Are Crackdowns on Campus Protests Violating Students' First Amendment Rights?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Are police crackdowns on pro-Palestine campus protests a violation of protesting students’ First Amendment rights?
From the Left: A First Amendment scholar wrote in The Atlantic (Left bias), “the government can’t silence speakers because of their beliefs, even—and perhaps especially—if those beliefs are unpopular or cause offense.” Despite this, “many of the crackdowns appear to be a direct reaction to the protesters’ views about Israel.” The writer reflected, “Students nationwide are watching how the adults who professed to care about free speech are responding under pressure. And they are learning that those adults don’t really mean what they say about the First Amendment.” He concluded, “You may think some of it veers into bigotry. The answer is to ignore it, mock it, debate it, even counterprotest it. But don’t call in the SWAT team.”
From the Right: The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board (Lean Right bias) argued the First Amendment is not boundless. Addressing the encampment at Columbia University, the board wrote, “As a private university, Columbia has the right to set its own rules on speech as part of a contract to teach or study at the school.” The board concluded, “Protesters also don’t have a ‘right’ to assemble on school property to disrupt the functioning of the university or intimidate students on the way to class.” The board added, “This new progressive embrace of free speech rings especially hollow after years of student and faculty attempts to ban conservative speakers from campus and punish students for alleged micro-aggressions.”
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Those Who Preach Free Speech Need to Practice ItSay you’re a college senior, just a few weeks from graduation. For as long as you can remember—even back in high school, before you set foot on campus—older people have talked about free speech. More specifically, older people have talked about free speech and you: whether your generation understands it, whether you believe in it, whether you can handle it.
After watching some of those same people order crackdowns on campus protests over the past few days, you might have a few questions for them.
Last week, from New York...
From the Center
SWAT officers storm Tulane encampment, arrest protestersMembers of the New Orleans Police Department, including SWAT officers, cleared a pro-Palestine encampment at Tulane University in the early hours of Wednesday morning, arresting 14.
After police confronted protesters at Columbia University, pro-Palestine protests have spread to college campuses across the country. Many of the protests are peaceful, but as some schools have called in law enforcement to clear what they call unauthorized gatherings, police have clashed with protesters, resulting in arrests.
At Tulane University, an encampment was set up this week, with students vowing to continue until the...
From the Right
Defining Free Speech Down on CampusUniversities are supposed to be places where students and faculty can debate politics and other subjects without fear or censure. As the anti-Israel protests spread at Columbia, Yale, Harvard, New York University and elsewhere, however, progressives are claiming that any restriction on the protesters is a violation of free speech.
That isn’t true, and it’s important to understand why. Under its “state action doctrine,” the Supreme Court has ruled that the First Amendment applies to government actions toward citizens. It doesn’t apply to private citizens or institutions except in rare...
AllSides Picks
May 18th, 2024