I was a Bernie Sanders-style progressive when I arrived at my small liberal arts college. I quickly rose through the ranks of various leftist student groups. Then, one key event turned me around.
As reported in the New York Times in 2017, a Knight Foundation survey of nearly 12,000 high school students found that such students’ support for the First Amendment’s free speech protections is “stronger today than it has been in the last 12 years.” As far as it goes, this is good news given the avalanche […]
We need to be careful about arguing that players have a First Amendment right to protest peacefully on the field.
Free expression is so important that we must tolerate even the expression of opposition to free expression.
Encryption was at the heart of the ideas that led to the America’s founding.
Imposing the values of secularism on “oppressed” Muslim women who wish to buy burkinis merely replaces one form of religious oppression with another.
Author Lionel Shriver’s keynote address at the recent Brisbane Writer’s Festival has sparked heavy criticism. Shriver, best known for her book “We Need To Talk About Kevin”, spoke out against criticisms of authors based on cultural appropriation. The concept of cultural appropriation is divisive: some view it as oppression by majorities who adopt or appropriate […]
After putting a “For Sale” sign in the window of his car, which was parked on the street outside his home, Michael Cefali was surprised to receive a $50 ticket from the city of San Juan Capistrano. According to the Orange County Register, Cefali violated a city code which “prohibits the parking of a vehicle […]
One’s right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections.
Are giant rats free speech? This is the question at the heart of an ongoing suit in against the town of Grand Chute, Wisconsin. As a form of protest, unions will place giant, inflatable “union rats” in front of businesses they have disputes with. In Grand Chute, the town ordered that one of these rats […]
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has sparked controversy by choosing not to stand for the national anthem. Despite shock and outrage, Kaepernick has defended this decision, telling NFL media: “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To […]
Does a ban on signs on the beach infringe on property rights? Edward and DeLanie Goodwin, in partnership with the Pacific Legal Foundation, argue that it does, and have filed a lawsuit with Walden County, Florida. Walden County recently banned all signs on private beach property—this includes “Private Property” and “No Trespassing” signs meant to […]
Earlier this month, the FBI released footage of the protests in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray filmed from the Bureau’s surveillance aircraft. While the FBI spy planes were called in to help police deal with the violent riots which broke out in Baltimore, the FBI also recorded hours of footage of peaceful daytime […]
Professor Laura Kipnis argues that modern day feminism is actually leading to the “disempowerment” of women.
Is asking someone, “Where are you from?” an example of microaggression? These days, it’s unclear. In general, people generally apply the term microaggression to describe subtle or perceived insults on socially marginalized groups. It’s such a vague term, however, that is often used to label behavior that could mean anything—or nothing at all. Nevertheless, in […]
Northwestern University—like many universities around the country—recently banned consensual relations between faculty and students. In response to this decision, Northwestern Professor Laura Kipnis wrote an ironic essay highlighting all the professors married to former students on the campus and at other campuses around the country. In the Learn Liberty video below, Professor Kipnis discusses the […]
Numerous top comedians have said that they refuse to perform on college campuses because of their chilling climate on free speech. When even noncontroversial comedians like Jerry “What’s the deal with Ovaltine?” Seinfeld refuse to perform for college students, you know just how bad the situation has become. In the Learn Liberty video below, Northwestern […]
Limits on free speech are often justified to prevent people from offending others. But to paraphrase Nietzsche, if we can overcome what offends us, it makes us stronger. In the Learn Liberty video below, Northwestern University Professor Laura Kipnis explains how being offended can actually be an intellectual exercise which allows us to explore the […]
Those trying to curtail free speech often invoke its very limited exceptions to achieve their goals. For example, they often point to legitimate restrictions of speech based on “time, place, and manner.” This limited legal restriction to free speech allows police to, say, prevent public speech with a loudspeaker from occurring at 2 a.m. because […]
Disagreeing with what someone has to say but defending his or her right to say it is the foundational defense of free speech. English writer Evelyn Beatrice Hall sums it up well when she says: I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”] This view […]
In a recent commencement address at the University of Michigan, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg was booed after criticizing campus safe spaces. As Yahoo News reported: The whole purpose of college is to learn how to deal with difficult situations — not run away from them,” Bloomberg told the school’s graduating class. “One […]
Like it or not, drawing penises is a time-honored college tradition just like pulling all-nighters and playing drinking games. But when a University of Delaware student drew a penis on a giant beach ball in a free expression exercise, he was told by campus police that it violated the school’s sexual misconduct policies. It’s certainly […]
A recent incident at American University’s School of Law highlights just how divisive the issue of campus speech has become. As the Washington Post reported, it began with a note: Earlier this month, someone left a hand-written flier on the door of a faculty member’s office at American University’s Washington College of Law that read, […]
April Fools! Learn Liberty is back in charge, and everything the Department of Careful Communications (DCC) said about censoring and redacting our content is moot. The DCC targeted us because it was worried that some of our communications might offend or misrepresent some people—or lead to confusion or disorder. Specifically, the DCC criticized: Our Speak […]