(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]

Flygare, Thomas J. (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)…

Moneyhun, Clyde (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]

Sanders, Wayne (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…

Stoner, Mark R. (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]

Haworth, Karla (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)…

McCarthy, Martha M. (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)…

Taylor, Kelley R. (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]

Graham, Richard D.; Hall, Richard F.; Hawkins, Alfred G., Jr. (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]

WIlliams, Julie Hedgepeth (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]

Lassner, Lee M. (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)…

Denicola, Robert C. (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)…

McMasters, Paul (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)…

Schliessmann, Michael R. (1978). Free Speech and the Rights of Congress: Robert M. LaFollette and the Argument from Principle. Senator Robert LaFollette's speech to the United States Senate on "Free Speech and the Right of Congress to Declare the Objects of War," given October 6, 1917, epitomized his opposition to the war and the Wilson administration's largely successful moves to suppress public criticism of the war. In the speech he asserted his position on the Congressional role in declaring and waging war, as stated in the United States Constitution. The speech stands as a political argument based on definition or principle, and it is a landmark in the history of public defense of the principles of free speech, representative democracy, and division of powers as manifested in the Constitution. (DS)…

Haiman, Franklyn S. (1981). Beyond Free Speech: A Critical Examination of the Realities Surrounding the First Amendment. A strictly legal rights approach to freedom of expression is inadequate because it fails to acknowledge that such freedom rests on a set of assumptions that are not adequately met in the United States, and so make that system ineffectual. The first assumption is that speech can influence the beliefs and behavior of those to whom it is addressed; but this country's increasingly centralized wealth and political power create self-interest groups capable of opposing the messages of others' free speech. The second assumption is that those who have a stake in decision making (all citizens) will have the motivation and communication competence to express themselves; but rampant illiteracy and inadequate education leave a vast number of Americans at a disadvantage. The third assumption is the "de facto" freedom to express oneself; but often citizens prefer silence to censure from family, employers, and neighbors, or to harrassment from vigilante groups. The final condition for… [PDF]

Romano, Carlin (2012). Copyright Goes Philosophical. Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. Last month brought an explosion of breaking news about intellectual-property issues, including copyright–the public battle over Internet-piracy bills in Congress, with ideological alliances crisscrossing standard lines, and sponsors turning against their own bills; the Supreme Court decision, \Golan v. Holder,\ which strengthened copyright holders by permitting former public-domain works to be whooshed into copyright; and the Justice Department attack on Megaupload. To casual observers, it might seem that issues of intellectual property (IP)–the term generally refers to copyright, patent, trademark, and trade secrets–like so much in Washington, get decided through battle in the political and judicial policy trenches, abetted by lobbying. The striking aspect of the IP cascade was the ideological uncertainty–the unpredictability of where various parties lined up, or might. Hard-core libertarians and others, as has been the case in recent decades, continue to differ on whether they… [Direct]

Pulliam, Mark S. (1980). Union Security Clauses in Public Sector Contracts and "Abood v. Detroit Board of Education": A Dissent. Labor Law Journal, v31 n9 p539-46 Sep. Explores the neglected free speech and free association problems inherent in public sector union-security agreements. (Author/IRT)…

Hansen, David T. (2009). Dewey and Cosmopolitanism. Education and Culture, v25 n2 Article 12. Many people rightly consider John Dewey a distinctively American thinker. He was born into a time-honored New England culture. He was educated in American schools. He lived and worked virtually his entire life in the United States. He had a lifelong respect for American traditions in poetry, literature, philosophy, and more. He was active in political and cultural movements, ranging from the protection of free speech to the right of teachers to unionize. For over a century his educational philosophy has influenced educators across the fifty states. He has had a wide-ranging impact on several streams of American thought, among them pragmatism. There is at least one other Dewey, however, fused with his familiar American avatar. This Dewey expressed in his writing a deep and abiding interest in the world writ large. This Dewey enunciated ideas and points of view as a philosopher in and of the world: as if the provenance of his thought had no national or otherwise predetermined… [Direct]

Sass, Charles R.; Thompson, Marcia A. (1995). For Which It Stands: Flag Burning and the First Amendment. Teacher's Guide. This teacher's guide is designed to accompany the two-part videotape "For Which It Stands: Flag Burning and the First Amendment." The videotape and teacher's guide should help students to: (1) understand the emotion and significance of the flag-burning issue; (2) examine the free speech aspect of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights; (3) evaluate the response of government officials to the Supreme Court's decision that a Texas law forbidding the desecration of the flag violated the free speech protections of the First Amendment and the debate over amending the Constitution to prevent flag burning; and (4) compare and contrast the many perspectives people have on patriotism, protest, and free speech. The guide contains four activities that involve class discussions and small-group work. The active learning approach encourages students to go beyond recognition or knowledge of facts to begin analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating the issues and concepts being studied….

