The First Amendment still counts on college campuses – Washington Post

May 12

The May 11 editorial How to respond to nooses on campus urged university administrators to make crystal clear that racist signs, symbols and speech are off-limits.

But banning racist speech at a public university violates the First Amendment. When George Mason University attempted to do that in 1991, a judge ruled against it, declaring,The First Amendment does not recognize exceptions for bigotry, racism, and religious intolerance. Even at a private university, banning all racist speech may violate contractual academic-freedom guarantees or free-speech provisions in college handbooks. Speech that campus progressives and college officials view as racist may be viewed as sensible and non-racist by moderates or conservatives. That is especially true on topics such as immigration and affirmative action, which are sometimes viewed as racially charged. These topics need to be discussed on campus, even if that offends some people.

Hans Bader, Arlington

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The First Amendment still counts on college campuses - Washington Post