HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle
Expand

The Ten Rules of Free Speech and College Students: Free Speech Rules (Episode 7)

Views:1013
@ReasonVids

Free Speech Rules: The Ten Rules of Free Speech and College Students

Lots of recent free speech debates have come up at colleges. Here are ten rules for how the freedom of speech applies to college students.

  1. Students at public colleges may not be disciplined for their speech. (unless it falls into the narrow First Amendment exceptions such as  true threats of criminal attack, or face-to-face personal insults that are likely to start a fight). That's true even if the speech is seen as evil or offensive, whether racist, sexist, religiously bigoted, unpatriotic, supportive of crime, or whatever else. For instance, in Iota Xi v. George Mason University, a federal appeals court held that public university students can't be disciplined for putting on an "ugly woman" skit at a fraternity event, in which one of the students was in blackface.

  1. A public college can't limit broadly available benefits based on a group's viewpoint. It can't, for instance, deny bulletin board space to groups that spread religious views, anti-homosexuality views, racially offensive parodies, or any other views.

  1. This is also true for student-run newspapers, unless the college so controls the newspaper that it's viewed as being partly the university's own speech.

  1. Inside the classroom, though, the professor is in charge. Professors may orchestrate class discussions in a way that they think brings out important ideas and facts, and promotes student participation. That means they can cut off students who speak off topic, or who insult their classmates. Professors can also ask students to make the best argument for a particular viewpoint, and tell students that certain views—say, that the Earth is 6000 years old—are wrong. We expect professors to be broad-minded on many issues, and not unduly block student opinions just because they disagree with those opinions. But the First Amendment doesn't give students a right to speak in the classroom when the professor cuts them off.

  1. Grading of student exams and papers likewise can't be content-neutral, or even viewpoint-neutral. Professors shouldn't grade down students based on mere ideological disagreement, and colleges may forbid outright political discrimination by professors. But grading student work inevitably requires a judgment about the quality of that work. And in many disciplines that will be a subjective judgment, based on more than just objectively determinable facts.

  1. Colleges and college departments can express their own views—or can foster a selected set of views—without giving equal time to others. If a history department puts on a conference, for instance, it can choose the panelists based on their viewpoints, even if that means excluding some viewpoints and preferring others.

  1. People have no First Amendment right to shout down speakers, whether the speaker is a guest speaker in a class, or a speaker invited by a student group. Most speeches at colleges let listeners ask questions, including critical ones, during a Q&A at the end; and there's usually ample room to leaflet or protest on sidewalks outside the building. But it's perfectly constitutional to have content-neutral rules banning interruptions when a speaker has the floor, and that give invited speakers the opportunity to speak without sharing that opportunity with students or others.

  1. A public college has no First Amendment obligation to protect speakers against shouting down, or even against violence. But it would violate the First Amendment for the college to selectively refuse to protect speakers who express some views, while protecting others.

  1. Content-neutral fees and restrictions are likely constitutional, but a public college probably violates student groups' First Amendment rights when it charges high security fees for invited speakers who express controversial views.

  1. All this, of course, applies only to public colleges, because the First Amendment only applies to the federal, state, and local governments, not to private organizations (even private nonprofits that get tax exemptions and government subsidies). But many colleges voluntarily promise to uphold student free speech rights, as part of the college's commitment to academic freedom—and as a way of attracting students and donors. And in California, a state statute applies some First Amendment rules to private colleges as well as public ones.

Written by Eugene Volokh, who is a First Amendment law professor at UCLA.
Produced and edited by Austin Bragg, who is not.

This is the seventh episode of Free Speech Rules, a video series on free speech and the law. Volokh is the co-founder of The Volokh Conspiracy, a blog hosted at Reason.com.

This is not legal advice.
If this were legal advice, it would be followed by a bill.
Please use responsibly.

