On November 24, 2020, Speech First, a national membership group of students, alumni, and others that defends free speech on campus, filed an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Radwan v. University of Connecticut Board of Trustees. After winning a championship game, UConn soccer player Noriana Radwan briefly made an obscene gesture at an ESPNU camera. The university removed her from the team and canceled her athletic scholarship, forcing her to transfer, because it found the gesture “disrespectful” and “embarrassing.”
Speech First argued that punishing Radwan for the message of her expression is content-based punishment, which the First Amendment forbids. Courts across the country have recognized that the gesture is protected expression, so the university was on notice. Speech First urged the court to rule on the First Amendment question directly to make clear that universities cannot take away students’ free speech rights.
Read the full brief below:
