Clinic News
“Our free speech work necessarily spans the political spectrum — from fighting against book bans that seek to tell libraries what can be on their shelves to fighting against schools that seek to silence students seeking to promote conservative causes. For the First Amendment to mean anything it has to be applied vigorously on behalf of all of us.” – Clinic Director Mark H. Jackson
Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic Kicks Off Fall Semester with Bootcamp
September 8, 2026 - The Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic hosted the latest version of its heralded two-day pre-semester Bootcamp on August 21 and 22. Once again the line-up of speakers and panelists was comprised of major figures from the First Amendment and media fields. This semester’s event opened with a live screening of the latest Clinic-focused eCornell […]
Empowering Local News: A Coalition To Strengthen Independent Journalism
August 26, 2026 - Local journalism in Western Pennsylvania is at a pivotal moment. As legacy news institutions have closed in recent decades, citizens in several counties now reside in “news deserts.” The region’s experience has become a telling example of the local news crisis nationwide. Yet even as some newsrooms disappear, a new generation of independent journalists is […]
Alyse Horan ’23 Wins Jackson Distinguished Alumni Award for Her Years-Long Work on Border Deaths Case
August 26, 2026 - Alyse Horan ’23 received the Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic’s Jackson Distinguished Alumni Award on August 21 for her work on a landmark border-deaths case— work that took her from Clinic student to co-counsel driving the litigation forward. The Clinic presented the award during its pre-semester Bootcamp. The award is named after the Clinic’s […]
Free Workshop for Journalists: Information Access & the Midterm Elections
August 24, 2026 - Join the Clinic’s Adam Tragone and Pittsburgh Media Partnership for a practical training on information access in Pennsylvania ahead of the 2026 midterm elections presented by the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University. The free online event takes place Tuesday, September 1 from 12 – 1PM EDT. Register here.
Clinic moves to unseal court records in abandoned Border Patrol assault case
August 20, 2026 - The Clinic, on behalf of its client Advance Publications, Inc., publisher of the community newspaper The Post-Standard and its website Syracuse.com, asked a federal court to unseal critical judicial documents in a case involving the arrest of Marvin Aguilar-Garcia by U.S. Border Patrol agents for allegedly assaulting a federal agent. The letter motion, filed in the Northern District of […]
Bucks County contractor paid inmate’s family more than $1M
August 20, 2026 - Continuing the Clinic and RCFP’s multi-year effort to unseal PrimeCare Medical’s wrongful-death settlements, newly unsealed records show the prison healthcare contractor paid over $1 million to the family of a Bucks County inmate who died of opioid-withdrawal complications in custody. Read about the case here: New court records show PrimeCare paid over $1M to Bucks […]
Penn State trustees lift ‘gag policy’ on emeriti members amid First Amendment lawsuit
August 20, 2026 - Weeks after Spotlight PA, the Centre Daily Times, and StateCollege.com—represented by the Clinic’s First Amendment Clinic and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press—sued over Penn State’s trustee “gag policy,” the board lifted the speech restrictions for emeriti trustees, though the newsrooms argue the change is a tactical move to evade review and that […]
iPost sues over the suppression of police records
August 20, 2026 - Represented by the Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic, Investigative Post is suing the Town of Orchard Park and the Orchard Park Police Department to compel release of police arrest reports tied to ICE and Border Patrol cooperation—records the town has withheld as confidential despite their being routinely public. Read more about the case here: […]
BeaverCountian.com & Cornell Law Take Aim At Government Secrecy
August 20, 2026 - BeaverCountian.com announces its new partnership with the Clinic’s Local Journalism Project, which will provide the Beaver County watchdog outlet with free ongoing legal support led by attorney Adam Tragone across public-records fights, court access, libel defense, and more. Read the article here: BeaverCountian.com & Cornell Law Take Aim At Government Secrecy – BeaverCountian.com
Did Delaware County Punish Its Local Paper for Critical Coverage? A Jury Will Decide
August 4, 2026 - A federal judge has ruled that a jury must decide whether Delaware County officials retaliated against a local newspaper for its critical coverage, sending the Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic’s case on behalf of The Reporter to trial and leaving punitive damages on the table. In her July 21 ruling, Hon. Anne M. Nardacci […]