Free Speech Roundup: Month of December, 2018

A summary of the top free speech related news and events from the past month. This month we have news on several lawsuits filed against universities.

Freedom of speech is the right from which all other human rights follow because it allows people to address grievances and protest for their other rights. It is therefore of the utmost importance to protect the right to express oneself freely from those who seek to restrict it.

UC Berkeley Settles Free Speech Lawsuit

https://www.thefire.org/uc-berkeley-agrees-to-pay-70k-change-policies-in-speech-suit-settlement/
The University of California, Berkeley settled the lawsuit brought by the Berkeley College Republicans and Young America’s Foundation. The university denied viewpoint discrimination, but agreed to pay $70,000 in attorneys’ fees and change policies. BCR and YAF sued Berkeley after severe restrictions on planned speeches by speeches by Ann Coulter and David Horowitz in April 2017 and an exorbitant security fee for a speech by Ben Shapiro in July 2017. Berkeley has since expressed a renewed commitment to free speech.

Los Angeles Community College District Settles Free Speech Lawsuit

https://www.thefire.org/victory-speech-rights-of-150000-students-to-be-restored-as-los-angeles-community-college-district-settles-lawsuit-will-abandon-pierce-colleges-tiny-free-speech-zone/
The Los Angeles Community College District board of trustees settled a lawsuit brought by student Kevin Shaw. In November 2016, Shaw was approached by an administrator while handing out Spanish-language copies of the U.S. Constitution in a public area of Los Angeles Pierce College. He was informed he could not distribute literature outside a tiny 616 square foot “free speech zone” and would be required to file a permit application to use it. In the settlement, the district agreed to pay attorney fees and revoke the policy that declared all property on its nine campuses to be “non-public forums.” In January 2018, a federal court denied the district’s motion to dismiss, saying that open spaces of public colleges are public forums regardless of college regulations.

Federal Lawsuit Filed Against UT-Austin

http://dailytexanonline.com/2018/12/15/free-speech-group-files-lawsuit-accusing-ut-austin-of-stifling-student-first-amendment
A federal lawsuit filed by free speech advocacy group Speech First against the University of Texas, Austin accuses the University of stifling student’s free speech rights. The lawsuit claims that university speech policies and manuals violate the First Amendment through vague definitions of verbal harassment. It also claims that the Campus Climate Response Team chills free speech because of vague standards for “verbal harassment,” “incivility” and “rudeness.” University spokesman J.B. Bird responded to the suit in a statement saying that the University vigorously defends students’ free speech rights and that “at first glance, it appears to be incomplete on certain facts.”

Student Asked To Remove Profane Sign

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/12/25/umass-struggles-with-issues-free-speech-profanity-and-hate-after-campus-incident/yhHbMiT3nqTORjjTA6BsUO/story.html
A student from the University of Massachusetts Amherst was asked to remove a sign in her dorm window reading, “Fuck Nazis You Are Not Welcome Here,” prompting free speech concerns. The student, Nichole Parsons, posted the sign in response to a swastika drawn on a “Happy Hanukkah” sign in the dorm. A residence director emailed her, saying “While Residence Education cannot force you... to take the sign down. I am asking that you... take the sign down so that all students can be a part of an inclusive residential experience, as well as having a respectful environment to be a part of here on our campus.” UMass Amherst spokesman Ed Blaguszewski called the email “poorly worded” and stated, “However, we are sensitive to the use of profanity, which some may find inappropriate. The university respects the students’ right to display the sign and it may remain up.”

Lawsuit Reinstated That Threatens Free Speech At Universities

https://www.thefire.org/in-blow-to-free-speech-fourth-circuit-reinstates-lawsuit-against-university-of-mary-washington/
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reinstated a lawsuit against the University of Mary Washington that had previously been dismissed by a district court. In the lawsuit, the student group Feminists United on Campus claims that UMW discriminated against the groups in violation of Title IX following claims of harassment by users of the now-defunct Yik Yak app. In September 2017, a federal district court dismissed the suit, saying that “the Title IX discrimination claim fails because the harassment took place in a context over which UMW had limited, if any, control - anonymous postings on Yik Yak.” The ruling to reinstate the case has far-reaching implications for the control of students’ off-campus, online speech. Judge G. Steven Agee wrote in dissent, “Institutions, like the University, will be compelled to venture into an ethereal world of non-university forums at great cost and significant liability, in order to avoid the Catch-22 Title IX liability the majority now proclaims.”

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Recent Free Speech Roundups:

Free Speech Roundup: Month of November, 2018
Free Speech Roundup: Month of October, 2018
Free Speech Roundup: Month of September, 2018
Free Speech Roundup: Month of August, 2018
Free Speech Roundup: Month of July, 2018

Free Speech Resources

Other Free Speech Posts:

The Problem With Hate Speech Policies
Count Dankula Sentenced
UK Speech Police Offended Again
Lèse-majesté: Archaic Anti-Speech Law
California Bill Threatens Online Press and Speech
UK Parliament Report on Campus Free Speech
Thoughtcrime in the UK?
New Study Shows College Students Conflicted on Free Speech
Who is most supportive of free speech?
Campus Free Speech Zones

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
~ First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States