Federal judges ruled Trump administration violated First Amendment in 75 cases
Reuters review found 75 of 93 civil cases during Trump's second term ended in rulings against his government
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Federal judges ruled Trump administration violated First Amendment in 75 cases
Photograph: Joe.My.God. (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Reuters identified 75 federal-court rulings that found the Trump administration violated First Amendment rights during his second term, out of 93 civil cases decided.
- The cases involved speech, religion and press freedoms, with rulings against the administration coming from judges appointed by both Democratic and Republican presidents.
- The Trump administration appealed about two-thirds of the rulings, with mixed success in higher courts.
- By comparison, Reuters found 27 First Amendment cases during President Biden’s term, with 13 rulings against his administration.
A Reuters review of federal court records found that judges ruled against the Trump administration on First Amendment grounds in 75 of 93 civil cases decided during his second term. The cases involved claims that the administration violated freedoms of speech, religion and the press. The rulings included findings that the administration chilled or suppressed speech from citizens and groups opposing its policies.
Boston-based U.S. District Judge William Young, appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan, wrote in one ruling that the administration’s actions posed a threat to free speech. The cases were filed by ideological opponents, media organisations and others. The Trump administration appealed about two-thirds of the rulings, with some overturned or paused on appeal.
The review compared the number of cases during Trump’s term with those during President Joe Biden’s term. Reuters identified 27 First Amendment cases during Biden’s presidency, with 13 rulings against his administration. Most of those involved challenges to vaccine mandates on religious-freedom grounds.
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated digests mentioned the 75 rulings against the Trump administration or the comparison with the 27 cases during Biden’s term. The left-rated report did not include the administration’s appeals or the specific cases detailed in the Reuters review.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
- The left-rated report from Joe.My.God. led on the 75 rulings against the Trump administration and the quote from Judge William Young describing the president’s actions as a threat to free speech. It included the administration’s campaign promise to end "government censorship" and the finding that its actions had the opposite effect. The report did not mention the administration’s appeals or the comparison with Biden’s term.
Centre
- The centre-rated report from WTVB carried the full Reuters account, including the 75 rulings, the administration’s appeals and the comparison with Biden’s term. It led on the same figures and included the administration’s criticism of judges as "activists" interfering with executive authority. The report detailed specific cases, such as the revocation of visas for pro-Palestinian advocacy and the termination of grants to universities.
Right
- The two right-rated digests from regionalmedianews.com and The Straits Times both carried the opening line that Trump had vowed to "bring free speech back" during his campaign. Neither digest mentioned the 75 rulings, the comparison with Biden’s term, or the administration’s appeals. The Straits Times digest was three sentences long and did not include any detail beyond the campaign promise.
Questions about this coverage
- Is the coverage of Federal judges ruled Trump administration violated First Amendment in… biased?
- Federal judges ruled Trump administration violated First Amendment in 75 cases is one event reported by several outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- How many First Amendment cases did judges rule against the Trump administration?
- Reuters identified 75 federal-court rulings that found the Trump administration violated First Amendment rights during his second term. These were part of 93 civil cases decided in that period, with the rulings spanning speech, religion and press freedoms.
- Did judges appointed by Republican presidents rule against the Trump administration?
- Yes. Reuters found that judges appointed by Republican presidents delivered rulings against the Trump administration in 10 of the 75 cases. One such judge, William Young, wrote that the administration’s actions posed a threat to free speech.
- How does the number of First Amendment cases compare between Trump and Biden?
- Reuters identified 93 First Amendment cases during Trump’s second term, with 75 rulings against his administration. During Biden’s term, there were 27 cases, with 13 rulings against his administration. Most of the rulings against Biden involved vaccine mandates challenged on religious-freedom grounds.
Read it at the source
5 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
1Centre
1Right
2- Trump vowed to ‘bring free speech back.’ Judges in 75 cases ruled that he has stifled it - Regional Media News (opens regionalmedianews.com in a new tab)
regionalmedianews.com — is regionalmedianews.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Trump vowed to 'bring free speech back.' Judges in 75 cases ruled that he has stifled it (opens The Straits Times in a new tab)
The Straits Times — is The Straits Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
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