President Trump’s 2025 National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 has been drawing renewed debate after being used to prosecute activists in Minnesota protesting the actions of federal immigration enforcement activities there. Some legal scholars, including CERL Affiliated Faculty Member Kermit Roosevelt, note that what the administration describes as counterterrorism measures are defined so broadly as to risk infringing on the rights to free speech and association. In fact, Professor Roosevelt argues in comments originally made to the University of Pennsylvania’s student newspaper, the memo could be “a pretext to harass left-wing organizations and universities.”

Kermit Roosevelt is the David Berger Professor for the Administration of Justice at Penn Carey Law School. He is also a member of CERL’s Affiliated Faculty. Read his bio here.

The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of any organization or university.