The Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press sued Pennsylvania State University’s Board of Trustees over amended bylaws they call an unconstitutional “Gag Policy.” The suit filed May 27, 2026, in the Middle District of Pennsylvania on behalf of Centre Daily Times, Spotlight PA, and StateCollege.com, alleges the amendments, which provide for the removal of a trustee for criticizing the Board or University, violate the press's and the public’s right to receive information.

The complaint, which names David Kleppinger, Daniel Onorato, and Richard Sokolov in their official capacities as Board leadership, asks the court to declare the amendments unconstitutional and, therefore, unenforceable.

In July 2024, the Board adopted bylaw amendments that effectively silenced its 38 trustees, prohibiting them from making negative or critical public statements about the Board or University and requiring pre-approval for all media interactions — or risk admonishment, sanctions, or removal. In November 2025, the bylaws were further amended to expand those restrictions beyond trustees' official capacities to cover all speech and added an election provision empowering Board leadership to bar any incumbent or prospective trustee from the ballot if their social media or online presence is deemed inconsistent with Penn State's code of conduct or values.

Clinic students Elise Balelo, Sierra Berry, Sarah Chang, James Cohen, Maren Geiger, Esther In, Hannah Knott, Danny Lempert, Kat Namon, Alex Strohl, and Luke Wyatt contributed to the Complaint.

Coverage of the suit is available from the plaintiffs:

Penn State trustees face lawsuit over alleged gag policy | Centre Daily Times

News outlets sue Penn State trustees over speech limits • Spotlight PA

Local Newsrooms File Lawsuit Seeking to End Penn State Board of Trustees ‘Gag Policy’ | State College, PA

Information on this page is provided for archival purposes. All newly created PDFs on this website are accessible. For an accommodation for PDFs on this page, please contact law-web-ada@cornell.edu.