Appeals Court Rules University of Michigan’s Bias Response Team Indirectly Chills Speech

"Even if an official lacks actual power to punish," the appeals court argued, "the threat of punishment from a public official who appears to have punitive authority can be enough to produce an objective chill."

Department of Education Letter Threatens UNC and Duke with Funding Cuts

In an unprecedented move, the Education Department has ordered a Middle East studies program at Duke and UNC to change its curriculum or else risk losing Title VI funding.

Appeals Court Rules that University Violated Satirical Publications’ First Amendment Rights

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned a lower court’s ruling that had dismissed a lawsuit brought by a student publication against the University of California, San […]

Liberty University’s President Defends Right to Censor Student Newspaper

Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. defended his right to censor the university’s student newspaper, arguing that the practice does not violate First Amendment rights to freedom of the press […]

Columbia President Lee Bollinger Weighs In On The State of Campus Speech

Columbia University president and First Amendment scholar Lee Bollinger writes about the state of free speech on college campuses. Despite President Trump’s claim that an executive order was necessary to […]

Defunding of Student Newspaper Violates First Amendment, Says Watchdog Group

An independent student newspaper lost its funding in a recent referendum vote, and the process violates the First Amendment, says Freedom for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). Since The Daily Targumbroke free from Rutgers University in 1980, it has had to rely on funding from the student body, which votes every three years on whether to allocate student fees to fund the newspaper. In order to qualify for funding, at least 25 percent of the student body has to vote on the referendum. But following a two-year campaign by a right-leaning student group to deny funding for the student newspaper, for the first time in 39 years, voter turnout was too low to qualify the publication for funding.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Embroiled in Free Speech Controversy

  The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is the latest college campus to become embroiled in a free speech controversy. During a campus event celebrating Israel’s independence, a student held up a […]

Nonprofit Sues University of Illinois Over “Unconstitutional” Student Policies

Speech First, a conservative legal organization, sued the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign over its free speech policies. The group objects to the University’s position on political pamphlets, its bias reporting system, and its no-contact policy for students accused of bias. “On a regular basis, the University of Illinois sends a clear message to students who wish to engage in political and religious speech: there are some views that are welcome, and others that are not," Speech First President Nicole Neily said in a statement. "Students deserve to be able to express themselves and voice their opinions without fear of investigation or punishment – which is why these policies must be reformed.”