Essay On Speech Codes

Although they have received more press coverage lately, after several high profile incidents occurred at prestigious colleges, Speech Codes have existed substantially since the mid 1980s. As a result of a change in demographics on college campuses, and a wave of political correctness, “one estimate is that between the years of 1986 and 1991 alone, 137 colleges and universities adopted new speech codes”(Jon Gould, The Triumph of Hate Speech Regulation: Why Gender Wins But Race Loses in America, 6 Mich. J. Gender & L. 153, 158 (1999). These codes were born out of changing circumstances on colleges, where more students from traditionally marginalized groups were attending school and integrating into the student body. As a result, administrations
New Yorker, 0028792X, , Vol. 91, Issue 23). In accordance with both of these rulings, speech codes should not be able to silence unpopular opinions solely for being unpopular, nor should they be able to censor conservative opinions unless they are advocating hate speech or violence. An example of campus speech codes being overturned in court can be seen in “College Republicans v. Reed,” where a school group was punished by campus administration for disrepecting “Allah” during an anti-terrorism rally. The group was accused of engaging in actions that disrespected a religion, violating the San Fransisco State University student conduct code, and engaging in incivility. They were directed to a disciplinary council to face formal charges of misconduct. The group challenged their punishment by taking it to the United States District Court, N.D. California, where the court ruled in favor of protecting unpopular opinions, and asserted that speech codes were allowed to target harassment and intimidation