Amendment rights, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University has filed an innovative lawsuit attacking the Trump administration from a different angle. On March 25, 2025, the Knight Institute filed a lawsuit on behalf of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), AAUP’s Harvard, NYU, and Rutgers campus chapters, and the Middle East Studies Association, alleging that the Trump administration’s policy of arresting, detaining, and deporting noncitizen students and faculty who participate in pro-Palestinian activism, chills noncitizens from speaking and, by extension, robs these organizations and their U.S. citizen members of noncitizens’ perspectives on a matter of significant public debate. The suit seeks a court order declaring that the policy is unlawful and enjoining the federal government from enforcing it.

In the lawsuit, titled American Association of University Professors v. Rubio, US District Judge William G. Young in Mass. denied the government's motion to dismiss and set a trial for July 7. Follow trial here

Guest - Xiangnong (George) Wang is a staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. The Knight First Amendment Institute was established in 2016 to defend freedom of speech and freedom of the press in the digital age through strategic litigation, research, policy advocacy, and public education. It seeks to promote a system of free expression that is open and inclusive, that broadens and elevates public discourse, and that fosters creativity, accountability, and effective self-government.

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Police Accountability In Louisville, KY

In the wake of Breonna Taylor’s 2020 murder, the city of Louisville created the Office of Inspector General to provide independent oversight of the Louisville Metro Police Department. In 2021, Ed Harness was appointed the city's first Inspector General, tasked with investigating police misconduct and recommending policy reforms. His term ends this November, and community groups—including the Louisville NAACP—are calling for his reappointment.

But questions remain about how local reforms will be enforced, especially as the federal government steps back. A recent executive order gives the U.S. Attorney General authority to unilaterally end consent decrees, raising concerns about long-term accountability.

Guest - Ed Harness to talk about the future of police oversight in Louisville. A former U.S. Army Military Police officer and Milwaukee police officer, Ed previously served as Executive Director of the Civilian Police Oversight Agency in Albuquerque and led the Dispute Resolution Division of the Wisconsin Better Business Bureau. In addition to his duties in Louisville, he serves as a Board Member at Large for the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE).