(2009). Celebrating Ten Years. Foundation for Individual Rights in Education Annual Report, 2009. Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (NJ1) This paper presents the annual report of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for 2009. The year 2009 was momentous for FIRE, for it marked its tenth anniversary. In the last decade, FIRE has been remarkably successful at fighting to secure basic rights of free speech and conscience on college campuses. It has fought for student and faculty rights in every corner of the country, and as of December 31, 2009, it has won 166 victories at 126 colleges and universities with a total enrollment of more than 2.7 million students. FIRE is directly responsible for changing 85 unconstitutional or repressive policies affecting more than 1.75 million students at 73 of these universities, including the entire California State University and University of Wisconsin systems. For this reason, FIRE's plans for 2010 include a significant increase in its already expansive public awareness efforts, including the first-ever Sweidy Stata Video Fellow, who will document more of FIRE's… [PDF]
(1983). The Supreme Court Adds a New Twist to Free Speech for Public Employees. Phi Delta Kappan, v65 n2 p144-45 Oct. Argues that an April 20, 1983, United States Supreme Court decision upholding the discharge of a former New Orleans assistant district attorney may have negative consequences for the free speech rights of public employees, including teachers. (JBM)…
(1993). Argument, Free Speech, and the Politics of Deliberation in the Composition Classroom. The classical marketplace metaphor for intellectual exchange forms the ideological basis for the way argument is still taught in composition classrooms, where supposedly students are being prepared to participate as full citizens in an equal democracy. However, such a view of democratic citizenship, free speech, and argument is open to criticism for many reasons. Three chapters on argument from commonly used composition textbooks were analyzed for signs of this ideology. The textbooks described argument as practiced by equal participants on a level playing field. Participants must play by the rules, according to the texts. Facts and figures that are judged scientifically are privileged forms of information. The texts ask writers to move toward a consensus rather than become involved as interested partisans. Many teachers continue to believe in the myth of democratic participation. Karl Marx has critiqued such a position as being merely the veiled tricks of the ruling class to… [PDF]
(1982). Constitutional Free Speech Protections for the Public Employee: Close Enough for Government Work?. A case review study of court decisions concerning public employees' constitutional right of free speech yields conflicting and sometimes disturbing results. The most often cited precedent in these decisions is the 1968 Supreme Court ruling in "Pickering v. Board of Education" in which a letter from a school teacher to a newspaper criticizing a school board decision was found to be protected speech. However, "Pickering" balances the free speech rights of the employee against the need for organizational efficiency. In writing the opinion, Justice Marshall declared that this "Pickering balance" must be applied on a case by case basis. A 1979 Supreme Court decision, "Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District," extended protection to internal speech communication not aimed at the general public. A survey of court decisions, however, reveals that even this modified "Pickering balance" often yields decisions in which matters of…
(1984). Free Speech at Berkeley: "University as Factory," An Argument from Analogy. Although many metaphors were developed throughout the Free Speech Movement at the Berkeley campus of the University of California, the central metaphor of the movement was the university as a factory. The analogy was used to argue that trends in higher education were moving toward the dehumanization of students and was related to the national concern over lack of freedom by many to exercise their constitutionally mandated civil rights. Students argued that university involvement with industry was mercenary and that students were used, like raw materials, to be molded into prefabricated cogs to fit easily into the machinery of government and industry. The movement, by its use of the structural analogy–university as factory–chose an extremely powerful argumentative tool and a useful image that lent itself to quick and wide dissemination among members of the movement. The continued development of metaphors allowed the leadership to control the analogy to a fairly high degree…. [PDF]
(1997). Court Upholds Bias Ruling Against Black College, But Rejects Finding on Free Speech. Chronicle of Higher Education, v43 n29 pA14 Mar 28. A federal appeals court agreed that Texas Southern University, a historically black institution, had discriminated against three white law professors by reducing their pay raises for criticizing an administrator. Black faculty received higher pay raises. However, the court rejected the professors' claim that their free speech had been infringed upon. (MSE)…
(1996). Free Speech versus Anti-Establishment: Is There a Hierarchy of First Amendment Rights?. West's Education Law Quarterly, v5 n3 p493-506 Jul. The United States Supreme Court has refused to articulate a hierarchy among the guarantees of speech, press, assembly, and petition. The Court also has avoided specifying whether expression rights or safeguards against religious establishment are dominant. Addresses litigation indicating that free speech protections prevail when they collide with Establishment Clause restrictions. (67 footnotes) (MLF)…
