The following can be attributed to Jameel Jaffer, executive director, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University:

“We welcome Judge Kelly’s order. Trump’s ban harms both the press and the public, which relies on journalists to report independently on the president and his administration. We hope that Judge Kelly will soon make his temporary order permanent, and that his permanent order addresses the news organizations’ First Amendment claims, not just their Fifth Amendment ones. The First Amendment bars the president from transforming the press corps into a propaganda machine.”

The Knight Institute and RCFP’s amicus brief argues that the press has, for over a century, fulfilled a crucial role by reporting on newsworthy events from within the White House on behalf of the American people, and that the president’s decision to ban news organizations from the White House based on the viewpoints expressed in their reporting violates the First Amendment. Read the brief here.

Read today’s temporary restraining order here.

Read more about the case, CNN v. Trump, here. 

The Knight Institute has supported the Associated Press in its challenge to its exclusion from the White House, filing three separate amicus briefs over a period of 18 months. The Institute has also supported The New York Times in its challenge to restrictions on access to the Pentagon. Earlier, the Institute successfully sued President Trump over his blocking of critics from his Twitter account, which the Institute argued was a “public forum” for First Amendment purposes.

For more information, contact: Lorraine Kenny, lorraine.kenny@knightcolumbia.org. 

The following can be attributed to Jameel Jaffer, executive director, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University

“We’re glad to see that these news organizations are suing. The president’s decision to bar them from the White House for the content of their reporting is a flagrant violation of the First Amendment. It’s an attack both on press freedom and the public’s right to independent information about the government. We will support these news organizations in court.”

The Knight Institute has supported the Associated Press in its challenge to its exclusion from the White House, filing three separate amicus briefs over a period of 18 months. The Institute has also supported The New York Times in its challenge to restrictions on access to the Pentagon. Earlier, the Institute successfully sued President Trump over his blocking of critics from his Twitter account, which the Institute argued was a “public forum” for First Amendment purposes. 

The following can be attributed to Jameel Jaffer, executive director, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University

“The First Amendment prohibits the president from punishing journalists because he doesn’t like their coverage, just as it prohibits him from punishing universities because he doesn’t like the courses they offer, or from punishing law firms because he doesn’t like the clients they represent. With so many courts having ruled against him on exactly this point, you’d think President Trump would have learned this lesson by now. If President Trump means to expel these news organizations from the White House press pool, his action is doubly unconstitutional because the press pool is a ‘public forum’ under the First Amendment, which means the president can’t exclude journalists from it on the basis of their viewpoints.”

For more information, contact: Lorraine Kenny, lorrraine.kenny@knightcolumbia.org.