吃瓜直播

BURLINGTON, Vt. 鈥� A federal court today ordered the release of R眉meysa 脰zt眉rk, a former Fulbright scholar and current Tufts University Ph.D. student researching child development. This comes more than six weeks after the Trump administration arrested and detained her because of an op-ed she co-authored in The Tufts Daily. With this ruling, she will be able to return to her Massachusetts community and continue her studies while the case proceeds. 鈥淚 am relieved and ecstatic that R眉meysa has been ordered released. Unfortunately, it is 45 days too late. She has been imprisoned all these days for simply writing an op-ed that called for human rights and dignity for the people in Palestine. When did speaking up against oppression become a crime? When did speaking up against genocide become something to be imprisoned for?鈥� said Mahsa Khanbabai of Khanbabai Immigration Law. 鈥淚 am thankful that the courts have been ruling in favor of detained political prisoners like R眉meysa. The public plays an important role in upholding our constitutional rights. Please continue to speak up for democracy and civil rights in every space including our elected offices, our universities, and our halls of justice.鈥� Ms. 脰zt眉rk, who has not been accused of any crime, was taken by plainclothes ICE agents in Somerville, Massachusetts on March 25. For nearly 24 hours, Ms. 脰zt眉rk鈥檚 attorney was unable to locate her as ICE quickly and quietly moved her to three separate locations in three different states 鈥� including Vermont 鈥� before sending her to Louisiana. 鈥淔rom the moment a swarm of ICE agents abducted Ms. 脰zt眉rk in broad daylight, the government has spared no effort to evade accountability and deny her due process. Today, the court delivered reprieve and justice 鈥� for Ms. 脰zt眉rk, who should not have spent even one minute incarcerated, let alone the six weeks she has endured in deplorable conditions at an ICE detention center in Louisiana,鈥� said Mudassar Toppa, staff attorney at CLEAR, a legal non-profit and clinic at CUNY School of Law. 鈥淢ake no mistake, the government tried to punish Ms. 脰zt眉rk for lending her pen to advocacy for Palestinian human rights and the court's decision today is not only a victory for Ms. 脰zt眉rk, but everyone who wishes to advocate for Palestinian human rights without fear of retaliation. We look forward to continuing the legal fight to vindicate all of her constitutional rights.鈥� Ms. 脰zt眉rk has detailed her harrowing night being shuttled across New England with little food after a day of fasting for Ramadan. She describes being shackled by her feet and stomach and then driven to different sites for meetings with unidentified men, some in uniform and some not. One group so unsettled her, Ms. 脰zt眉rk wrote, that she 鈥渨as sure they were going to kill me.鈥� At another stop, she repeatedly asked an officer if she was in physical danger. 鈥淔or 45 days, R眉meysa has been detained in Louisiana 鈥� over 1300 miles from her friends, her community, and her lawyers. During that time, she has suffered regular and escalating asthma attacks. And at the same time, the government has failed to produce any justification for her detention,鈥� said Jessie Rossman, legal director at the 吃瓜直播 of Massachusetts. 鈥淲e are so relieved that R眉meysa will soon be back in Massachusetts, and won鈥檛 stop fighting until she is free for good.鈥� Ms. 脰zt眉rk has suffered six weeks of crowded confinement in Louisiana with hardly any access to fresh air and in conditions that doctors say risk exacerbating her asthma attacks. Whereas her attacks used to last between 5 - 15 minutes, they now can last up to 45 minutes. Recent court filings also describe difficulty receiving appropriate care in detention, including delays to receive medical care and dismissive comments from medical staff. Since the government arrested Ms. 脰zt眉rk, her community at Tufts and around the country have rallied around her. Hundreds of friends, colleagues, and professors, including the president of Tufts University, have sent letters of support to the court detailing Ms. 脰zt眉rk鈥檚 dedication to her work and her community. 鈥淩眉meysa can now return to her beloved Tufts community, resume her studies, and begin teaching again. We could not be more delighted,鈥� said Noor Zafar, senior staff attorney with 吃瓜直播. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 ruling underscores a vital First Amendment principle: No one should be imprisoned by the government for expressing their beliefs.鈥� 鈥淎fter today鈥檚 ruling, R眉meysa can return to her community at Tufts and sleep safely in her own bed. Tomorrow, she can wake up and begin the process of healing from this experience while she finishes her Ph.D. in child development.鈥� said Monica Allard, staff attorney with the 吃瓜直播 of Vermont. 鈥淪pending over six weeks in detention for writing an op-ed is a constitutional horror story. Her release is a victory for everyone committed to justice, free speech, and basic human rights.