Reagan Judge Blasts Trump While Calling for Defense of Rights

A senior federal judge in Boston said in an opinion that President Donald Trump thinks the American people won’t stand up for their constitutional rights, while suggesting the public should do so.

Senior US District Judge William Young made the statement in an opinion Tuesday, in which he found that the Trump administration violated the First Amendment in a crackdown on pro-Palestinian speech.

“I fear President Trump believes the American people are so divided that today they will not stand up, fight for, and defend our most precious constitutional values so long as they are lulled into thinking their own personal interests are not affected.”

“Is he correct?” Young asked.

Young’s question came at the end of the ruling in which he quoted President Ronald Reagan, who appointed him to the bench.

“Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction,” Reagan said during his 1967 inaugural address, as he became governor of California. “It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people.”

Young said that he’s been “deeply moved” by Reagan’s words.

“As I’ve read and re-read the record in this case, listened widely, and reflected extensively, I’ve come to believe that President Trump truly understands and appreciates the full import of President Reagan’s inspiring message — yet I fear he has drawn from it a darker, more cynical message,” Young said.

In a highly unusual move, Young also included in the ruling a postcard he received that referenced Trump, with the judge saying he hopes the opinion shows how the Constitution works.

At the top of the opinion, Young included an image of a handwritten postcard dated June 19. “Trump has pardons and tanks....what do you have?” the postcard read.

Young said in response that, “Alone, I have nothing but my sense of duty. Together, We the People of the United States — you and me — have our magnificent Constitution.”

“Here’s how that works out in a specific case,” said the judge, who has served on the court since 1985.

At the end of the ruling, Young continued his message to the postcard’s writer. “I hope you found this helpful. Thanks for writing. It shows you care. You should,” Young said.

He added in a postscript that the author should visit the courthouse in Boston “and watch your fellow citizens, sitting as jurors, reach out for justice.”

“It is here, and in courthouses just like this one, both state and federal, spread throughout our land that our Constitution is most vibrantly alive, for it is well said that ‘Where a jury sits, there burns the lamp of liberty,’” Young said.

The case is American Association of University Professors et al v. Rubio et al, D. Mass., No. 1:25-cv-10685, 9/30/25