The Emergence of First Amendment Academic Freedom

Nebraska Law Review, Vol. 85, No. 3, 2007

37 Pages Posted: 25 Aug 2020 Last revised: 12 Sep 2008

See all articles by R. George Wright

R. George Wright

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law

Date Written: 2007

Abstract

The idea of a constitutionally protected realm of academic freedom is controversial and judicially unsettled. With their most protective rhetoric, courts have referred to "the robust tradition of academic freedom in our nation's post-secondary schools." The Supreme Court has proclaimed that our Nation is deeply committed to safeguarding academic freedom, which is of transcendent value to all of us and not merely to the teachers concerned. That freedom is therefore a special concern of the First Amendment, which does not tolerate laws that cast a pall of orthodoxy over the classroom. Beyond the strands of supportive rhetoric, however, lies much current controversy and uncertainty. One court has observed that "academic freedom" is a term that is often used, but little explained, by federal courts." Academic freedom is largely unanalyzed, undefined, and unguided by principled application, leading to its inconsistent and skeptical or questioned invocation.

Suggested Citation

Wright, R. George, The Emergence of First Amendment Academic Freedom (2007). Nebraska Law Review, Vol. 85, No. 3, 2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1201362

R. George Wright (Contact Author)

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law ( email )

530 West New York Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
United States

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