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Another Win for the rule of law - Judge blocks trump's $2.2 billion freeze of Harvard funding [1]
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Date: 2025-09-03
Another major ruling against the trump regime this week — Federal Judge Allison Burroughs ruled today that the Trump administration’s freeze of $2.2 billion in grant funds for Harvard University over concerns about antisemitism on campus and other issues was illegal.
From www.cnbc.com/...
She agreed with Harvard’s arguments that the administration imposed the funding freeze in retaliation for the Ivy League university’s refusal to capitulate to demands for reforms that violated First Amendment protections under the Constitution. Burroughs’ ruling in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts vacates freezing orders affecting Harvard and bars anyone in the Trump administration from enforcing those orders.
From the 84-page opinion at storage.courtlistener.com/…
The fact that Defendants’ swift and sudden decision to terminate funding, ostensibly motivated by antisemitism, was made before they learned anything about antisemitism on campus or what was being done in response, leads the Court to conclude that the sudden focus on antisemitism was, at best (and as discussed infra), arbitrary and, at worst, pretextual.
In fact, a review of the administrative record makes it difficult to conclude anything other than that Defendants used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities, and did so in a way that runs afoul of the APA, the First Amendment and Title VI. Further, their actions have jeopardized decades of research and the welfare of all those who could stand to benefit from that research, as well as reflect a disregard for the rights protected by the Constitution and federal statutes.
From www.cnn.com/...
The decision is a major victory for Harvard, the only university targeted by the Trump administration to take on the White House directly in court. The administration has argued it is cracking down on antisemitism on campus, but Harvard has become the epicenter of a broader fight over academic freedom, federal spending and campus oversight. While Wednesday’s ruling is a major win for the school, the Trump administration is almost certain to escalate its fight against the elite academic institution, prompting longer-term questions about the school’s financial future. In July, well before the ruling, President Donald Trump lambasted the judge and said he would “IMMEDIATELY appeal” in a post on social media, and Trump has called for Harvard to pay $500 million to settle the cases against it.
Judge Allison Dale Burroughs (born 1961) serving as a United States district judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts was appointed in 2014 by President Barack Obama.
Hopefully, this applies the brakes to trump’s plans to intimidate and coerce other Universities into bending the knee for him and firing staff and administrators that don’t kiss his ring. And provides guidance and courage to other judges who are tackling similar cases or will do so in the near future.
Yes, the rule of law won in this case, as have other recent rulings against the trump regime. But, we are under no illusion that the dictator will run to the friendly halls of SCOTUS to get a green card to continue his destruction of American Democracy. Let’s stay vigilant and let’s keep informing the electorate.
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