Free Speech and Academic Rights

Student newspapers nation-wide are supporting “The Collegian,” the student-run newspaper at Los Angeles City College, as it struggles with budget cuts and other restrictions from the LACC administration.  The paper accuses  the President of LACC of violating open meetings laws by requiring reporters to sign releases before recording open meetings and requiring members of The Collegian to identify themselves at open meetings.  The paper also alleges that President Jamillah Moore is working to move the paper to student services where she would have editorial control and that a

A lawsuit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) on behalf of Oregon State University students claims the University violated students’ First Amendment rights by confiscating seven distribution bins for the  independent student newspaper, “The Liberty.”   The students also accuse the President of OSU, Ed Ray, as well as other administrators, of discrimination. The ADF said that by allowing the staff of the university's main student-run newspaper, “The Daily Barometer,” to place their distribution bins all over campus while limiting their paper  to specific areas of the stude

James Madison University students could face more restrictions on their free speech rights this semester according to First Amendment experts.      The proposed restrictions come in a recent revision to a segment of JMU’s Student Handbook.  Previously, the section read, “No student shall engage in lewd, indecent or obscene conduct or expression on university property or in university-owned or operated buildings.” Now, the words “regardless of proximity to campus” have been attached to the end of the section.   The change, according to Josh Bacon, director of J

Amidst widespread student support at the University of Arizona, students Jacob Miller and Evan Lisull will now avoid jail time after being arrested for drawing protest signs in chalk on campus. Though UA President Robert Shelton asked the UA Police Department to drop the charges, the students will still receive disciplinary measures from the University.  Shelton believes the chalking was in violation of the school’s code of conduct. Over the past week, students across campus have been chalking aggressively in opposition to  Miller and Lisull’s arrests. Lisull had been arrested for

A federal court ruled last Wednesday that the sexual harassment policy at the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) was unconstitutional.  The Court upheld an injunction barring the policy from being enforced because it was so overly broad that it restricted more than just true sexual harassment.  "The vigilant protection of constitutional freedoms is nowhere more vital than in the community of American schools," said the court order.  The Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom, a legal alliance of Christian attorneys, filed the suit on behalf of a student

Orange County Judge Joseph Buckner dismissed a charge Monday against University of North Carolina (UNC) senior Haley Koch for disturbing the peace in an educational institution. Koch and six non-students were arrested on April 14 for protesting a talk by former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. Some of the six protesters received fines while others saw their cases dismissed or were found not guilty. The protest and speech at UNC led to a firestorm of criticism against the University and the protestors last year. Student organizers of Youth for Western Civilization, the organization that invit

First Amendment rights are finally making it to Harvard Medical students, whose interactions with the media will no longer have to be cleared by the school's administration. The policy had required that students' contact with the media, even conversations about their own projects and pursuits, be approved by both the Office of the Dean of Students and the Office of Public Affairs. The policy was enacted in February, but not promulgated until August 25th via an email from Dean for Medical Education Jules L. Dienstag. When investigated by NYT journalist Duff Wilson, officials at Harvard M

    Protesters at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor demonstrated against a speech given by three men described as “ex-terrorists.”  The protesters felt that the event promoted intolerance, but according to the hosts of the event, the purpose was to “educate the campus community about the dangers of Muslim extremism.” 1/31/07 Read More from the Un