GW Law Professor Catherine Ross on Campus Speech and Free Expression
Ross weighs the pros and cons of institutional neutrality and stresses the importance of having well-crafted rules in place before demonstrations begin.
Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of California Berkeley School of Law, on Campus Speech
In an interview, Chemerinsky explained why the protest at his home was not protected expression but other, personal, even anti-Semitic attacks against him were protected under the First Amendment.
The First Amendment & Campus Speech: Navigating Your Rights
With schools nationwide embroiled in conflict amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, we compiled our campus speech educational materials and coverage for students and educators.
FIRE’s Will Creeley on Campus Speech Controversies Amid Israel-Hamas War
In an interview in January, FIRE's legal director Will Creeley discussed the First Amendment questions surrounding recent campus controversies.
Panel Discussion: Leading Experts on Campus Speech Controversies
Moderator Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, was joined on stage by Jeannie Suk Gersen, professor of law at Harvard Law School; Nadine Strossen, professor of law at New York Law School and former ACLU president; and Will Creeley, legal director at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
The Supreme Court's ruling in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. was a big victory for cheerleader Brandi Levy. Still, George Washington Law Professor and student speech expert Catherine J. Ross warns that the decision left unanswered many questions regarding school's authority to regulate off-campus speech.
Supreme Court Rules that Student’s Off-Campus Speech Is Protected By the First Amendment
In an 8-1 decision on June 23rd, the Supreme Court ruled that a student’s off-campus speech was protected by the First Amendment. The case, Mahanoy Area School District v B.L., involves a message posted on Snapchat by a then-14 year old student identified as “B.L.”, after she learned she failed to advance from the junior varsity to the varsity cheerleading squad. The message, posted on a Saturday afternoon when she was off-campus, stated, in part, “f*** cheer, f***everything.”
First Amendment Watch and FIRE Release New Campus Speech Modules
As the end of the current semester quickly approaches, First Amendment Watch and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education are already thinking ahead to this fall’s freshman orientation season on America’s college campuses. Use our latest orientation modules to talk about student press freedom and student's online speech rights.