(2010). Reasonable Forecasts. Principal Leadership, v10 n6 p8-10 Feb. This article presents a sample legal battle that illustrates school officials' "reasonable forecasts" of substantial disruption in the school environment. In 2006, two students from a Texas high school came to school carrying purses decorated with images of the Confederate flag. The school district has a zero-tolerance policy for clothing or accessories that contained "inappropriate symbolism, especially which discriminates against other students based on race, religion, or sex." Accordingly, the school officials told these students that they could either give the purses to school officials until the end of the school day or have someone come and get them. Instead, the students voluntarily went home. Later, the students appealed the school policy regarding display of the Confederate flag. The principal defended the policy and was affirmed by the school district superintendent. The student's parents later filed suit against the school, claiming violations of their… [Direct]
(2007). Tenure as a Fact of Academic Life: A Methodology for Managing the Performance of Tenured Professors. Education and the Law, v19 n1 p41-57 Mar. Academic freedom is the right, especially of a university professor, to free speech without fear of reprisal. Experts posit three means to academic freedom: tenure, due process and professional competence. A critical issue in current post-secondary education governance and administration that relates to each of these means is post-tenure review. Post-tenure review relates to evaluating and managing the performance of tenured professors. Performance fundamentals include accountability, competence and professional development. This article suggests a methodology for a performance-based approach to increasing the productivity of tenured professors while safeguarding academic freedom. (Contains 1 figure.)… [Direct]
(1993). America's Puritan Press, 1630-1690: The Value of Free Expression. During the period from 1630 to 1690, the Puritans were not arbitrary oppressors of free speech. They believed that public expression was valuable and necessary. They restricted only ungodly print or speeches by heretics and blasphemers. Within the boundaries of godly expression, Puritans encouraged discussion for the better enlightenment of mankind. The rule that free expression should be a blessing to society occasionally backfired as people such as John Palmer accused them of silencing free speech. However, Palmer was supporting a governor whose basis for governing was the squelching of political expression and the silencing of Puritan religious ministry. Puritans did restrict the press enough so that Quaker prints which lashed out against New England had to be printed in Philadelphia or London. However, the Puritans allowed the press at Harvard College, which they controlled, to publish other opposition pieces. Although historians sometimes jump to the conclusion that the… [PDF]
(1997). What the Rosenberger Decision Means. The United States Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision in the Rosenberger case, ruled that the University of Virginia had violated the free speech clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution by refusing to subsidize a Christian student publication. The magazine, "Wide Awake," was published by a student organization that was recognized by the University as a "contracted independent organization." There were three fundamental issues considered: (1) the use of student fees; (2) the religious establishment clause of the First Amendment; and (3) the free speech clause of the First Amendment. The Court ruled that financing the magazine from student activity fees did not violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment. Courts have previously ruled that while the right of institutions has been upheld to maintain mandatory fees, these must be used to provide a forum of varying ideas and not one political or ideological stance. In Widmar v. Vincent,… [PDF]
(1987). The Right of Free Speech in Public Schools: \Bethel v. Fraser.\. Journal of Law and Education, v16 n1 p119-24 Win. Outlines the case of \Bethel School District N. 403 v. Fraser\ in which the Supreme Court overturned the lower court decisions and recognized that schools have an interest in protecting minors from exposure to vulgar and offensive spoken language. Students can be punished for going beyond the bounds of socially appropriate behavior. (MD)…
(1979). Free Speech and Impermissible Motive in the Dismissal of Public Employees. Yale Law Journal, v89 n2 p376-98 Dec. Greater administrative accountability can result only from a replacement of the current "but-for" test with one that simply asks whether protected activity was a substantial cause of the decision to remove the employee. Available from the Yale Law Journal, 401A Yale Station, New Haven, CT 06520. (Author)…
(1979). Copyright and Free Speech: Constitutional Limitations on the Protection of Expression. California Law Review, v67 n2 p283-316 Mar. Structures a workable accommodation between the First Amendment and property rights in "original works of authorship" granted by the federal copyright law. Available from California Law Review, Inc., School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720; sc $4.00. (Author/IRT)…
(1994). Free Speech versus Civil Discourse: Where Do We Go from Here?. Academe, v80 n1 p8-13 Jan-Feb. Problems associated with the establishment of speech codes on college campuses, in response to hate speech, are examined. An inventory of speech regulations already in effect at 384 colleges and universities, by Arati R. Korwar, is also presented. The summary organizes behavior and related policy into 13 categories. (MSE)…