David Cole
@davidcole-gtown.bsky.social
2.6K followers 47 following 88 posts
Professor, Georgetown Law; contributor to New York Review of Books; former National Legal Director, ACLU. Views expressed are my own.
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davidcole-gtown.bsky.social
Reposting this as long as he keeps killing civilians by bombing them from the sky. The war on drugs is a metaphor, not a justification for cold blooded murder.
davidcole-gtown.bsky.social
There’s abuse of power. And then there’s ordering the killing of civilians in cold blood. The latter is called murder under federal law.

Trump has crossed a line. Will it matter?

Getting Away with Murder | David Cole | The New York Review of Books

www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
Getting Away with Murder | David Cole
During his first presidential campaign Donald Trump famously claimed that he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” and not lose
www.nybooks.com
davidcole-gtown.bsky.social
There’s abuse of power. And then there’s ordering the killing of civilians in cold blood. The latter is called murder under federal law.

Trump has crossed a line. Will it matter?

Getting Away with Murder | David Cole | The New York Review of Books

www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
Getting Away with Murder | David Cole
During his first presidential campaign Donald Trump famously claimed that he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” and not lose
www.nybooks.com
davidcole-gtown.bsky.social
Trump is ordering the premeditated killing of civilians not engaged in hostilities — because, he says, they are drug smugglers.

There’s no death penalty for drug trafficking. There’s no due process when the military blows a boat out of the water.

www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
Getting Away with Murder | David Cole
During his first presidential campaign Donald Trump famously claimed that he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” and not lose
www.nybooks.com
davidcole-gtown.bsky.social
Defending the speech rights of those with whom you disagree can come around to help you. Not doing so can come around to haunt you. Glad we had the oppty to defend NRA’s speech rights in SCOTUS — and that it’s helping fight back agst Trump now.

reason.com/volokh/2025/...
David Cole Said It Would Be Like This: The ACLU's Smart Move in Representing the NRA in NRA v. Vullo
The right would likewise be smart in protecting speech on the left today.
reason.com
davidcole-gtown.bsky.social
I joined Tavis Smiley to discuss flagburning, why the First Amendment protects it, and why Trump just doesn’t get it.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
David Cole joins Tavis Smiley
Podcast Episode · Tavis Smiley · 09/15/2025 · 16m
podcasts.apple.com
davidcole-gtown.bsky.social
Thanks Elizabeth. And I recommend anything by Elizabeth about how we are endangering the life our our planet, but especially the Sixth Extinction.
Reposted by David Cole
davidcole-gtown.bsky.social
I represented the flag burners who established the First Amendment right. My take on Trump’s flag burning EO. All Smoke, No Fire
Reposted by David Cole
billpress.bsky.social
I asked @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social what he thought of the Presidential Immunity SCOTUS decision. He gave a nuanced answer which showed the Conservative Justices to be tragically naive about Donald Trump
bit.ly/Click-2-Listen
YouTube youtu.be/NlkRDE0M9SQ
Reposted by David Cole
billpress.bsky.social
The big question: Will DonaldTrump follow court orders from SCOTUS? There is a small ray of hope on that front. But will it last? @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social explains.
bit.ly/Click-2-Listen
YouTube youtu.be/NlkRDE0M9SQ
Reposted by David Cole
billpress.bsky.social
@davidcole-gtown.bsky.social has a message for folks who fight Trump's authoritarianism. You are the heroes that will be remembered. And acknowledges the real courage it takes to defy Donald Trump.
bit.ly/Click-2-Listen
YouTube youtu.be/NlkRDE0M9SQ
davidcole-gtown.bsky.social
And here’s a recent report on the fantastic work they do in appellate courts across the country. perma.cc/27AN-49J7
davidcole-gtown.bsky.social
Georgetown Civil Rights Appellate Clinic is hiring! This is a fabulous opportunity to work with one of the best appellate civil rights lawyers today, Brian Wolfman.

perma.cc/CX9E-NSEJ
August 2025 - ACIC fellowship announcement
ACIC fellowship announcment
perma.cc
Reposted by David Cole
nybooks.com
Our 8/21 issue is now online, with @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social on the Supreme Court’s scorn for precedent, Henry Louis Gates Jr. on Jamaica Kincaid’, @seanmcarroll.bsky.social on cosmic timing, poems by John Berryman & @joriegraham.bsky.social, and more.
Volume 72, Issue 13 (2025-08-21)
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davidcole-gtown.bsky.social
So much for calling balls and strikes. How the Court’s conservatives changed the rules in their most important cases this term when following the rules would lead to a liberal result.
Reposted by David Cole
jonwiener.bsky.social
The @aclu.org is usually defending minority rights; but right now on immigration, they're representing a great majority – 62% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration: @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social comments – on @thenation.com podcast bit.ly/46Lw8Ao @aclusocal.bsky.social
Reposted by David Cole
jonwiener.bsky.social
Why the courts are likely to strike down Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship – the 14th Amendment explicitly grants citizenship to those born in the US –
@davidcole-gtown.bsky.social on @thenation.com podcast bit.ly/46Lw8Ao
davidcole-gtown.bsky.social
Trump OCR report on alleged antisemitic discrimination at Harvard is so flimsy it suggests, maybe, he's going after Harvard for something else? My analysis of a deeply flawed report.

www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
Universities: Know Your Rights! | David Cole
In recent days the Trump administration has ramped up its attacks on higher education. On June 26 the Justice Department announced that it is
www.nybooks.com
Reposted by David Cole
historypolicy.bsky.social
In honor of Pride Month, this week we revisit an episode with @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social about the Supreme Court ruling on Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibited discrimination against LGBTQ+ people on the basis of sexual orientation.

Listen here: tinyurl.com/DavidColeACLU
Reposted by David Cole
davidcole-gtown.bsky.social
Here’s what happened when I got called to testify on antisemitism on collegee campus.

It was the eighth such hearing, and like any reality show that has gone on too long, it quickly jumped the shark.

www.thenation.com/article/soci...
McCarthyism 2.0: Reflections on Testifying in the House Antisemitism Hearings
I soon realized that neither the law nor the facts matter to the Committee on Education’s Republican inquisitors.
www.thenation.com
davidcole-gtown.bsky.social
the closest precedent for these hearings was HUAC. It also targeted academia because it deemed it too liberal. And it, too, was not interested in the facts or the law, but in shaming witnesses, chilling speech, and grabbing headlines for partisan gain.

www.thenation.com/article/soci...
McCarthyism 2.0: Reflections on Testifying in the House Antisemitism Hearings
I soon realized that neither the law nor the facts matter to the Committee on Education’s Republican inquisitors.
www.thenation.com