Kyrgyzstan Native Made Supreme Court Debut in Free Speech Case

March 28, 2024

Anya Bidwell, a Kyrgyzstan native, recently made her Supreme Court debut in a Free Speech Case. At 37 years old, Bidwell has significantly impacted the American Legal World. 

Bidwell's journey to the United States began in 2004 when she transferred from AUCA to Hawaii Pacific University to study journalism. Before that, she studied at AUCA in a Journalism department and worked for the CNN Student Bureau in Kyrgyzstan. Later, in the US, she enrolled at the University of Texas in a graduate program in global policy. Now, Anya Bidwell is an Institute for Justice (IJ) attorney. IJ is a libertarian nonprofit public interest law firm that's had success at the high court recently, winning eight out of 10 cases dating back to 2002.

"The common law framework, the case-based approach, was very attractive to me," Bidwell said. She joined IJ in 2017 and now leads its Project on Immunity and Accountability from California. 

In representing Sylvia Gonzalez, Bidwell takes on influential figures such as the mayor, police chief, and a special investigator in Castle Hills. Gonzalez, now 77, was charged with tampering with a government document after leading a petition to oust the city manager. This case has sparked national attention and raised important questions about free speech and government accountability.

The AUCA community is incredibly proud that such bright personalities have passed through our university and wishes Anny only the best and only winning court cases.

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