University of Vermont Students for Justice in Palestine v. The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College

FIRE filed a motion for leave to submit an amicus brief in support of neither party in a dispute over the University of Vermont’s interim ban on “all organizational activities” of the University of Vermont Students for Justice in Palestine student organization. FIRE did not take a position on the merits of the case, such as whether students had violated the administration’s policies or the administration had engaged in viewpoint discrimination. Instead, advocating for public university students’ First Amendment rights generally, FIRE drew upon its institutional experience as a champion of free expression on campus and asked the court to “affirm the longstanding First Amendment protection afforded to student organizations to express viewpoints on a public university campus, free from censorship or coercion, regardless of any ‘uncomfortable’ feelings others experience because of organizations’ protected speech.”  

FIRE will update this page when the court rules on FIRE’s motion for leave to submit the brief.