Texas Community College Sued for Violating Former Professor’s First Amendment Rights
Collin College, a community college in McKinney, Texas is being sued by a former professor for violating her free speech and assembly rights. In a lawsuit filed on September 22nd in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas Sherman Division, Suzanne Jones alleges that Collin College administrators pushed her out for criticizing the school’s COVID-19 response, and in retaliation for two previous incidents in 2017 and 2020.
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.
Free Speech Groups Call on USD to End Investigation of Law Professor
A professor at the University of San Diego School of Law is being investigated for a blog post he wrote criticizing the Chinese government. The blog post triggered a formal complaint filed by the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association calling for Smith’s termination.
It’s A Matter of Public Opinion
How do cultural attitudes affect our ability to speak freely? Join us on April 21st at 12:00pm EST for our next #FAWPublicForum “It’s a Matter of (Public) Opinion,” where we will discuss current controversies that highlight conflicting attitudes about the appropriate bounds of free speech.
Student Sues University of Tennessee for Violating Her Free Speech Rights
On February 3rd, a University of Tennessee student sued the school for violating her First Amendment right to free speech. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee Western Division, Kimberly Diei says that she was nearly expelled from the university’s graduate pharmacy program for her social media posts.
Campus Speech Group Publishes Report on Internet Expression
The report details 35 incidents of universities punishing students or faculty for speech online, and 10 universities with policies in place that FIRE says give administrators “immense power to punish large swaths of speech.” According to the advocacy group, many public universities are acting like the First Amendment applies differently to online speech.
FIRE Announces This Year’s List of Ten Worst Colleges for Free Speech
Every year since 2011, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has issued a list of 10 individual colleges and universities that, via policies or actions, have threatened the free speech rights of their students and faculty.
Babson College Fires Professor For Joke He Made on Private Facebook Account
Asheen Phansey was fired on Thursday for a satirical Facebook post he made about President Donald Trump’s threat to bomb 52 sites “important to Iran & Iranian culture.”