First Amendment
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon arrested over church protest
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Federal agents arrested former CNN anchor Don Lemon and three others on Thursday night in connection with a January 18 protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. The demonstration targeted the church due to its ties to Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel and disrupted a worship service without causing physical harm. Critics decry the arrests as an assault on press freedoms, while officials describe the event as a coordinated attack on religious liberty.
A U.S. magistrate judge in Virginia has temporarily barred federal investigators from reviewing electronic devices seized from Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson while the newspaper and the reporter challenge the search on First Amendment and statutory grounds. The search was authorized by a warrant tied to a leak-related investigation of a government contractor, not Natanson, according to court filings described by The Post.
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments in a case brought by Mississippi street preacher Gabriel Olivier, who is asking to move forward with a federal civil-rights challenge to a Brandon, Mississippi ordinance that restricts where he may preach outside a city amphitheater. Olivier, convicted and fined in 2021 for violating the rule after preaching outside a designated protest area, says the law infringes his First Amendment rights and that he should be able to seek protection against future enforcement despite his past conviction.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on October 7, 2025, in Chiles v. Salazar, a challenge to Colorado's ban on conversion therapy for minors. Christian counselor Kaley Chiles argues the law violates her First Amendment rights by restricting speech aimed at helping children with gender identity issues. Justices raised concerns about free speech, medical consensus, and viewpoint discrimination during the 90-minute session.
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A union representing federal employees has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education, alleging that the agency altered workers' out-of-office email messages without consent to include partisan language blaming Democrats for the government shutdown. The complaint claims this action violates the First Amendment by compelling civil servants to echo the Trump administration's political views. The suit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Friday.