On August 5, 2019, Speech First, a national membership group of students, alumni, and others that defends free speech on campus, filed a reply brief in Speech First v. Killeen in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois. Speech First asked the court for a preliminary injunction, a court order that would block the university’s policies while the case goes on.
The brief argued:
- The election-flyer rule isn’t moot. Until just weeks before the brief was filed, students needed permission to hand out literature about off-campus elections. The university changed the rule after being sued, but nothing stops it from bringing the rule back.
- The bias response system chills speech. The university’s “Bias Assessment Response Team” and “Bias Incident Protocol” aim to eliminate “biased” and “hurtful” speech. Even without formal power to punish, “voluntary” programs like these can violate the First Amendment when they are designed to discourage unpopular speech.
- No Contact Directives have no safeguards. The university can order students, under threat of expulsion, not to speak to one another, with no protections for students’ First Amendment rights.
Read the full brief below:
