Temple University: Speech Code Litigation

Case Materials

  • "After Free Speech Victory in Federal Court, FIRE Sends Warning to Public Universities Violating the First Amendment," FIRE Press Release, September 30, 2008: Today, FIRE sent letters to administrators at twenty public colleges and universities in New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania warning them to abandon their speech codes in light of the recent Third Circuit decision overturning Temple University's unconstitutional code. All of the colleges FIRE contacted are rated as "red light" schools in FIRE's Spotlight speech codes database, meaning that they retain policies that unconstitutionally restrict student speech.
  • "FIRE Letter to Pennsylvania State University President Graham Spanier," September 30, 2008
  • "‘Washington Times’ on College Speech Codes: ‘The Game is Up’," August 13, 2008: "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit just made hundreds of colleges wonder how long their restrictive speech codes can survive," begins a staff editorial assessing the significance of last week's ruling in the case of DeJohn vs. Temple University in today's issue of The Washington Times. The editorial goes on to assert that "[c]olleges and universities generally know the game is up." While we at FIRE have been working to dismantle oppressive and unconstitutional speech codes for nearly ten years and know that the policies won't go quickly or quietly, the DeJohn ruling is a major victory for free speech, and the Times rightly captures its significance when stating that universities "will have little plausible defense if they insist on speech codes as nebulous and facially unconstitutional as Temple's." FIRE-which submitted an amicus brief in support of the case in 2007 and whose research is mentioned in the editorial-is pleased to have such continued attention drawn to this important decision. Furthermore, the editorial cites the comprehensive efforts of FIRE' Spotlight in exposing the widespread speech code abuses at colleges and universities across the United States. FIRE thanks the Times for bringing attention to the DeJohn ruling and to FIRE's speech code efforts.
  • "Victory for Free Speech as Third Circuit Issues Ruling against Temple University," FIRE Press Release, August 4, 2008: Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued an opinion in DeJohn v. Temple University upholding a decision by a federal district court that Temple University’s former speech code is unconstitutional. Temple’s code prohibited, among other things, “generalized sexist remarks and behavior.” In September 2007, FIRE filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the Third Circuit to uphold the lower court’s ruling.
  • "Third Circuit Court of Appeals Decision in DeJohn v. Temple University," August 4, 2008
  • "FIRE Files Brief Opposing Unconstitutional Speech Code at Temple University," FIRE Press Release, September 4, 2007: Today, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to uphold a decision by a lower court that Temple University’s former speech code is unconstitutional. Temple’s code prohibited, among other things, “generalized sexist remarks and behavior.” Temple’s policy contradicts decades of legal precedent and—if permitted to stand—would gravely endanger the free speech rights of Temple students and exacerbate the existing free speech crisis on America’s college campuses.
  • "FIRE’s Amicus Brief in DeJohn v. Temple University, September 4, 2007," September 4, 2007
  • "Court Order for Temple University, March 21, 2007," March 21, 2007
  • "Complaint Filed in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania Against Temple University," February 22, 2006

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