Sher Tremonte wins landmark ruling that Trump Administration violated First Amendment by suppressing political speech

On September 30, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled in favor of Sher Tremonte’s clients, American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), in their case against Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem. Sher Tremonte partnered with the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University on the case, AAUP v. Rubio, and represented the plaintiffs in a two-week bench trial in July, arguing that the Trump Administration’s attempts to arrest, detain, and deport non-citizens for Pro-Palestinian advocacy violated the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act. 

In his opinion finding both a violation of the Constitution and the statute, Judge William G. Young wrote, “This case – perhaps the most important ever to fall within the jurisdiction of this district court – squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us. The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally ‘yes, they do.’ ‘No law’ means ‘no law.’ The First Amendment does not draw President Trump’s invidious distinction and it is not to be found in our history or jurisprudence.” 

The opinion identified actions to arrest, detain, deport non-citizen Pro-Palestinian demonstrators as part of a greater unconstitutional campaign of coercion against similarly situated non-citizens who are members of the plaintiff organizations. With this unequivocal decision, the court will proceed to determine effective remedy.  

Sher Tremonte’s team included partner and co-founder Michael Tremonte, partner and pro bono coordinator Noam Biale, Associates Alexandra Conlon and Courtney Gans, and paralegal Vignesh Senthil Kumar. Sher Tremonte is committed to litigating in the public interest and defending the rule of law in the face of unprecedented threats to democracy. 

Read the Knight Institute’s coverage of the case here. 

Read the opinion here.