Published: Dec. 28, 2017.
College Media Association President Chris Evans reviews efforts over the past year to ensure college press freedom. A 2016 report sponsored by the American Association of University Professors, the College Media Association, the National Coalition Against Censorship, and the Student Press Law Center had found threats increasing to independent student media.
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Mapping First Amendment Conflicts
The endless challenges to freedom of expression raise vital questions of constitutional law and the place of free speech in a democratic society. Click on the map icons to get brief descriptions of controversies large and small (from 2018 to the present), as well as links to more information.
New Survey Reveals Most Americans Value the First Amendment But are Divided on Key Issues
A new survey released by the Freedom Forum entitled, “The First Amendment: Where America Stands,” reveals that while 94% of Americans value the First Amendment as vital, they are nonetheless divided on certain key issues. Many Americans appear reluctant to engage in speech that may be seen as controversial. According to the survey of 3,000 Americans in July and August 2020, more than four in 10 people say that, at least once, they haven’t expressed an opinion out of fear of being punished.
New Report Shows Uptick in Professors Punished for Controversial Speech
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education released a report on August 31st highlighting a growing pattern of university students and outside groups calling for schools to punish professors for statements they made on sensitive political issues. The study showed that the number of targeting incidents against professors has risen precipitously since 2015.
Investigation into NYPD’s Response to George Floyd Protests Found Officers Violated First Amendment
A new report found that NYPD officers deployed during the George Floyd protests this summer "failed to discriminate between lawful, peaceful protesters and unlawful actors,” and frequently resorted to aggressive crowd control tactics that failed to adequately take protesters' expressive rights into consideration.