A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Military Academy at West Point cannot require civilian professors to obtain advance approval before using their West Point affiliation when speaking to outside audiences about their expertise. The court also blocked the academy from stopping Professor Tim Bakken from expressing his views in the classroom on subjects he teaches.
U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel in White Plains, New York, issued a preliminary injunction in favor of Bakken, who has taught at West Point since 2000 and says the academy’s policies violate the First Amendment. Bakken, a longtime law professor and author of a book critical of the military, argued that the restrictions amounted to censorship and prevented him from speaking freely with cadets and the public.
In her ruling, Seibel said the government offered no meaningful justification for limiting Bakken’s classroom speech. She wrote that the restrictions were incompatible with the academy’s mission to prepare future military officers and said cadets should be exposed to a range of viewpoints and encouraged to think critically. The judge added that West Point cadets are not likely to be harmed by controversial discussions or competing ideas in class.
The decision centered on policies adopted after an executive order signed by President Donald Trump early in his second term. That order, titled “Restoring America’s Fighting Force,” targeted diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the military and barred promotion of certain ideas described as un-American or divisive. According to the lawsuit, West Point later asked professors to remove course materials that addressed race, gender and painful parts of American history.
Bakken’s lawsuit challenged both the approval rule for outside speech and the classroom limits. Under the policy, faculty members had to seek permission before using their West Point affiliation in settings including journal articles, media interviews, social media posts and podcasts. Bakken argued that he had routinely shared his opinions in class before the new directive but stopped doing so after the policy took effect. He said cadets had recently asked him for his views on issues such as the death penalty and the deinstitutionalization of mentally ill people, but he withheld his opinions because of the rules.
The government argued that a military academy has broader authority to control employee speech, especially when a professor identifies himself with the institution. Officials said such restrictions were necessary to prevent his views from being attributed to West Point or the Department of Defense. Judge Seibel rejected that argument and also denied the government’s request to dismiss the case.
Bakken called the ruling a victory for academic freedom and said he and his colleagues were “free again” to search for truth without censorship. His attorneys said they will now seek a permanent injunction and class-action status for all civilian professors at West Point. The academy declined to comment because the case is still pending. West Point’s faculty includes 188 civilians and 495 military officers.
