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On February 13, 2026 a court enjoined UMass Amherst from suspending student Kivlighan de Montebello for his participation in an on-campus protest in September, finding that the suspension likely violates his free speech rights. The firm and the National Lawyers Guild sued the university last month after de Montebello’s suspension was imposed. On Friday a judge in the Hampshire Superior Court found that the behavior the suspension was based on–chanting outside of an on-campus career fair–did not cause a “substantial disruption” to a university activity as would be required for the punishment to be constitutional. CONTINUE READING ›

Yesterday attorneys Naomi R. Shatz and Jackson Estrin along with the National Lawyers Guild filed a free speech and due process lawsuit against UMass Amherst.  The lawsuit stems from a peaceful protest of Raytheon, which was recruiting at a campus career fair in September. Although the approximately two dozen protesters were peaceful and did not enter or disrupt the career fair, campus officials ordered them to leave the student center where they were holding the protest then disciplined Kivlighan de Montebello, the plaintiff in the suit, for exercising his free speech rights, suspending him for a year. The lawsuit is filed in Hampshire Superior Court and seeks an emergency restraining order and preliminary injunction ordering the University to overturn the suspension and allow de Montebello to resume his studies this semester.

“The Constitution protects peaceful protest, period,” says attorney Naomi R. Shatz. “Universities can’t punish students for exercising their First Amendment rights just because administrators find the message inconvenient.” CONTINUE READING ›