Judge Who Protected Free Speech Rights of Noncitizens Receives Major Award

Federal Judge William G. Young received a major award on Friday for a court ruling that protected the free speech rights of international students and scholars. The New England First Amendment Coalition gave him the Stephen Hamblett First Amendment Award. Judge Young, who is 85 years old, wrote a 161-page decision that said noncitizens living legally in the United States have the same free speech rights as American citizens. His ruling pushed back against actions taken by the Trump administration against pro-Palestinian students and faculty members.

The ruling came during a deeply painful time for Judge Young. Just after he finished writing his decision, he learned that his wife of 58 years, Beverly Bigelow Young, was seriously ill and dying. He stopped working and sat by her bedside, but a law clerk came to his home to pick up the final draft so it could be filed on time. When his wife asked what the clerk was holding, Young said it was his free speech case, and he told her he was proud of it.

His wife's response moved him deeply. She told him, 'Don't make that your last opinion.' Young shared this memory during his speech at the award ceremony. He also urged the audience — made up of journalists, lawyers, and students — not to treat his ruling as the final word on free speech in America.

Judge Young has spent decades on the federal bench. He graduated from Harvard Law School, served as a U.S. Army captain, and was appointed as a federal judge by President Ronald Reagan in 1985. He is known for handling major cases, including sentencing the 'shoe bomber' Richard Reid to life in prison in 2003.

The award-winning case is called the American Association of University Professors vs. Rubio. During the two-week trial, Young heard about several noncitizen students and scholars who were arrested by the federal government. These included Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk, Columbia University students Mahmoud Khalil, Mohsen Mahdawi, and Yunseo Chung, and Georgetown scholar Badar Khan Suri. All of them had expressed support for Palestinian causes.

The central question in the case was whether noncitizens living legally in the United States have the same free speech rights as citizens. Judge Young answered clearly: yes, they do. He wrote that the First Amendment does not treat citizens and noncitizens differently. He called the case 'perhaps the most important ever to fall within the jurisdiction of this district court.'

Young's ruling also criticized the use of masked ICE agents during arrests. He wrote that masks in American history are linked to groups like the Ku Klux Klan, and that the country has never allowed an 'armed masked secret police.' He also found that Cabinet secretaries Kristi Noem and Marco Rubio deliberately tried to frighten noncitizens to stop them from speaking out.

Young said that President Trump 'fully approved' of what his Cabinet secretaries did, even if there wasn't proof he helped plan it at the start. He compared the officials' actions to the Teapot Dome scandal — a famous government corruption case from the 1920s — and said what happened here was even worse. 'Look, this is scandalous,' Young told the audience.

Young also warned that free speech is under pressure across the country. He said law firms, university leaders, and media companies have often backed down instead of standing up for truth. He used the phrase 'Quaker guns' — a Civil War term for fake cannons made from painted logs — to describe institutions that look strong but act weak when challenged.

Young noted that his ruling has been appealed and a higher court will review it. But he said more than 90 percent of federal district judges would have decided the case the same way. His message was simple and strong: protecting free speech for everyone, citizens and noncitizens alike, is a key part of American democracy — and the fight to protect it is not over.