Katherine Franke
Avid flyfisher & lover of penguins. James L. Dohr Professor of Law, Columbia Law School (retired); Founding Director, Center for Gender & Sexuality Law. Author of Repair: Redeeming the Promise of Abolition, and Wedlocked: The Perils of Marriage Equality.
- The gov't doesn't have the exclusive power to (mis)interpret the law, the people can give it meaning too under the principle of popular sovereignty. The law doesn't treat protests ag immigration raids as a "rebellion" & I explain why (and provide signs!). youtu.be/bIEhD2hw2oM
- Calling in the National Guard in LA to suppress protests against ICE arrests: yes we shd protest, but with awareness that this is part of the gov't's plan - provoking protests as a manufactured "crisis" that then necessitates a suspension of "normal law". youtu.be/MsuGWFgNg14
- Cuomo is running for Mayor while aggressively using the law to retaliate against women who accused him of sexual harassment. @columbiauniversity.bsky.social has done the same - uses the law to retaliate against whistleblowers. They're using the same lawyer, Theresa Trzaskoma. youtu.be/nnI506Fv58I
- New SCOTUS decision allowing a school to ban a student from wearing a trans-phobic t-shirt. Justices Alito and Thomas dissented, arguing that banning this t-shirt violated the student’s free speech rights. I explain, and connect the case to Brown v. Board of Ed. youtu.be/3CwaHjc7yiw
- The "One Big Beautiful Bill" - the Repub Budget Bill - has a provision tucked into it on p. 562 that renders current fed'l court orders against the Trump Admin unenforceable. This renders the administration immune from legal accountability. I explain. youtu.be/aFntw5ZuLhQ
- @hassan.senate.gov - thank you for asking the question, you may want to share my short tutorial on the writ of habeas corpus with @secnoem.govpeeps.us:
- Reposting yesterday's 'splainer on what "the writ of habeas corpus" is, for the benefit of Sec. Kristi Noem, who testified in the Senate today that it was "a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country" youtu.be/5flVKgk_J-0
- Reposting yesterday's 'splainer on what "the writ of habeas corpus" is, for the benefit of Sec. Kristi Noem, who testified in the Senate today that it was "a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country" youtu.be/5flVKgk_J-0
- As I was saying … he can’t do that.
- Law School is in session: Can Trump suspend the writ of habeas corpus and eliminate the legal tool that has been successfully used to release students from ICE detention? I explain. youtu.be/5flVKgk_J-0
- Law School is in session: Can Trump suspend the writ of habeas corpus and eliminate the legal tool that has been successfully used to release students from ICE detention? I explain. youtu.be/5flVKgk_J-0
- Reposted by Katherine FrankeColumbia University Acting President Claire Shipman welcomed to Columbia College's graduation ceremony with sustained jeers and boos. Minutes later, students break out in loud chants of "Free Mahmoud":
- Student speakers at graduations across the country are compelled to bear witness to the genocide in Gaza. I join them in naming it as a genocide, and situate the annihilation of Palestinian life in Gaza in an historical context. youtu.be/UM7zLCf5GVw
- Last Monday night I got to hang with these incredible legal advocates at the @IMEU dinner. This group is leading the charge in freeing students who've been kidnapped by ICE, in fighting the evils of fascism in the US, and in defending the rights and dignity of Palestinians.
- Students are devoting graduation speeches to the genocide in Palestine. Logan Rozos, the graduation speaker at NYU bravely did so yesterday. We need to stand behind these students who bear witness to the defining human rights atrocity of a generation. youtu.be/p3zHes8IeS8
- Another student released from ICE detention by a federal judge: Badar Khan Suri!! With this winning streak in gaining freedom for detained students, why isn't Mahmoud Khalil being released? youtu.be/IQVUfdpV804
- Why is Mahmoud Khalil still in ICE detention when other students have been released by federal court judges? I offer some thoughts. youtu.be/gO6Gz8ivU30
- Frankly, universities have received very bad advice from their General Counsels about how to handled student protests and ICE surveillance of students - I break down why, and call out some of the worst lawyers who have advised Columbia. youtu.be/swHM_C-p7lI
- What if the @columbia students' occupation of Butler Library yesterday was leaked to the Columbia administration? We need to be thinking 2, 3, 4 steps ahead with our organizing in these times. youtu.be/Yk5U-PCKAlg
- Today's installment of: "Can he do that?" Can Trump pull Harvard's non-profit status? Spoiler alert: no. I explain. youtu.be/KVWf7fdOJd4
- Today's: "How on Fire 🔥🔥 are things right now?" The Repubs in the House did NOT vote this week to give the gov't the power to deport US citizens, contrary to @ericswalwell.bsky.social's alarm bell. I explain why. youtu.be/Fmkheq3Eo2Y
- At @columbiauniversity.bsky.social, the call has been coming from inside the house & the callers are working closely w the Trump Admin: they're the authors of a new "report" today, whose WhatsApp texts show their disdain for Columbia's Senate, faculty, and students. youtu.be/xzZzkaVdM4g
- The federal judge released Mohsen Mahdawi today. I explain the ruling, what it means, how it relates to the immigration case, and the other students' cases. The 29 page decision is available here: drive.proton.me/urls/S14H3MQ... youtu.be/57YHLBZH7fE
- I break down Monday's EO that signals the Trump admin's plans to deploy federal and Nat'l Guard troops to quell public protests - violating the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, and what we might do to head this off. youtu.be/x7jInSCJrwM
- I break down yesterday's EO that signals the Trump admin's plans to deploy federal and Nat'l Guard troops to quell public protests - violating the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, and what we might do to head this off. youtu.be/x7jInSCJrwM
- Reposted by Katherine Franke[Not loaded yet]
- I want to urge that we resist emphasizing how some of the people being deported are "innocent" or "haven't even been convicted of a crime" - all people deserve to have their free speech and due process rights respected, regardless of their assumed "guilt" or "innocence". youtu.be/RfLOrbILk_E
- Barnard College faculty and staff are getting emails from the EEOC asking them to answer the question: "Are you Jewish?" I explain what this is all about and what you might do in response. youtu.be/YUHiZfDTPbQ
- The FBI raided students' homes in Michigan this morning. Why, and what does this signal? My thoughts. If you think you might also be targeted by the FBI, contact the @nlgnews.bsky.social for their attorney referral directory: www.nlg.org/referral-dir... youtu.be/_UMEZjV3ufI
- What kinds of smart tactical organizing should we consider in these challenging times? ACT UP's organizing offers some inspiration for today. I explain why. To learn more, check out United in Anger, a study guide on the history of ACT UP: www.unitedinanger.com/unit-3-act-u... youtu.be/0KGtI7OGvMY
- Breaking: a judge in GA ordered that the fed'l gov't CANNOT pull the visas of foreign students. The order applies ONLY to students who are part of the lawsuit. If you want to join the lawsuit, reach out to: ckuck@immigration.net and dclaffey@immigration.net youtu.be/FS6B8CM8uf4
- The judge's order, which you should share with university general counsels and presidents, is here: drive.google.com/file/d/1ABv7...
