Joseph Cohn
Joseph Cohn, FIRE’s Legislative and Policy Director, is a 2004 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Fels Institute of Government Administration, where he earned his Juris Doctor and Masters in Government Administration. Prior to law school, Joe attended the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV), where he graduated cum laude and co-founded the university’s ACLU chapter. A former staff attorney for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and law clerk in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Joe joins FIRE having demonstrated a career-long dedication to advancing the cause of civil liberties. He has served as a staff attorney at the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, where his work earned him accolades from The Legal Intelligencer and Pennsylvania Law Weekly (“2007 Lawyer on the Fast Track”) in 2007 and from Super Lawyers magazine (“Rising Star”) in 2008. In 2010, Joe taught at the University of Pennsylvania Law School as an adjunct professor, where he lectured on good trial practices and supervised law students as they represented real clients in both state and federal courts. Just prior to joining FIRE, Joe served as the interim legal director for ACLU affiliates in Nevada and Utah.
Contributions
- "Responding to Volokh’s Defense of the ‘Preponderance’ Standard,"
by Joseph Cohn, June 12, 2013 - "ThinkProgress' Defense of 'Blueprint' Misses the Mark,"
by Joseph Cohn and William Creeley, June 7, 2013 - "Michelle Obama Tells EKU Grads to Seek Out Those with Different Beliefs,"
by Joseph Cohn, May 16, 2013 - "Utah Adopts New Internet Privacy Law; Similar Bill Awaits Signature of Arkansas Governor,"
by Joseph Cohn, April 12, 2013 - "Newark's 'The Star-Ledger' Runs Two Op-Eds on Student Rights,"
by Joseph Cohn, April 9, 2013 - "Virginia Passes Law Protecting Religious Pluralism on Campus,"
by Joseph Cohn, March 27, 2013 - "Student Organization Bill Clears Idaho Legislature,"
by Joseph Cohn, March 27, 2013 - "House Votes to Reauthorize VAWA; How Will It Impact Student Rights?,"
by Joseph Cohn, February 28, 2013 - "Bipartisan ‘Social Networking Online Protection Act’ Introduced in House of Representatives,"
by Joseph Cohn, February 26, 2013 - "UCSB Student Government Passes Resolution Calling for Censorship,"
by Joseph Cohn, February 22, 2013 - "Tennessee Legislators Introduce New Bill to Combat ‘All-Comers’ Policies,"
by Joseph Cohn, February 18, 2013 - "Vassar College Chooses to Combat Unwanted Speech with More Speech, Not Censorship,"
by Joseph Cohn, February 14, 2013 - "Joe Cohn in ‘LGBTQ Nation’ On Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act,"
by Joseph Cohn, February 6, 2013 - "FIRE’s Top 3 Free Press Cases,"
by Joseph Cohn, January 31, 2013 - "KC Johnson to Journalists: Stop Presuming Guilt,"
by Joseph Cohn, January 22, 2013 - "ACLU to White House, Dept. of Ed: ‘Comprehensive’ First Amendment Guidance Needed,"
by Joseph Cohn, January 10, 2013 - "A Legislative Victory for Student Rights in Michigan,"
by Joseph Cohn, January 7, 2013 - "113th Congress May Leave Mark on Student Rights,"
by Joseph Cohn, January 4, 2013 - "Remembering Chris Eckhardt, True Free Speech Hero,"
by Joseph Cohn, January 4, 2013 - "‘Washington Examiner’ Makes Free Speech on Campus a 2013 New Year’s Resolution,"
by Joseph Cohn, January 3, 2013 - "'Augusta Chronicle' Editorial: 'Free Speech Still in Peril',"
by Joseph Cohn, January 2, 2013 - "A Busy 2012 for Student Rights in Washington; 2013 Promises Even More Congressional Action,"
by Joseph Cohn, December 28, 2012 - "Standing Up for a Professor's Right to Free Speech, Even While Disagreeing! ,"
by Joseph Cohn, December 19, 2012 - "Strangling Satire at Harvard,"
by Joseph Cohn, December 12, 2012 - "Jonathan Turley in USA Today: 'Accused Students Deserve Protection',"
by Joseph Cohn, December 10, 2012 - "Good News from Capitol Hill: With Presidential Signature, Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act Now Law,"
by Joseph Cohn, December 5, 2012 - "UPDATE: After Being Removed from Office for Speech, Fresno City College Student Senator Reinstated,"
by Joseph Cohn, December 3, 2012 - "ACLU Executive Director Delivers Blistering Critique of Campus Speech Codes,"
by Joseph Cohn, November 20, 2012 - "Changes to Harvard Student Disciplinary Process Reviewed,"
by Joseph Cohn, November 7, 2012 - "Professor Don Downs on ‘Unlearning Liberty’ in ‘Minding the Campus’,"
by Joseph Cohn, November 6, 2012 - "Partial Mistrial in U. of Iowa Faculty Discrimination Lawsuit,"
by Joseph Cohn, October 29, 2012 - "Snow College Sued for Discriminating Against Religious Students,"
by Joseph Cohn, October 25, 2012 - "Responding in Full to ‘Preponderance of the Evidence’ Advocates ,"
by Joseph Cohn, October 18, 2012 - "Ithaca College Restricts Student Journalists’ Access to College Administrators,"
by Joseph Cohn, October 12, 2012 - "Judge Upholds Virginia Ban on Alcohol Ads in Student Publications; Newspapers Appeal,"
by Joseph Cohn, October 12, 2012 - "Latest Example of Unlearning Liberty: Fresno City College,"
by Joseph Cohn, October 10, 2012 - "‘Inside Higher Ed’ Turns to a Reliable Source to Talk Students’ Rights,"
by Joseph Cohn, October 9, 2012 - "Joe Cohn on Campus vs. Civil Trials in ‘The Chronicle of Higher Education’,"
by Joseph Cohn, October 1, 2012 - "FIRE in 'The Denver Post' on the Colorado Shooter and College ‘Threat Assessment Teams’,"
by Joseph Cohn, September 27, 2012 - "Kaminer: "The End of Free Speech at University of Colorado?","
by Joseph Cohn, September 18, 2012 - "Runnin’ Rebel with a Cause: Protecting the First Amendment,"
by Joseph Cohn, September 18, 2012 - "We the People of FIRE Wish You a Happy Constitution Day!,"
by Joseph Cohn, September 17, 2012 - "Former OCR Attorney: ‘Dear Colleague’ Letter’s Preponderance Mandate ‘Unlawful’,"
by Joseph Cohn, September 12, 2012 - "Republican Platform Calls for Free Speech on Campus,"
by Joseph Cohn, August 30, 2012 - "A Balanced Approach to VAWA,"
by Joseph Cohn, July 24, 2012 - "Greg’s Anthem Film Festival Award Acceptance Speech -- The Long Version!,"
by Joseph Cohn, July 17, 2012 - "Texas A&M At It Again,"
by Joseph Cohn, June 22, 2012 - "Will in ‘Huffington Post’: Free Speech 1, Free Speech Zone 0 ,"
by Joseph Cohn, June 20, 2012 - "ETSU, Brute?,"
by Joseph Cohn, June 8, 2012 - "‘Fee Speech’: When University-Bank Partnerships Silence Students,"
by Joseph Cohn, June 4, 2012 - "Where FIRE Stands on VAWA,"
by Joseph Cohn, May 31, 2012 - "Alabama Bill Would Make it a Crime to Annoy Someone Online,"
by Joseph Cohn, March 6, 2012


