U. Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Sued Over ‘Unconstitutional’ Free Speech Policies
“Students deserve to be able to express themselves and voice their opinions without fear of investigation or punishment”
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The suit was filed by a conservative non-profit organization. Schools need to be held accountable on this issue.
Campus Reform reports:
U Illinois SUED over ‘unconstitutional’ policies
A conservative nonprofit sued the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Thursday over “unconstitutional” free speech policies.
Speech First singled out multiple policies implemented by the school in a press release and lawsuit obtained by Campus Reform.
“On a regular basis, the University of Illinois sends a clear message to students who wish to engage in political and religious speech: there are some views that are welcome, and others that are not,” Speech First President Nicole Neily said in the press release. “Students deserve to be able to express themselves and voice their opinions without fear of investigation or punishment – which is why these policies must be reformed.”
Speech First took issue with UIUC’s leafleting policy, which says that students cannot “post and distribute leaflets, handbills, and other types of materials” that are “promotional materials of candidates for noncampus elections” without approval in advance from the school. The nonprofit also cites UIUC’s 2017-2018 Bias Assessment Response Team report, which asserts that the university received 265 bias reports of 128 separate bias incidents for FY 2018.
The report says that “in categorizing incidents, the program relies on the perceptions of the reporting party, when available, and on the judgment of team members.”
“Whether this speech is protected by the First Amendment is of little or no concern to many colleges and universities,” Speech First’s lawsuit states.
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The University of Illinois used to be a world class research institution with great colleges of engineering, law, etc. Now it worries about microagressions and other such things.