First Amendment News

Claiming that Duke and the University of North Carolina are offering a biased curriculum in their joint Middle East studies program, the Education Department ordered them to make some changes to eliminate anti-Jewish bias. The program receives funding from the federal government which could be withdrawn. (The New York Times, September 19, 2019, by Erica L. Green) Teacher and journalist David M. Perry, in Erie News Now, September 21, 2019, questions the call for balance

Every day, citizens across the country fight for the First Amendment. The following are a sampling of their efforts. Four Wheaton College students are suing Chicago for limiting their free speech rights to preach and pass out religious literature in Millennium Park. Over several weeks, park officials blocked their attempts to voice their beliefs, according to the students, by banning any speech that may “disrupt another’s objective enjoyment of amenities or performance” in the park.

An alliance of free press organizations has published a legal guide to help fact-checkers surf legal issues. The guide addresses the law in the U.S., Brazil, the Philippines and Italy with the U.S. guide providing information about libel, privacy, newsgathering. (Poynter, September 19, 2019, by Cristina Tardaguila) The guide helps the fact-checkers deal with physical and legal threats, important since many fact-checkers are freelance or work for small or nonprofit news outlets. (Reporters Committee for

House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff alleged that the acting head of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire is covering up a whistleblower complaint that should have been provided to the committee. Schiff said the whistleblower statute did not allow Maguire to consult with the Justice Department about the matter. (Politico, September 13, 2019, by Kyle Cheney) Schiff issued a subpoena to obtain the complaint that was of urgent concern, according to the intelligence inspector general. Schiff

After a series of tense confrontations over conservative speakers on college campuses, a number of states passed free speech laws to prevent students from disrupting the speeches. But some are concerned that the new laws are heavy-handed. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which defends campus free speech rights, expressed misgivings about such provisions as mandatory punishments for free speech infractions. (Inside Higher Education, September 16, 2019, by Jeremy Bauer-Wolf) Sixty-six higher institutions have