Judge Dismisses ACLU Lawsuit Challenging Indiana College Intellectual Diversity Law
“ACLU of Indiana spokesperson Laura Forbes said the organization is disappointed in the decision and is considering its options”
The left’s idea of diversity is on the surface only. They want all people to think alike.
The Indy Star reports:
ACLU lawsuit over Indiana’s college intellectual diversity law is dismissed
A legal challenge to Indiana’s law mandating “intellectual diversity” in college classrooms has been dismissed after a judge ruled the fear behind the law’s subsequent chilling effect on free expression was unproven.
In his July 23 order, Judge Richard L. Young wrote that the legal complaint was premature. The case also lacks standing, he said, because universities have not taken or threatened enforcement actions against faculty members.
“The court finds Plaintiffs have adequately shown they have an actual fear of enforcement that has chilled their protected speech,” wrote Young, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton. “The issue is whether that fear is well-founded.”
Last September, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a lawsuit on behalf of four Hoosier professors who claim the state law infringes on academic freedom and their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
In a statement to IndyStar, ACLU of Indiana spokesperson Laura Forbes said the organization is disappointed in the decision and is considering its options.
When Senate Bill 202 progressed through the Indiana Statehouse in 2024, professors decried the legislation, claiming the bill would stifle academic freedom and damage higher education outcomes, recruitment and prowess.
Academic freedom is defined as the ability for an institution’s faculty and staff members to build curriculum, research and pursue knowledge without interference from government officials and administrators, according to several First Amendment organizations. Several U.S. Supreme Court cases have labeled academic freedom as protected under the First Amendment.
SB 202 requires the state’s public universities, when evaluating a faculty member’s tenure, to consider whether they have embraced free expression and “intellectual diversity” in the classroom and if they have expressed political views unrelated to their discipline while teaching.
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“..and if they have expressed political views unrelated to their discipline while teaching.”
In my humble opinion that goes too far and will not pass court scrutiny should a updated suit be filed.
They needed to say something like “if they have graded based on their political views” There are way too many professors out there who give lower than deserved grades to anyone who disagrees with their political views. If the world was fair they would be fired for giving out grades based on something other than quality of work, but it isn’t, they have tenure and can just do what they want.
“Academic freedom is defined as the ability for an institution’s faculty and staff members to build curriculum, research and pursue knowledge without interference from government officials and administrators, according to several First Amendment organizations. Several U.S. Supreme Court cases have labeled academic freedom as protected under the First Amendment.”
All on their own money, though — right?
Not one word said about the very few conservatives on campus who had to self censor based on what had happened to outspoken conservatives. $2.4 million awarded to a Bakersfield college professor. Another professor got his job back from Ohio Northern after they tried to fire him due to his speaking out about DEI and CRT. A professor of finance at the McCombs School of business was pressured by superiors to stop talking about his criticism of DEI and CRT. He is now suing the school.
The universities are a lost cause. They will have to be bypassed.