Free Speech and Expression

Protecting free speech and expression means protecting a free press, the democratic process, diversity of thought, and so much more.

Image collage of a protest with individual holding a megaphone, and a speech bubble graphic to the left of center

As a nonpartisan legal advocacy organization, the ACLU will always defend free expression, free inquiry, and a free press.

Crucially, the First Amendment and the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights protect everyone in our commonwealth from government censorship. We all have a right to protest peacefully, criticize our government, write and read books with different viewpoints, express our love and our faith, and celebrate diversity in our communities.

The Latest

Press Release
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Department of Education Backs Down on Unlawful Directive Targeting Educational Equity

Federal court permanently invalidates anti-DEI "Dear Colleague" letter
Issue Areas: Racial Justice, Free Speech and Expression
Press Release
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Medical researchers win permanent restoration of research on federal website

Research about endometriosis, suicide risk had been removed from a government website due to an executive order prohibiting “gender ideology”
Issue Areas: Free Speech and Expression, LGBTQ Rights
Court Cases: Schiff v. Office of Personnel Management
Press Release
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Immigration judge terminates removal proceedings against child development scholar Rümeysa Öztürk

Judge determines DHS lacks legal grounds to deport Ms. Öztürk, who was arrested and detained by ICE for co-authoring an op-ed
Issue Areas: Free Speech and Expression
Court Cases: Öztürk v. Trump
Press Release
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Federal Court Orders Trump Administration to Restore SEVIS Student Record for Rümeysa Öztürk

Preliminary injunction allows Ms. Öztürk to fully re-engage with all the opportunities of her PhD program
Issue Areas: Free Speech and Expression
Court Cases: Öztürk v. Trump
Court Case
Apr 30, 2025

Schiff v. Office of Personnel Management

In March 2025, doctors from Harvard Medical School challenged the removal of their articles from the Patient Safety Network (PSNet), a government-run website for doctors and medical researchers to share information about medical errors, misdiagnoses, and patient outcomes.
Court Case
Dec 11, 2023

Rural Justice Network v. Town of North Brookfield

Court Case
May 11, 2022

Picard and Olson v. Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Massachusetts State Police

The ACLU of Massachusetts, together with the law firm Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein LLP, filed a lawsuit on behalf of two LGBTQ rights protesters, challenging state regulations that unconstitutionally restrict the rights to free speech and expression on public lands.
Court Case
Oct 16, 2020

Jess v. Summer Hill Estates Condominium Trust

The ACLU of Massachusetts is suing on behalf of a woman in Belchertown who was ordered--unlawfully--by the trustees of her condominium to remove a "Black Lives Matter" sign that she had placed in front of her unit.