National Free Speech News & Commentary

Carrie Robinson, Aaron Terr
Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression

Excerpt: When the government hosts its own programming, it can pick and choose which speakers it wants to feature. But when it opens space such as library meeting rooms for the public to hold their own speaking events, the First Amendment applies. And the First Amendment restrains authorities from discriminating against speakers based on their views or forcing them to use the government’s preferred vocabulary.

That’s why FIRE’s First Amendment alarm bells were ringing when a California public library manager abruptly shut down an event focused on women and girls in sports because the event’s speakers said “male,” “men,” and “biological men” when referring to transgender women.

Kathryn Palmer
Inside Higher Ed

Excerpt: Law schools may soon be required to adopt written free speech policies under a proposal being considered by the American Bar Association.

The potential changes come after, but are not a direct consequence of, multiple high-profile incidents of student disruptions of speakers at law schools prompted widespread debates about free speech, academic freedom and students’ right to protest.

Joe Killian
NC Newsline

Excerpt: The UNC System has issued directives to its 17 campuses on how to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision on the role of race in admissions. Over five pages, it lays out specific policies for universities and warns against actions and policies not explicitly prohibited by the Supreme Court decision, due to “the high cost of litigation” for those who might sue.

As NC Newsline has reported, legal scholars and critics of the decision have warned threats of lawsuits by conservative activists may intimidate universities into going beyond what is required by the ruling. The UNC System’s directives appear to substantiate those fears.

Editorial Board
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Excerpt: Incoming University of Pittsburgh chancellor Joan Gabel has set an encouraging tone early in her tenure by associating herself, and the university, with the Campus Call for Free Expression. The culture of fear and distrust that has come to dominate American political life can only be overcome by learning to speak one’s principles boldly and to listen to others generously.

That’s the vision of College Presidents for Civic Preparedness, a consortium Ms. Gabel has joined, alongside 14 other academic leaders from institutions such as Duke University, Cornell University and the University of Notre Dame.

Jordan Howell
Foundation for Individual Rights in Expression

Excerpt: It’s not everyday that presidents from more than a dozen of the nation’s leading universities announce an ambitious initiative advocating for free expression in higher education, but that’s exactly what happened last week, according to a press release from The Institute for Citizens & Scholars and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

These are all laudable actions, and FIRE is excited to see presidents from these institutions answering the call to protect freedom of speech on their campuses, especially in the wake of numerous events in recent years that have had a chilling effect on free speech — from retaliation against faculty for expressing their political views to student-led shout-downs of speakers with controversial views.

Lisa Tolin
PEN America

Excerpt: In her 30 years as a school librarian, Jill Blake fielded the occasional request from parents who didn’t want their child to read a book – Harry Potter, for example. Then in 2022, the floodgates opened, and challenges started rolling in.

A new law in Virginia, where she is a school librarian, required schools to list their “sexually explicit” instructional materials. Shakespeare made the list. The district received a dozen book challenges; she noticed that all of the challenged books were from a Moms for Liberty list.  “(The law) just makes teachers afraid in general. I have been called a porn peddler in an open meeting,” Blake told PEN America. “One person on Facebook has said I should be stoned to death.”