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The Importance Of Freedom Of Speech Rights In Universities

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Under the First Amendment of the Constitution, freedom of speech rights are guaranteed to all citizens. Having this understanding is important to ensure that people will not be unfairly punished and have their First Amendment rights violated. Although not all people use their freedom of speech rights in a wise manner, they nonetheless enjoy certain protections. Some of these protections have been interpreted by the Supreme Court as valuable to a democratic society. However, within the context of a university, some people misinterpret First Amendment protections and take advantage of their freedom of speech rights. Therefore, college institutions have certain rights to punish perpetrators without violating their freedom of speech rights. This paper will analyze four …show more content…

Using the Court’s jurisprudence, as evidence in the cases discussed in this essay, sets the boundaries of protected and unprotected speech. Freedom of speech rights does not always guarantee that the person exercising their First Amendment protections will act with prudence. Nevertheless, within the context of a university campus, administrators hold Constitutional rights to punish actions which are not consistent with the Court’s interpretation of freedom of speech protections.
In conclusion, universities have rights under the First Amendment to punish violators of certain school policies. Whether a student places a noose in the middle of a school park, or a graduate student excludes certain groups on campus, or students disrupts an event, or faculty members are required to offer trigger warnings, universities across the United States have the opportunity to teach their students about what the function of the Constitution is. At the end, the main purpose of an institution of higher learning is to educate new generations about their rights and to respect the rights of

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