- A couple thoughts on where we are right now in the development of expanding authoritarian government. youtu.be/V0CGRfjHhmU
- If one were sitting down to write a final exam question that involved the "arbitrary or capricious" exercise of governmental power, you really couldn't do better than this: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
- An update in Mohsen Mahdawi's capture & detention by ICE + analysis of what's going on in this case. To justify Mahdawi's deportation, Sect'y Rubio is repeating false characterizations abt student protests originally made by Columbia administrators. youtu.be/lT6CPqFW_M0
- Last night, Columbia's president responded to the rumors that she'd agreed to hand over the university to the Trump administration. While other universities are fighting back, Columbia continues to be willing to give up more and more independence. youtu.be/Hh6b86WKu4M
- It appears that 2 things, Harvard’s strong stance resisting Trump’s demands & negative publicity toward Columbia’s potential agreement to similar demands, have resulted in the postponement of any announcement from Columbia re its capitulation to Trump. Let’s see how this goes.
- Breaking: today ICE kidnapped another Columbia student, a student with a green card. Mohsen Mahdawi is a peaceful, moral leader on our campus, and was picked up by ICE simply because he spoke to the suffering of Palestinians. youtu.be/_87OBxLDC_Q
- @mashagessen.bsky.social is spot on this morning in their analysis of what universities can do in this moment - lean into, rather than away from, their core competency: "So this is my radical proposal for universities: Act like universities, not like businesses." www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/o...
- Please join me tonite for a screening and talk-back with the directors of "The Palestine Exception", a necessary film for this time. Zoom registration here: nyu.zoom.us/j/92012470986
- Columbia may have signed its own death notice. Word has it that tomorrow Columbia will announce an agreement to formal oversight by Trump. This, if true, will signal the death of Columbia as we knew it - a premier teaching and research institution. I explain it here: youtube.com/shorts/W7Rr7...
- An immigration judge in Louisiana ruled today that Mahmoud Khalil can be deported - but what happens next? I break it down. youtube.com/shorts/W_Txf...
- If you are in Chicago next Thursday night, please join me and some bad-ass folks for a National Day of Action teach in on the Assault on Science, Humanities, and Human Rights:
- Everyone's calling me about the Wall Street Journal article today, saying @columbiauniversity.bsky.social is going to be put under a "consent decree"? I explain what this means. We've never seen anything like this before, it means putting the university under receivership. youtu.be/dyu2W2HfVpw
- In which I make the point that it's "time's up" for the legal profession: when a US citizen lawyer gets stopped at the airport because he represented a student protester, something very important has shifted. youtu.be/u2PPmxjpU3o
- Reposted by Katherine Franke[Not loaded yet]
- Finding creases of beauty in a time that asks so much of us. These daffodils and hellebores from our garden we’ll bring to a friend for her birthday tonite.
- Where I explain how the revocation of student visas and illegal detention of our non-US students amounts to a kind of racial and ethnic cleansing of our universities. youtu.be/qAJ7YQkIU0k
- An unappreciated cost of universities' acquiescence to the demands of the fed'l gov't: as @columbia university trades in a false narrative that the campus is saturated w/ anti-semitism, it won't take serious the complaints of Black students of horrible racism in the classroom. youtu.be/eywKKuXOVQk
- Where I observe how @columbiauniversity.bsky.social has become the Tesla of the academic community. See the whole interview with Amy Goodman on @democracynow.org now here: youtu.be/-Il8-LB2wt0
- I discuss the @columbiauniversity.bsky.social trustees going rogue & staging a coup; the fate of Mahmoud Khalil; and defense of our academic mission w/ Amy Goodman on @democracynow.org this morning. youtu.be/-Il8-LB2wt0
- Wait, Columbia University has another President? What the heck is going on over there? I break it down. (Spoiler: the Trustees have gone rogue.) youtu.be/j-Sn8FT6JP8
