[UPDATED] Senate Judiciary Committee to hold public hearing tomorrow on campus free speech

UPDATE (June 20, 2017): The full testimony before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary can be viewed below.

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WASHINGTON, June 19, 2017 — Tomorrow at 10 a.m. EDT, the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary will address free speech on campus. The hearing, titled “Free Speech 101: The Assault on the First Amendment on College Campuses,” will be livestreamed on the committee’s website.

Foundation for Individual Rights in Education legal intern Isaac Smith will testify during the hearing. Smith, a former student plaintiff in FIRE’s Stand Up For Speech Litigation Project, successfully challenged Ohio University’s speech codes after the university used them to censor his student group’s promotional T-shirts. Also testifying at the hearing is Williams College student Zach Wood, UCLA School of Law professor Eugene Volokh, and famed First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams, who delivered remarks at FIRE’s 15th anniversary dinner in 2014. A full list of hearing witnesses is available on the committee’s website.

“After a string of high-profile and sometimes violent instances of censorship this past school year, free speech on campus has become a pressing concern for many Americans,” said FIRE Legislative and Policy Director Joe Cohn. “We are pleased that the Senate Judiciary Committee is taking this issue seriously and hope this hearing will raise new awareness on Capitol Hill of the problems posed by campus censorship.”

“Free Speech 101: The Assault on the First Amendment on College Campuses”

• DATE: Tuesday, June 20, 2017
• WHEN: 10 a.m. EDT
• WHERE: Dirksen Senate Office Building 226
• WHO: Full committee, Chairman Chuck Grassley presiding; full list of witnesses
• WATCH LIVE on the committee’s website

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending liberty, freedom of speech, due process, academic freedom, legal equality, and freedom of conscience on America’s college campuses.

CONTACT:

Daniel Burnett, Communications Manager, FIRE: 215-717-3473; media@thefire.org