—–

Music: "Lobby Time," by Kevin MacLeod (Incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
    Thumbnail for Stossel: Is Bitcoin Better Money?4:58
    Stossel: Is Bitcoin Better Money?
    ReasonVids
    826 views
    Thumbnail for Jim Cramer admitting to how he manipulated the short selling market back in 2006. This needs to be seen by all!10:42
    Jim Cramer admitting to how he manipulated the short selling market back in 2006. This needs to be seen by all!
    bestofnab
    2099 views
    Thumbnail for What role do you see for the Libertarian Party?3:05
    What role do you see for the Libertarian Party?
    ReasonVids
    958 views
    Thumbnail for Should We Abolish the Sex Offender Registry? A Debate.1:15:34
    Should We Abolish the Sex Offender Registry? A Debate.
    ReasonVids
    729 views
    Thumbnail for What are libertarian solutions to enviromental problems?2:53
    What are libertarian solutions to enviromental problems?
    ReasonVids
    798 views
    Thumbnail for Wake the F*ck Up! - A Rebuttal (NSFW!)1:23
    Wake the F*ck Up! - A Rebuttal (NSFW!)
    ReasonVids
    990 views
    Thumbnail for Black Art Finally Has Its Moment8:34
    Black Art Finally Has Its Moment
    AmericanRenaissance
    2273 views
    Thumbnail for J-pilled0:08
    J-pilled
    bestofupgoat
    156 views
    Thumbnail for Did the Lockdowns Save Thousands of Lives? A Soho Forum Debate1:25:30
    Did the Lockdowns Save Thousands of Lives? A Soho Forum Debate
    ReasonVids
    848 views
    Thumbnail for Obama's Doublethink Doubletalk (State of the Union Remix)1:59
    Obama's Doublethink Doubletalk (State of the Union Remix)
    ReasonVids
    862 views
    Thumbnail for Dogs: husky vs border collie agility | Eyepetizer2:17
    Dogs: husky vs border collie agility | Eyepetizer
    invidious
    356 views
    Thumbnail for Julia and deploying complex graphical applications for laypeople | Vexatos, Cruor | JuliaCon2201 | The Julia Programming Language8:07
    Julia and deploying complex graphical applications for laypeople | Vexatos, Cruor | JuliaCon2201 | The Julia Programming Language
    invidious
    311 views
    Thumbnail for What If Your Brain Stopped Working for 5 Seconds? | What If5:17
    What If Your Brain Stopped Working for 5 Seconds? | What If
    invidious
    295 views
    Thumbnail for The Museum of the Great Madness6:51
    The Museum of the Great Madness
    AmericanRenaissance
    1559 views
    Thumbnail for Bombs away!0:05
    Bombs away!
    bestofvoatxyz
    580 views
    Thumbnail for Iron born!0:36
    Iron born!
    publicfreakouts
    2959 views
    Thumbnail for The financial threat of Germany before the wars2:08
    The financial threat of Germany before the wars
    AOUisgay
    539 views
    Thumbnail for Beautiful Floating Village Becomes A Dream Transitional Track - Kick or Clutch Ep. 197 | OwlPlague11:31
    Beautiful Floating Village Becomes A Dream Transitional Track - Kick or Clutch Ep. 197 | OwlPlague
    invidious
    347 views
    Thumbnail for "Let people do what they want with their own bodies and property": Q&A with Todd Seavey6:18
    "Let people do what they want with their own bodies and property": Q&A with Todd Seavey
    ReasonVids
    913 views
    Thumbnail for Spin Control Happening Now. Propaganda Getting Ahead of the Story on Flu Deaths.  Influenza cases nosedive by 98% across the globe.0:33
    Spin Control Happening Now. Propaganda Getting Ahead of the Story on Flu Deaths. Influenza cases nosedive by 98% across the globe.
    bestofsaidit
    2722 views
    Thumbnail for How Romney and Republicans Can Appeal to Libertarians2:16
    How Romney and Republicans Can Appeal to Libertarians
    ReasonVids
    925 views
    Thumbnail for Border Runners 4 The Caravan Crisis13:28
    Border Runners 4 The Caravan Crisis
    murdochmurdoch
    1336 views
    Thumbnail for White lives matter, black lives do not0:22
    White lives matter, black lives do not
    bestofvoatxyz
    896 views
    Thumbnail for Crave - Ted Nugent6:20
    Crave - Ted Nugent
    TedNugentFan
    17 views
    Thumbnail for Another Mexico: A Conversation with Storyteller Sam Quinones12:41
    Another Mexico: A Conversation with Storyteller Sam Quinones
    ReasonVids
    895 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle