Source: Antiwar.com
by Andrew P Napolitano
“During the past three months, the Trump administration has sought to withhold the delivery of governmental benefits in order to punish or reform its perceived political opponents. These opponents – in the understanding of the White House – are colleges and universities that permit speech the White House claims is hateful, law firms that represent clients or employ lawyers who have been vocally critical of the administration, and even one of the 50 states because of language used in a statute and words articulated by its governor. Can the federal government condition the acceptance of benefits upon the non-assertion of a fundamental liberty? Asked differently, can the feds withhold privileges to those lawfully entitled to them because it disapproves of the speech of the recipients of the privileges? In a word: No.” (05/29/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/andrew-p-napolitano/2025/05/28/punishing-freedom/