Multiple Jewish Organizations File Second Circuit Amicus Brief in Support of Previously Detained Tufts Student

By: Davis Wright Tremaine via Business Wire

August 25, 2025 at 16:22 PM EDT

A coalition of American Jewish organizations have filed an amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in support of a Vermont federal court’s consideration of Rümeysa Öztürk’s habeas petition objecting to her then-detention. Öztürk, a Turkish national and PhD student at Tufts University, was detained this spring and held in an ICE facility in Louisiana for six weeks before a federal judge ordered her release.

Öztürk was arrested under a rarely invoked statute after she co-authored an op-ed in the Tufts student newspaper supporting student government resolutions critical of Israel’s military conduct in Gaza. In her habeas petition, she asserted that the government had retaliated against her for exercising her protected First Amendment rights.

“Without presuming to speak for all of Jewish America—a diverse community that holds a multitude of viewpoints—amici are compelled to file this brief because the detention of Rümeysa Öztürk for her protected speech violated the most basic constitutional rights,” the organizations say in their brief, emphasizing that freedom of expression, particularly on matters of public concern, is a cornerstone of American democracy and extends to academic settings and campus discourse.

In the appeal, the government is arguing that the Immigration and Nationality Act stripped the Vermont federal court of the right to review Öztürk’s habeas petition and that she was first required to pursue her First Amendment claims in immigration court before obtaining a federal court hearing. As amici emphasize, meaningful review of First Amendment claims generally means rapid, prioritized review. “Further, any regime under which Öztürk remains in detention for months despite a fundamental violation of her First Amendment rights sends a strong signal to all other potential noncitizen speakers that they risk detention, however ultimately unlawful, if they raise their voices in protest.”

The brief also expresses concern regarding any suggestion that actions taken against Öztürk are necessary to combat antisemitism: “The government . . . appears to be exploiting Jewish Americans’ legitimate concerns about antisemitism as pretext for undermining core pillars of American democracy, the rule of law, and the fundamental rights of free speech and academic debate on which this nation was built.”

Drawing on historical context, amici note that many Jewish Americans are especially attuned to the dangers of government actions taken in response to political expression, emphasizing that the protection of free speech has long served as a safeguard for minority communities in the United States, and that its erosion, particularly when connected to academic or political discourse, warrants close scrutiny.

The brief can be found here: https://www.dwt.com/-/media/files/2025/251019-amicus-brief-filed.pdf

Signatories include a range of Jewish organizations, from well-known national institutions to local congregations and advocacy groups, including:

Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation
Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice
B’nai Jeshurun
Boston Workers Circle
Congregation Beth Elohim
Congregation Dorshei Tzedek (West Newton, MA)
Habonim Dror
Harvard Jewish Progressive Alumni
J Street
Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action
Jewish Center for Justice
Jewish Labor Committee
Leo Baeck Temple
New England Jewish Labor Committee
New Israel Fund
New Jewish Narrative
New York Jewish Agenda
Nexus Project
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
Temple Micah (Washington, D.C.)
The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
The Workers Circle
Worcester Havurah

The amici are represented pro bono by Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. American Lawyer Media describes Davis Wright Tremaine as “practically synonymous with First Amendment litigation.” The firm has more lawyers ranked as national leaders in First Amendment litigation by Chambers USA than any firm in the country. The firm’s First Amendment cases in opposition to government entities have included representing press photographers covering Black Lives Matter protests, successfully opposing efforts to ban sales of the graphic novel Gender Queer to minors in Virginia, and filing a lawsuit against OFAC for its sanctions effectively preventing U.S. book and journal publishers from publishing works written by authors in Cuba, Iran, and North Korea.

About Davis Wright Tremaine

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is an AmLaw 100 law firm with more than 600 lawyers representing clients based throughout the United States and around the world. Learn more at www.dwt.com.