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After government officers arrested the university student a student activist in his university residence, Jameel Jaffer understood a significant fight lay ahead.

The director leads a Columbia-affiliated institute dedicated to defending First Amendment protections. The student, a green card holder, had been active in Palestinian solidarity encampments on campus. Previously, Jaffer's organization had hosted a symposium about constitutional protections for immigrants.

"We recognized a direct link with this situation, because we're at Columbia," Jaffer explained. "We viewed this arrest as a serious infringement of constitutional freedoms."

Major Legal Win Against Administration

Last week, Jaffer's team at the Knight First Amendment Institute, together with the law firm Sher Tremonte, secured a landmark victory when a federal judge in Massachusetts determined that the arrest and attempted deportation of the student and other pro-Palestinian students was unconstitutional and purposely created to suppress protest.

The Trump administration announced they'll challenge the decision, with administration representative Liz Huston calling the judgment an "outrageous ruling that hampers the safety and security of our nation".

Increasing Separation Between Institute and Institution

The ruling raised the visibility of the Knight Institute, catapulting it to the frontlines of the battle with the administration over core constitutional principles. However the victory also underscored the growing divide between the institute and the university that houses it.

This legal challenge – characterized by the presiding official as "possibly the most important ever come under the jurisdiction of this court" – was the first of multiple challenging Trump's unusual attack on universities to go to trial.

Trial Revelations

Throughout the two-week trial, citizen and noncitizen scholars gave evidence about the atmosphere of fear and self-censorship caused by the detentions, while government agents revealed details about their reliance on reports by rightwing, Israel-supporting organizations to pick their targets.

A legal expert, general counsel of the academic organization, which filed the lawsuit along with some of its chapters and the Middle East Studies Association, described it "the central constitutional lawsuit of the Trump administration currently".

'University and Institute Occupy Opposing Positions'

While the legal success was hailed by advocates and academics across the country, the director received no communication from Columbia following the ruling – a reflection of the disagreements in the stances taken by the institute and the institution.

Prior to Trump took office, Columbia had come to symbolize the declining tolerance for pro-Palestinian speech on American universities after it called police to remove its student encampment, disciplined multiple activists for their activism and dramatically restricted demonstrations on campus.

University Settlement

This summer, the institution negotiated an agreement with the federal government to pay millions to settle antisemitism claims and submit to significant limitations on its independence in a action broadly criticized as "capitulation" to the president's pressure strategies.

Columbia's compliant stance was sharply contrasted with the organization's defiant one.

"We're at a time in which the university and the institute hold opposing views of these critical questions," noted a former fellow at the Knight Institute.

Institute's Mission

This organization was launched in recent years and is located on the university grounds. It has received significant funding from the university as part of an arrangement that had each contributing substantial amounts in operating funds and endowment funds to launch it.

"My hope for the organization in the years ahead is that when there is a time when the government has gone in the wrong direction and fundamental rights are at stake and few others is prepared to step forward and to say, enough is enough, it will be the this organization that will stepped forward," said Lee Bollinger, a constitutional expert who helped create the center.

Open Disagreement

Shortly after campus developments, Columbia and the Knight Institute were positioned on different sides, with the institute regularly criticizing the institution's management of pro-Palestinian protests both privately and in progressively critical official comments.

In one letter to university leadership, Jaffer criticized the action to suspend two student groups, which the university said had broken rules concerning holding campus events.

Growing Conflict

Subsequently, the director further criticized the university's decision to summon law enforcement onto campus to remove a peaceful, student protest – leading to the detention of numerous activists.

"The university's decisions have become separated from the principles that are central to the academic community and purpose – such as free speech, academic freedom, and equality," he stated this time.

Activist Viewpoint

Khalil, in particular, had pleaded with university administrators for protection, and in an op-ed composed while jailed he wrote that "the reasoning employed by the administration to target myself and my peers is an outgrowth of the university's suppression approach regarding Palestinian issues".

Columbia reached agreement with the Trump administration shortly after the case wrapped in court.

Organization's Reaction

Following the agreement was announced, the Knight Institute published a scathing rebuke, concluding that the agreement sanctions "an astonishing transfer of independence and authority to the administration".

"Columbia's leaders should not have agreed to this," the declaration said.

Wider Impact

Knight doesn't stand alone – groups such as the ACLU, the Foundation for Individual Rights and additional rights organizations have challenged the government over constitutional matters, as have unions and other institutions.

Nor is it concentrating solely on campus issues – in additional lawsuits to the government, the institute has sued on behalf of agricultural workers and climate activists challenging federal departments over climate-related information and challenged the suppression of official reports.

Special Situation

However its protection of campus expression at a university now associated with compromising on it places it in a particularly difficult situation.

The director showed understanding for the lack of "favorable choices" for university administration while he described their decision to settle as a "major error". But he stressed that although the organization standing at the opposite end of its host when it comes to addressing the president, the university has permitted it to function without interference.

"Particularly currently, I don't take that freedom as automatic," he said. "If Columbia tried to restrict our work, I wouldn't be at Columbia any more."