I would put my free speech bona fides up against anyone. I’m also a lawyer and sometime law professor who recognizes that not all speech-related questions can be resolved by invoking the words First Amendment.
Much of what we’ve witnessed on campuses over the past few weeks is not, in fact, speech, but conduct designed specifically to harass, intimidate, and terrorize Jews. Other examples involve disruptive speech that can properly be regulated by school rules. Opposing or taking action against such behavior in no way violates the core constitutional principle that the government can’t punish you for expressing your beliefs.
The question, as always, is where to draw the line, and who’s doing the line-drawing.
[Bookmark this, as Professor Shapiro gives a very useful and detailed primer on the recognized limits of the First Amendment in regard to public speech. It ain’t all Skokie, after all. — Ed]
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