Higher education institutions face a variety of campus free speech issues, and BCLP’s Higher Education Team works together with the firm’s Media and First Amendment Team to provide thoughtful, knowledgeable representation in this area.  Our work on these issues includes:

• Development of written campus free expression policies and other proactive approaches to campus free speech issues.
• The intersection of the First Amendment and Titles VI and IX of the Civil Rights Act
• Addressing specific free expression issues as they arise, including public forum analysis in the case of public universities and working cooperatively with higher education institutions to develop an appropriate response
• Compliance with campus free expression laws adopted by a growing number of U.S. states, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia
• Addressing special issues associated with social media, including recent case law finding interactive areas of public officials’ social media pages to be public forums and the applicability of this case law to public universities