Another front in Trump's free speech war: West Point
By: Rob Admiral
Your Turn
Guest columnist
..... Tim Bakken, the longest-serving law professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, has been a thorn in the side of the government for may year. an author, a scholar, a professor of constitutional law and a gadfly, he has argued - vociferously - that the military has isolated itself from the civilian guardrails that are supposed oversees its behavior - and the problematic wars America always seems to get into.
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"The military's loyalty to itself and determined separation from society have produced an authoritarian institution that is contributing to the erosion of American democracy," he wrote.
..... In his 2020 book, "the Cost of Loyalty: dishonesty, Hubris, and Failure in the U.S. Military," Bakken acknowledges hat the military "has been and remains one of the most critical institutions in America" but says it has become "an island, opaque and secretive," and "has completely served its culture, mores, and legal system from the basic tenets of civilian society and constitutional government."
..... For a man teaching cadets who will eventually fight America's constant wars, this is tough stuff - and certainly worth debating. If the top brass would want to shut up someone, however, it would be Bakken.
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Their chance arose on January 27, [2025] when President Donald Trump issued an executive order, a proclamation that is akin to a law, although actual laws have been scarce. this directive went to the nation's five military academies, including West Point, the most prestigious, overlooking the Hudson River 60 miles north of New York City, from which Dwight Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur graduated.
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The government, it ordered, "shall carefully review the leadership, curriculum, and instructors of the United States Service Academies" and require them "to teach that America and its founding documents remain the most powerful force for good in human history." that assumes, of course, that everything America does is good.
..... Translated: Withhold your criticism. Practically, it meant that deans and department chairs - Bakken has taught for 25 years - would check the syllabic of professors to approve their books, Bakken's blistering 2020 book would not likely be allowed.
..... Professors were told they couldn't express their opinions in class. (No, I'm not kidding!) and they needed prior approval to speak off-campus to ensure they say the right things to please the government.
..... "To speak according to our conscience ... even if we disagree," Bakken says. "It is difficult to imagine any greater value in our Constitution."
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And he has it right. The First Amendment is a freedom-of-thought clause - and most of all it means government cannot interfere with a citizen's conscience. Individuals can think what they want, speak it if they choose, write it down for people to see, and even gather with other like-minded people to protest. And the government cannot interfere. Period.
..... To stop the government from censoring opinions contrary to the president's, Bakken's attorneys, Johnathan R. Goldman and Stephen Bergstein, field a federal lawsuit on September 22 [2025] seeking a class-action status for civilian professors at West Point.
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The goal: "to protect the fundamental right of freedom of speech and the right to academic freedom, which is essential to a robust marketplace of ideas, an educated citizenry, and the flourishing of our republic."
..... A telling moment is re-created in the lawsuit. After the presidential memo, Bakkan asked his supervisor if he would get money for scholarly research, a commonplace allotment for faculty.
..... "In the absence of specific information about the nature of the scholarship you are considering," he was told, "I am unable to provide a definitive determination whether the academic engagement may be approved."
..... Wrong answer.
..... The correct answer: West Point odes not decide what you write about. Of course we care. But we have no say in the content. It is your decision, not the government's. The supreme Court insists that we be "content neutral."
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Reading the documents in the West Point case is like watching a microcosm of the Trump administration. Do everything you can to silence opponents. Send a chilling message that anything resembling criticism of the government or the White House will be punished.
..... And the scariest part was that according to the court filing, all the pole in and around West Point, who should be bold enough to say "leave us alone,"are so afraid of being fired or punished that they all fell into line.
..... West Point has not yet filed a response to Bakken's lawsuit.
Censorship casts a chill
..... I spoke with west Point graduate Lieutenant Colonial Paul Capofari, now retired after years as a military lawyer and a distirct attoeny in New York City. From 1990 to 1993, he oversaw the teaching of six classes in constitutional law at West Point.
..... There was no censoring of syllabic, he recalls, but he did coordinate the classes to make sure the same important topics w4re covered. It was an "altogether different time," Capofair said, contrasting it with what he described as today's [11/12/2025] "uncharted bizarre landscape. It wasn't controversial at all."
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He can understand how those at west Point who are serving in the military might follow the memo's instructions. "deference to the military, deference to the commander-in-chief, obedience to order - all are vital,' he points out.
..... But when Capofari taught at the academy, all the law instructors were in the military. Some instructors in other departments were civilians. Today, [11/12/2025] West Point has 100 civilian professors, including Bakken. And that begs the question of whether they need to be treated differently. After all, Bakken's disobedience will not hurt a military operation, only the president's ego.
..... Don't get me wrong: employers should have some control over the speech of employees. But they cannot punish with a firing or a suspension because they do not like the speech, especially at a public university.
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Bakken v. West Point is not an isolated incident. The Pentagon recently insisted that reporters covering the military needed to sign agreements that they would report only what the government permitted.
..... The government has removed books from military academy libraries because they didn't follow a party line.
..... all of this is called censorship - and from Bakken's viewpoint inside the military academy. It's not surprising. He see "loyalty over truth; isolation; censorship; control over everyone; manipulation of the media; narcissism; retaliation; and callousness."
..... He could have been describing the president. But, alas, 4eh was describing what increasingly is becoming American society.
..... Bakken's new book is in the works, and he doesn't feel he needs prior approval from West Point to write it.
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The federal lawsuit will answer the question of whether the Defense Department or the First Amendment has sway over our speech.
..... But I think soldiers can;t tell civilians what they can think - or say.
..... Rob Miraldi's First Amendment writing has won numerous awards. He taught journalism at the State University of New York for many years. email:rob.miraldi@gmail.com