A nonprofit spotlight on campus free speech has warned for years that free speech on campus is on the decline and under attack. The First Amendment guarantees free speech against government action, and free speech is an especially important right for the personal-growth mission of higher education. Yet the nonprofit spotlight indicates that only about twelve percent of the hundreds of colleges and universities the organization surveyed got a green-light mark for protecting free speech. About two-thirds of the surveyed schools restrict at least some protected expression, and another eighteen percent of schools earn the lowest red-light mark for their speech codes restricting free expression. Elon Musk's Twitter bid highlighted the current deep concerns over social media speech restrictions. But free speech restrictions have been around for a good while and are especially concerning on campus. Don't believe it? One university just paid a professor $400,000 for free speech violations, while a federal appellate court just held that another university's speech code violates First Amendment rights.

A New Title IX Threat to Campus Free Speech

Unfortunately, students on campus may face a new threat to their free speech rights. Higher education press reports that the federal Department of Education is releasing draft Title IX regulations that advocates expect will significantly reduce due process protections for students and professors whom the schools accuse of Title IX violations relating to their speech rights. Students and professors discuss many things on campus. Sexual behaviors, attitudes, and conduct are some of those fair, even important, subjects of campus discussion. Yet colleges and universities have at times construed their Title IX policies to discipline students for speech that the school and complainant construe as sexually harassing. Current Title IX regulations grant considerable protections to the accused student, such as the right to confront and cross-examine false witnesses at a hearing involving live testimony. Biden Administration policy statements indicate that the new regulations will roll back those protections.

Retain Premier Representation to Protect Rights

Title IX disciplinary proceedings are already fraught with the risk of school sex bias against the innocent student falsely accused of sexual misconduct. School disciplinary officials already respond to campus activists and public pressure by imposing their own sex bias and sexual stereotypes against the accused student. Fortunately, current Title IX regulations provide substantial enough protective procedures to effectively challenge false, exaggerated, and unsupported allegations. You just need to ensure that you invoke those Title IX protective procedures affirmatively and strategically. If you face a school Title IX disciplinary proceeding, don't let the school ignore your procedural rights. Retain national student defense attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm's Title IX defense team for your aggressive and effective defense. Attorney Lento and his expert team have successfully represented hundreds of students nationwide against unjust Title IX charges and other misconduct charges. Call 888-535-3686 for a consultation now or use the online service.