Siding with the plaintiffs, the Department of Justice has made it clear that they will not tolerate any breach of freedom of speech. Attorney General Jeff Sessions also spoke out on Monday stating that he agreed and encouraged this decision. He denounced “bullies on campus” and called this a “pivotal moment in history”. Others have argued that the campus policies are there for a reason. They are said to be there to protect students from hostile or threatening environments and be inclusive to all who attend.
Limiting free speech in any environment poses a real threat to the foundations our country is built upon. Our bill of rights grants citizens privileges that must be upheld; however, colleges do also have a responsibility to limit bullying on campus by implementing whatever policies necessary. Schools have long since had zero tolerance anti-bullying policies which by these standards could also have been said to prohibit free speech.
Where is the line drawn between allowing hate speech and allowing freedom of speech? Do you find these incidents to be violations of the 1st amendment? Should federal departments have jurisdiction over colleges and universities?
I am against bullying but also support freedom of speech. Colleges can take away scholarships whenever they want for any reason. Just like at a workplace, you get many rights taken away. I don't think hurting someone's feelings is considered bullying, however threatening and physically harming someone is. Most importantly, the students should be able to voice their opinions whenever they want (as long as they aren't threatening someone). Bullying is awful and I am glad that people are standing up for each other, but they should not use their movement to silence other people's opinions.
ReplyDeleteHate speech and freedom of speech are two different things. Hate speech is speech that is intended to insult, offend, or intimidate another person or group of people. Freedom of speech gives people the right to say what they want without being prosecuted. The difference between the two is that hate speech falls under free speech. Although it is still not okay for someone to threaten another person, our first amendment right should never be infringed upon. No one has the right to label someone else's opinions as bullying simply because it might hurt their feelings or they don't agree with it.
ReplyDeleteI personally feel that hate speech does indeed fall under free speech. I do however think that whenever the speech becomes threatening to a point where someone is being harmed or in the worst case fear for their life that measures should be taken to prevent this kind of bullying and threatening. Most hate speech however is just intended to insult and intimidate so the people being insulted should just be mature and ignore it.Everyone has their own opinion as well as the freedom to express it.
ReplyDelete--Marissa Jones
People's freedom of speech should not be taken away. People should be allowed to express their words and ideas to a certain extent. If it turns to hate speech, then they should shut them down. Colleges should just lay back and not do anything, unless it is physically hurting someone.
ReplyDeleteThe first amendment allows you to speak out against unjust situations and argue against ideas/laws you don't believe to be true, not to spread hate to get your way. I think these students are going against the first amendment because they did not allow for Republicans to speak freely at their college. This meant the students were blocking those speakers from using there ability to speak freely. Even if these students didn't agree with the speakers, there was no reason to make them leave.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I believe free speech should not be filtered at any cost, I do not think that spreading hate is a form of free speech. These students should have the opportunity to express their disapproval of the, what they believe to be, hateful opinions of the speakers. The college should take into account the opinions of all the students and help to enact fair and equal free speech.
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