Free Speech on Campus

Professors R. Brown and L. Epstein
LAW 620
Spring 2024

Outline and Readings

Introduction to the Course
(January 10)

Note: There are no assignments for January 10. But you might want to start the reading for January 17.

Four Tools for Analyzing Free Expression Controversies
(January 17-January 31, February 7, February 14)

Tool #1. Justifications for Free Expression
(January 17)

•Discovering Truth (The “Marketplace of Ideas”)
•Facilitating Participation by Citizens in Political Decision Making
•Assuring Individual Self-Fulfillment/Autonomy
•Creating a More Adaptable and Stable Community (The “Safety-Valve”)
•Promoting Tolerance

Click here for the readings (pdf). Please be prepared to:

•Explain and defend each justification
•Offer challenges to each
•Consider the value of each for campus speech

Tool #2. Free Expression in the Supreme Court (Doctrine)
(January 24, January 31, February 7)

•Overview of Free Expression Doctrine
•What is Speech?
•Is There State Action?
•Does the Speech Fall into an Unprotected Category?
•Who is Speaking?
•Is the Regulation a Prior Restraint on Expression?
•Is the Regulation Vague or Overbroad?
•Is the Regulation Content-Neutral or Content-Based? (If Content-Based is it Viewpoint-Based?)
•Case Study: Hate Speech

Click here for the readings (pdf) (mostly Supreme Court cases) (readings updated on January 5, 2024). Please be prepared to:

•Summarize and discuss the cases
•Analyze the doctrine
•Consider gaps in the doctrine

Tool #3. Social Science Perspectives on Free Expression
Tool #4. Historical Perspectives on Free Expression in Universities
(February 14)

•What People Say about Free Speech
•What People (and Judges) Don’t Say about Free Speech
•History of Free Speech in Universities
•Major Statements Related to Free Speech

Click here for the readings (pdf). Please be prepared to:

•Discuss patterns in the justices’ support for free speech
•Analyze the AAUP’s statement on academic freedom and the University of Chicago’s statement on free speech

Case Controversies

Click on the links below for the controversies
•White Supremacist Speakers (February 21)
•Provocateurs at Commencement (February 28)
•The Pronoun Dispute (March 6)
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky will meet with the class (via Zoom) (March 20)
•Be Careful What You Post (March 27)
•What to Do About Student Hecklers (April 3)
•To Be Neutral or Not (That’s the Question for University Leaders) With Andrew Guzman, USC’s Provost (April 10)

Review and Wrap Up
(April 17)