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Harper Library at the University of Chicago.

Ideas

A Better Way of Understanding the Debate Over Free Speech on Campus

In the nationwide debate over campus free speech, a lot of apparent disagreement derives from failing to separate the objects of study, and the habitat where study takes place.

Ada Palmer

One hundred life-sized cutouts of Facebook executive Mark Zuckerberg sit on the lawn of the United States Capitol on April 10th, 2018, in Washington, D.C.

A Supreme Court Decision Could Have Implications for Social Media Free Speech

The court ruled that First Amendment protections don't apply to a corporation that operates a public access channel in New York.

Rebecca Worby

Social Justice

Are Racist Yearbook Photos Protected Student Speech?

Decisions in Illinois and North Carolina to reprint yearbooks with white nationalist photos have prompted a First Amendment debate.

Jack Denton

Ideas

What Can We Learn From the Campus Free Speech Debates?

Amherst's "Common Language Guide" set off a conservative media firestorm, pitting free speech against equality.

James McWilliams

San Francisco police cars sit parked in front of the Hall of Justice on February 27th, 2014, in San Francisco, California.

San Francisco Police Raided a Freelance Journalist’s Home. Was It Legal?

An expert on First Amendment rights weighs in on what happened to Bryan Carmody last Friday.

Leah Dunlevy

Farmers harvest corn near Burlington, Iowa.

News in Brief

Iowa’s New Law Criminalizing Undercover Investigations of Farms Faces Legal Challenges

The ACLU of Iowa argues this law is no different than its predecessor, which was ruled unconstitutional this year.

Emily Moon

News in Brief

Does the First Amendment Protect Vanity License Plates and Bumper Stickers?

Dave Assman's attempt to get his last name on a Canadian plate has thrust the question back into the United States spotlight.

Jack Denton

Demonstrators gather at the site of a planned speech by white nationalist Richard Spencer at the University of Florida campus on October 19th, 2017, in Gainesville, Florida.

Education

How Higher Education Is Evolving Its Thinking Around Controversial Campus Speakers

A public policy non-profit has put together some guidelines to help universities prepare for future free speech controversies.

James McWilliams

A woman casts her ballot at a church polling station in Fairfax, Virginia, during the U.S. presidential election on November 8th, 2016.

Social Justice

Why Don’t We Defend Voting on the Grounds of Free Speech?

The vote is one of the central ways democracies give people a voice in their government.

Noah Berlatsky

Marc Lamont Hill moderating a panel at the Paley Center for Media on December 7th, 2016, in New York City.

Education

Free Speech, Unless You’re Advocating for Palestine

CNN's firing of Marc Lamont Hill highlights the ongoing silencing of pro-Palestinian voices in American life.

David M. Perry