(2011). Freedom of Speech on Campus: Rights and Responsibilities in UK Universities. Universities UK This report considers the role of universities in promoting academic freedom and freedom of speech, and some of the constraints surrounding these freedoms. These issues are not straightforward and are often contested. The report does not offer easy solutions or absolute rules but seeks to map out the different considerations that might need to be taken into account in the reconciliation of sometimes competing interests. It also aims to illustrate how universities have addressed these issues in the past. The report starts by examining the meaning of academic freedom and freedom of speech: concepts which are often invoked but rarely defined. It then explores the contemporary context in which universities are operating, both in terms of the diversity of current student populations, and the wider national environment. It summarises the relevant law, and describes the Government's security strategy and other security initiatives and structures. It then reviews the various ways in which… [PDF]

Minow, Mary; Wilson, Cicely Reed (2003). Libraries and the Pickle (PCLE) of Content Management Schemes: Survey of Pending Copyright Policy Battles and Their Implications for School Libraries, Free Speech, Access to Information, and Democracy. Knowledge Quest, v31 n4 p16-18 Mar-Apr. Explains the copyright policy battles now pending in Congress and the courts, with a discussion of what they mean for free speech, access to information, and democratic culture in school libraries. (MES)…

McIntyre, Jerilyn (1981). The "Industrial Worker" and Its Rhetoric: Working Class Identification in the San Diego Free Speech Fight of 1912. A study examined the news coverage given by the "Industrial Worker" to the San Diego free speech fight of 1912, the last of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) union's free speech fights on the West Coast. The "Worker," a publication of the IWW, devoted columns of coverage to that conflict in the form of reports, letters, editorials, cartoons, poems, and songs. Three kinds of identification with class were particularly notable in that coverage: identification with class struggle, identification with specific causes in the conflict, and identification of particular types of action that needed to be taken in order for victory to be won. To the IWW the San Diego free speech fight was one more skirmish in the continuing warfare between classes. In that war and in a variety of ways, the "Industrial Worker" sought to "agitate, educate, and organize" its readers by appealing to their consciousness of the status and the concerns they shared with…

(2005). Fighting Back. Academe, v91 n5 p30-34 Sep-Oct. In this new feature of the "Academe" journal, work by faculty members is highlighted who are mobilizing in support of academic freedom on their campuses and beyond. This September-October issue of the journal includes the following brief reflections from faculty all relating to the central theme of "fighting back": "Free Speech Zones on Campus" (Patty Kean); "Homogeneity and Free Speech in Utah" (David R. Keller); "Whose Truth?" (Maurice Isserman); and "Blogging Back at the Right" (Michael Berube)…. [Direct]

Abramowitz, Stephen I.; Nassi, Alberta J. (1979). Transition or Transformation? Personal and Political Development of Former Berkeley Free Speech Movement Activists. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, v8 n1 p21-35 Mar. Former Berkeley Free Speech Movement activists' sociopolitical status, self constructions, perceptions of parents' child-rearing practices, and moral reasoning were compared with assessments made 11 years earlier. An argument was made for their continued political and psychosocial distinctiveness as a generational cohort although some important life transitions had been made. (Author/RD)…

Mawdsley, Ralph D.; Russo, Charles J. (1996). Religious Expression and Teacher Control of the Classroom: A New Battleground for Free Speech. West's Education Law Quarterly, v5 n3 p399-412 Jul. Developments in free speech constitutional law have changed the function of public education. Sets forth the facts of "Settle," involving a student's claim to religious expression within a classroom; analyzes the court's decision in light of judicial precedent; and examines implications for the operation of public schools. (76 footnotes) (MLF)…

Mawdsley, Ralph D. (1995). Lamb's Chapel Revisited: A Mixed Message on Establishment of Religion, Forum and Free Speech. West's Education Law Quarterly, v4 n4 p687-704 Oct. The Supreme Court in "Lamb's Chapel" unanimously reversed federal district and court of appeals decisions that had upheld school district rules prohibiting use of school district property "by any group for religious purposes." Discusses three issues within the context of religious speech: establishment of religion, free speech, and forum. (146 footnotes) (MLF)…

Lipka, Sara (2007). Campus Speech Codes Said to Violate Rights. Chronicle of Higher Education, v53 n18 pA32 Jan. Most college and university speech codes would not survive a legal challenge, according to a report released in December by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a watchdog group for free speech on campuses. The report labeled many speech codes as overly broad or vague, and cited examples such as Furman University's prohibition of \offensive communication not in keeping with the community standards,\ and a ban on \disrespect for persons\ at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The report also warned more than 200 colleges that they were \extremely vulnerable to a constitutional challenge.\ Three colleges recently revised their speech codes after the group filed lawsuits against them…. [Direct]

Kane, Peter E., Ed. (1975). Censorship Through Government Control of Information; Senator Muskie on Secrecy; Justice Black Was Right; (and) Report of the Ad Hoc Committee to Evaluate the "Free Speech" Newsletter. Free Speech, n36 p1-14 Nov. Many agencies of the Executive Branch of the federal government have at one time or another claimed an absolute right to wihhold any information they chose from anyone they chose. These claims have produced the Freedom of Information Act, which imposes some limitations on this absolute power. Recently, some members of Congress have become concerned about the government's use of the courts to enforce various secrecy claims. The first article in this issue of "Free Speech" concerning government control of information was written by Representative Jonathan Bingham of New York. This issue also contains remarks by Senator Muskie on secrecy, comments concerning Justice Black's position on public access, and a report of the ad hoc committee to evaluate the "Free Speech" newsletter. (TS)… [PDF]