Most Schools Violate Free Speech Act, New Study Shows

Two thirds of colleges maintain speech codes that violate students' First Amendment rights, according to a new report released by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).

According to Spotlight on Speech Codes: The State of Free Speech On Our Nations Campuses (PDF) 67 percent of public and 65 percent of private American postsecondary institutions -- out of 390 in total -- received a "red light" rating from the nonprofit organization for maintaining at least one policy that "clearly and substantially restrict[s] freedom of speech." Only 3 percent of the schools considered received "green light" ratings, which means that the "school's written policies do not pose a serious threat to free speech."

FIRE notes that while public universities are forbidden by law from infringing on first amendment rights, private universities are not - and so it only reviewed those private institutions which emphasized freedom of expression in their missions.

The report details the two ways in which institutions of higher learning violate free speech: by misinterpreting federal laws that curtail expression, like threats & intimidation, incitement, obscenity and hate speech, and by implementing policies that are in blatant disregard of First Amendment rights.

According to the report, some of the most egregious violations include policies limiting "controversial rallies," rules limiting content transmitted via e-mail, and instructions against offensive jokes and language -- especially when such language is vaguely defined.

While the percentage of schools deemed to be in violation is high, it marks a steady decrease from previous years. In 2010 the figure for public institutions was 71 percent, and 70 percent for private. According to FIRE President Greg Lukianoff, "The continued decline in the number of speech codes on campus is encouraging, but if we do not continue to guard vigilantly against restrictions on students' free speech rights, these gains could be eroded very quickly."

Check out FIRE's website for an interactive database listing violation specifics.

What do you think about campus violations of the First Amendment? Leave your opinion in the comments section.

Comments

[jo smith456]

07:58 PM on 12/28/2010

If the govt goes after WikiLeaks, why should smaller institutions like the country's schools be spared from free speech censorship and harassment?

[Dunkleberger Karl]

03:40 AM on 12/28/2010

The dean attempting to control the thoughts and actions of the student body!
.............................Animal House , .........................................................

[palindrom]

10:55 PM on 12/27/2010

I was tempted to assume that FIRE was part of the great right wing noise machine, but after having perused their website it appears that would be too hasty a conclusion. They defend a lot of right-wingers against well-meaning "speech codes", but they also helped UVa with Michael Mann's academic freedom case around 'climategate' (the VA attorney general was after him).

My own school gets a green light, by the way -- some years ago there was concern about "speech codes", so they were simply dropped. It deprived the right of an issue and has had no negative consequences as far as I can see. And, arguably, it was the right thing to do in any case!

[FPhoebe]

10:49 PM on 12/26/2010

My college has a red light, which is not surprising given the fact that when my friends and I wanted to protest something that school/administration/SGA were doing to us, we were told we had to get the cause "approved" before we could demonstrate.

[Acert]

07:02 PM on 12/26/2010

FIRE seems to categorize a lot of behavior that constitutes harassment, as free speech; that's how they got those figures.

[angelcakesinc]

05:13 PM on 12/28/2010

I see what you mean. I checked my own school and all of the anti-hate speech and anti-harassment provisions were red lighted, especially the provisions protecting race and sexual orientation. Makes me wonder what motivates these people...

[KsWrangler]

06:33 PM on 12/26/2010

Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Universities have a long history of being categorized as WMD's by political idealogues.

[Wisco-libertarian]

08:03 AM on 12/26/2010

Let's not forget that most of these speech codes have been thought up by liberal professors and administrators hoping to mold students into being liberals.

And private schools can infringe on speech rights as much as they want -- it's private, not public.

[Mikeeee]

05:05 PM on 12/26/2010

That's right too, we all forgot that private soldiers like blackwater are exempt from the same moral code as the rest of the world so it certainly stands to reason that private Universities would be exempt too.

[OneEarthling]

05:37 PM on 12/26/2010

Where did you dig that up? GBU?

[Frank Lehnerz]

08:30 PM on 12/25/2010

No University of Wyoming?
That poor state always gets left out. They had quite the controversy this year with free speech.

[paulwl]

08:56 AM on 12/25/2010

Learn to think, but don't speak(until you leave the campus!).

[VintageMary]

04:21 PM on 12/24/2010

I attend a liberal arts community college, & we're lucky in that we can pretty much express ourselves as we see fit. I havent encountered any free speech impediments yet.

[Steve Rockett]

12:23 PM on 12/24/2010

Merry Christmas everyone!

[GinghamQuaker]

10:22 AM on 12/24/2010

So I just checked my alma mater which was given a red light. Our red light was because of one school policy, which is that University resources are not to be used to print, publish, send, etc. pornographic images. Really? I don't know how much credence I'm going to give to the other numbers either.

[Greg Lukianoff]

01:40 PM on 12/24/2010

Could let me know what your alma mater is? It is often the case that the same sentence of a policy can prohibit unprotected speech (e.g. obscenity, threats) and ban protected (like merely "offensive" speech) right next to each other. It's actually kind of amazing. They sometimes will have a perfectly legitimate policy about e-mail use and then tack on something banning sending any material "which in the sole judgment of the University is offensive." Indeed, that actually IS the policy at Northeastern University and has been for years. You can check that out: http://bit.ly/fMHXM9. Let me know what school and we'll take a look at they policy you are talking about.

[Mikeeee]

05:07 PM on 12/26/2010

Nice try though. Thanks for playing.

[Paul Weiskel]

10:09 AM on 12/24/2010

It's not like most students even think about using their right of free speech to do anything meaningful in the first place...

[LeftRight]

12:33 PM on 12/24/2010

Actually, it doesn't matter if it's MEANINGFUL, just that you have that right...

[Mikeeee]

05:14 PM on 12/26/2010

Many of the comments here are not exactly meaningful, I've made many that on second thought weren't worthy of the receiver or myself, but the right to make them is important.

[DailyNewscaster]

09:42 AM on 12/24/2010

Federally ran schools are training grounds for the New Progressivism. The kids are taught how to serve the state not themselves or their families. Long live the state!. OBEY! War is Peace!

[LeftRight]

12:34 PM on 12/24/2010

Wow, what a moranic statement...

[Raymond Rees]

08:32 PM on 12/24/2010

What schools are run the U.S. federal government besides the military academies?

[WhatDaBleep]

09:11 AM on 12/24/2010

Hey, if the government can do it why can't schools?