Pointer v. Phelps

In December 2025, Vice President for Student Life Steven Hood met with staff of student-run outlets Alice Magazine and Nineteen Fifty-Six, and informed them the magazines were permanently suspended. The university claimed it was basing its decision on a non-binding legal memo from then-U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, which warned against the use of “unlawful proxies” because the outlets primarily focused on women and black students. First Amendment and student press advocates, including FIRE’s Student Press Freedom Initiative, condemned the magazines’ closure. 

Eight students sued UA in March 2026 in federal district court, arguing the university engaged in viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment by closing the magazines. In May, the district court denied the students’ request for a preliminary injunction. The district court held in part that the magazines were government speech, and thus were outside the First Amendment’s protection. The students appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in June. 

On September 2, FIRE joined a coalition gathered by the Student Press Law Center in filing an amicus brief. Alongside the Student Press Law Center, Associated Collegiate Press, College Media Association, and Society of Professional Journalists, FIRE argued that the Eleventh Circuit should reverse a lower court’s ruling and restore funding to the publications. The brief makes clear the district court’s decision departs from six decades of student press law, which finds its roots in Alabama — the very state where it may come to an end if college student media is considered government speech.