鈥� 鈥淭he government sent masked, plainclothes agents to kidnap R眉meysa off the street and lock her up for writing an op-ed. She has been a political prisoner for six weeks,鈥� said Sonya Levitova, associate at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP. 鈥淣ow that she鈥檚 free and can resume her studies and rejoin her community at Tufts, we look forward to seeing the government in court to vindicate R眉meysa鈥檚 rights in full.鈥� Ms. 脰zt眉rk is represented by Mahsa Khanbabai, the 吃瓜直播, 吃瓜直播 of Massachusetts, 吃瓜直播 of Vermont, CLEAR, and Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP. For documents and other case information, see here.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. 鈥� On behalf of six military families with students enrolled in Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools, the 吃瓜直播 today filed a motion for preliminary injunction seeking to declare DoDEA鈥檚 enforcement of executive orders resulting in classroom censorship unconstitutional. DoDEA, whose students lead the United States in math and reading proficiency scores, operates 161 schools across 11 countries, seven states, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The demand for an injunction was filed on behalf of 12 students and their families, ranging from pre-K to 11th grade, who attend DoDEA schools as children of active duty servicemembers stationed in Virginia, Kentucky, Italy, and Japan. Since January, the plaintiffs鈥� schools have removed books, altered curricula, and canceled events that the current administration has accused of promoting 鈥済ender ideology鈥� or 鈥渄ivisive equity ideology.鈥� Censored items include materials about slavery, Native American history, women鈥檚 history, LGBTQ identities and history, and preventing sexual harassment and abuse, as well as portions of the Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology curriculum. 鈥淲e make sacrifices as a military family so that my husband can defend the Constitution and the rights and freedoms of all Americans,鈥� said Jessica Henninger, a plaintiff on behalf of her children in DoDEA schools. 鈥淚f our own rights and the rights of our children are at risk, we have a responsibility to speak out. Despite the anxiety and uncertainty among DoDEA parents and students right now, we know that our children have a right to an education free from censorship, and we won't stand by silently and watch that right be taken away.鈥� The new motion includes a list of 233 books alleged to have been quarantined or removed from shelves, including: 鈥淭o Kill a Mockingbird鈥� by Harper Lee; 鈥�#MeToo: Women Speak Out Against Sexual Assault,鈥� edited by the New York Times; 鈥淟ooking for Alaska鈥� by John Green; 鈥淐an't Stop Won't Stop: A Hip-Hop History鈥� by Jeff Chang; 鈥淕eneration Brave: The Gen Z Kids Who Are Changing the World鈥� by Kate Alexander; and 鈥淛uli谩n is a Mermaid鈥� by Jessica Love. It includes further titles by acclaimed authors including Margaret Atwood, Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut, and Ta-Nehisi Coates. The vast majority of titles appear to be by or about women, people of color, or LGBTQ people. 鈥淭hese are American students in American schools, and they have the same First Amendment rights as their peers,鈥� said Emerson Sykes, senior staff attorney with the 吃瓜直播鈥檚 Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. 鈥淔amilies in DoDEA schools have the right to access books about race and gender and the right to learn about the vibrantly diverse world around them. We owe it to these students to help them learn and grow, not stifle their age-appropriate exposure to ideas this administration happens to deem politically incorrect.鈥� One DoDEA school canceled events honoring Juneteenth and Holocaust Remembrance Day, and another removed posters featuring Malala Yousafzai and Frida Kahlo. Families allege in the filings that their requests for information from DoDEA about what information has been removed or why have gone unanswered. 鈥淐lassroom censorship has impacted our clients鈥� ability to prepare for AP exams, to learn about their neighbors and peers, and to see themselves in their curriculum,鈥� said Corey Shapiro, legal director for the 吃瓜直播 of Kentucky. 鈥淎nd in DoDEA schools, which are some of the most diverse and high performing schools in the nation, the impact is magnified. This kind of political meddling is antithetical to the First Amendment.鈥� 鈥淭he Trump administration cannot violate the First Amendment by removing books and curricula it doesn鈥檛 like,鈥� said Matt Callahan, senior supervising attorney at the 吃瓜直播 of Virginia. 鈥淪tudents have a right to see themselves reflected in their libraries and classrooms, and they also have a right to learn from the perspectives of people who aren鈥檛 like them. That鈥檚 no less true for military families than for anyone else.鈥� The 吃瓜直播, the 吃瓜直播 of Kentucky, and the 吃瓜直播 of Virginia filed suit last month, arguing that DoDEA enforcement of three executive orders signed by President Donald Trump in January 2025 led to widespread violations of students鈥� First Amendment rights. The suit, and the motion for preliminary injunction, were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The motion can be viewed online here.