Student and Professorial Causes of Action Against Non-University Actors
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Category: Legal Scholarship
Must Universities “Subsidize” Controversial Ideas?: Allocating Security Fees When Student Groups Host Divisive Speakers
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Category: General Info Page, Legal Scholarship
New Media, Old Principles: Digital Communication and Free Speech on Campus
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Category: Legal Scholarship
Measuring A “Degree of Deference”: Institutional Academic Freedom In a Post-Grutter World
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Category: Legal Scholarship
Defying the Constitution: The Rise, Persistence, And Prevalence Of Campus Speech Codes
This publication first appeared in the Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy, 7 Geo. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 481 (2009).
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………… 2
I. The Origins and Legal History of Speech Codes………………………………….. 8
A. The Sudden Rise of Speech Codes…………………………………………….. 8
B. The Case Law on Speech Codes: A Uniform Rejection………………… 12
II. What Makes Speech Codes So Harmful?………………………………………… 24
A. Doctrinal Problems………………………………………………………………… 24
1. Overbreadth…………………………………………………………………….. 24
2. Vagueness……………………………………………………………………….. 26
B. Impact on Campus Speech………………………………………………………. 33
1. The Chilling Effect……………………………………………………………… 33
2. Suppression of Disfavored Topics and Viewpoints………………….. 35
3. The Supposed Right Not to be Offended………………………………. 37
4. The Vitality and Functioning of Our Universities………………………. 40
III. Debunking Some Common Justifications: [...] » Read More
Category: Legal Scholarship Schools: Bergen Community College
The Misapplication of Peer Harassment Law on College and University Campuses and the Loss of Student Speech Rights
The Misapplication of Peer Harassment Law on College and University Campuses and the Loss of Student Speech Rights
Azhar Majeed*
Introduction
A significant problem has presented itself on campuses across the nation: some colleges and universities have misapplied hostile environment sexual and racial harassment law to suppress and punish much constitutionally protected speech. Despite clear holdings in the case law counseling against this practice, those colleges and universities have applied “overbroad harassment rationales” against student expression simply because it is deemed to be offensive, disagreeable, or critical of another person or group, even though such speech falls well [...] » Read More
Category: Legal Scholarship
The Twenty-Sixth Amendment: Resolving the Federal Circuit Split Over College Students’ First Amendment Rights
I. INTRODUCTION 28 II. LEGAL DOCTRINE GOVERNING THE UNIVERSITY’S REGULATION OF STUDENT SPEECH 33 A. Current Threats to Free Speech on the University Campus 33 B. The Court’s Deference to Primary and Secondary Schools’ Regulation of Student Speech 35 C. The Court’s Ambiguous Application of Secondary Standards to Universities 40 D. The Federal Circuit Split on University Students’ Speech Rights 44 III. CLARIFYING THE DOCTRINE: IN LOCO PARENTIS AND THE TWENTY-SIXTH AMENDMENT 49 A. In Loco Parentis and Diminished Constitutional Rights 49 B. Childhood, Voting, and Full Citizenship 51 C. The History of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment 55 D. The Changing Legal Status of the University and the Twenty-Sixth Amendment 65 IV. [...] » Read More
Category: Legal Scholarship