Carrie DeCell
Staff Attorney

Carrie DeCell is a Staff Attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute and a Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law School. Her litigation focuses on freedom of speech on social media and government surveillance of speech at the border. In addition, she runs the Knight Institute’s externship program with Columbia Law School.
DeCell leads the Knight Institute’s litigation in Doc Society v. Pompeo, challenging the government’s mass collection and indefinite retention of visa applicants’ social media identifiers. She has been a core member of the team litigating Knight Institute v. Trump, establishing that public officials’ social media accounts—including the presidents’ Twitter account—are subject to the First Amendment. She has authored amicus briefs addressing First Amendment protections for publishers of leaked or stolen information of public concern, and statutory safeguards against government surveillance of journalists and activists. And she has been at the forefront of the Institute’s advocacy efforts against the prosecution of whistleblowers and publishers under the Espionage Act.
DeCell has been published or quoted in the New York Times, The New Yorker, the Washington Post, The Guardian, The Intercept, and Just Security, and she has appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered, ABC’s The Signal, and Al Jazeera’s The Listening Post.
Prior to joining the Institute, Carrie was a senior associate at Jenner & Block LLP. As a member of the firm’s Media & First Amendment practice group, she handled a variety of matters involving constitutional and statutory speech protections and public access to information. She defended a major online publication against defamation claims and advised a non-profit organization regarding the protections afforded online publishers under the Communications Decency Act. Additionally, as a member of the firm’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice group, she drafted numerous merits and amicus briefs in cases before the Supreme Court and other courts of appeals.
DeCell graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Law School, where she served as the Essays & Book Reviews editor of the Harvard Law Review. Following law school, she clerked for the Honorable Judith W. Rogers on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Contact
Selected Projects
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Doc Society v. Pompeo
A lawsuit challenging the State Department’s social media registration requirement
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Knight Institute v. Trump
A lawsuit challenging President Trump's blocking of critics on Twitter
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Democratic National Committee v. Russian Federation
A lawsuit against WikiLeaks implicating important press freedoms
Selected Work
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Visiting the US? The Government is Reading Your Old Facebook Posts
The Guardian
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Lawsuit Aims To End Rule Requiring Visa Applicants To Disclose Social Media Accounts
NPR: All Things Considered
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Julian Assange, the Espionage Act and implications for free media
Al Jazeera: The Listening Post
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Assange and the Espionage Act
WHYY: Radio Times
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Trump's "Extreme Vetting" is Muzzling Activists and Shutting Them Out
The Guardian

Contact
Selected Projects
-
Doc Society v. Pompeo
A lawsuit challenging the State Department’s social media registration requirement
-
Knight Institute v. Trump
A lawsuit challenging President Trump's blocking of critics on Twitter
-
Democratic National Committee v. Russian Federation
A lawsuit against WikiLeaks implicating important press freedoms
Writings & Appearances
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Analysis
Trump’s Executive Order on the ICC is Illegal, Not Just Shameful
Sanctions raise First Amendment concerns
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Analysis
Can Governments Track the Pandemic and Still Protect Privacy?
A new European contact-tracing tool looks promising
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Analysis
Public Officials Can’t Block Critics from Official Social Media Accounts
Appeals court protects public’s right to read and respond to official social media accounts, at a time when we rely on them most
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Analysis
The Espionage Act Reform Bill Addresses Key Press Concerns
Provides crucial safeguards for reporters
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Analysis
Visiting the US? The Government is Reading Your Old Facebook Posts
A new lawsuit could help stop the surveillance of 14 million people a year who visit the US. The courts must put an end to overreach.