Judge blocks West Point from enforcing faculty speech restrictions

The Hill - A federal judge on Tuesday blocked restrictions imposed by the Trump administration that prevent faculty at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (USMA) from speaking to external groups without permission.   U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel agreed with a longtime law professor that the policy likely violates civilian professors’ free speech rights under the First Amendment. 

“And even affording Defendants due deference in the realm of military affairs, their stated justifications for the Academic Engagement Policy do not warrant such a broad and standardless intrusion on Plaintiff’s speech and that of other USMA civilian faculty members,” Seibel wrote in her 85-page opinion. Seibel is an appointee of former President George W. Bush who serves on the federal bench in New York.