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.
Former Guest Lecturer at University of Nebraska Sues for Free Speech Violations
A former graduate student and non-track guest lecturer at the University of Nebraska is suing the university’s board of regents for violating her First Amendment rights. Filed on August 26th in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, Courtney Lawton alleges that the university wrongfully terminated her contract in September of 2017 after she expressed her views in a campus “free speech area.”
FAQ: The First Amendment and Campus Life
These frequently asked questions and answers provide the basic information incoming students need to know about how the First Amendment applies to speech on campus. This FAQ is meant to be used as a reference for students, which administrators can link to or copy for their own sites. FIRE and First Amendment Watch are available to help adapt the language to best suit a particular campus’s needs.
Idaho Legislature Continues to Threaten Free Speech, Academic Freedom at State’s Public Universities
Controversy at the state legislative level in Idaho, regarding what may or may not be taught at the state’s public universities, presents an ongoing threat to free speech and academic freedom. It is also one of many recent instances nationwide where state legislatures have intruded upon institutional academic freedom as well as the individual rights of faculty members.
The Supreme Court Case That Could Define the Next Era of Student Speech Rights
On Wednesday, April 28th, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a student speech case, Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. We compiled basic information about the facts of the case, the legal questions at issue, and what experts are saying about it.
New Case Tests Bounds of Professor’s Classroom Speech Rights
Nicholas Meriwether, a political philosophy professor at Shawnee State University, sued the institution after he was investigated for refusing to refer to a student by her preferred gender pronouns. The professor claims that doing so would go against his religious beliefs, and sued the school on First Amendment grounds.
Dare to Speak: Free Speech in Our Troubled Times
Watch the full video interview between writer Salman Rushdie and human rights advocate and PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel as they discuss today's most pressing free speech issues, including the monopoly of social media giants and the rise in global attacks on free expression.
Authors Share Excerpts on Free Speech: Ian Rosenberg and The Marketplace of Ideas
In "The Fight for Free Speech," Ian Rosenberg distills the last century of First Amendment law into ten critical issues. The first chapter, excerpted here, traces the story of several anarchists who were tried under the Espionage Act of 1917 for distributing anti-war pamphlets.