Overview

• Tim Bakken, West Point’s longest‑serving civilian law professor, filed a federal class‑action lawsuit alleging the academy is violating his First Amendment rights.
• The complaint targets an Academic Engagement Policy issued Feb. 13 that requires faculty approval for public remarks or publications using West Point affiliation or branding, which Bakken argues is unconstitutional prior restraint.
• Bakken cites classroom and curricular restrictions, including directives not to express opinions in class, removal of books from the library, edits to syllabi, elimination of courses and majors, and scrubbing faculty publication listings from school webpages.
• He seeks class‑action status for more than 100 civilian faculty members, an injunction halting the restrictions, and unspecified damages and legal fees.
• The suit links heightened scrutiny to a January executive order by President Donald Trump directing reviews of service academies; West Point did not immediately comment, and the filing comes as reporters and advocates criticize new Pentagon limits on media access.