Discourse and distress
Sessions frankly addresses campus free speech
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke at Georgetown University Law School on Tuesday, invited by its Center for the Constitution to hold forth on free speech on college campuses. Dozens of students gathered outside the hall to protest policies of the Justice Department and Trump administration. A number of faculty members joined in, kneeling in the manner of NFL players. About 30 faculty members signed a letter “condemning the hypocrisy of Attorney General Sessions speaking about free speech,” citing current prosecutions by the Justice Department that are chilling to free expression.
The cases in question — involving activist Desiree Fairooz and the webhostingservice DreamHost — are troubling, but are still working their way through the courts. Yet the text of Mr. Sessions’ speech, if read apart from the fracas surrounding the event, turns out to be sound. In fact, critics should feel free to clip and save a few choice portions, and hold them up the next timethey sense overreach.
Mr. Sessions was motivated to speak because he believes that “freedom of thought and speech on the American campus are under attack.” The first case he highlighted reflects his priorities as a conservative. Members of Young Americans for Liberty were arrested after distributing copies of the Constitution at a Michigan community college two years ago, charged with trespassing because they violated its “speech zone policy.” Often these cases turn on infractions of procedure rather than the content of speech — everyone agrees on the value of the U.S. Constitution. But campuses shouldn’t promote senseless obstacles out of fear of robust discussion (though Georgetown itself designated “protest areas” on campus during Mr. Sessions’ visit).
The attorney general was at his best addressing bedrock issues: “Our legal heritage, upon which the Founders crafted the Bill of Rights, taught that reason and knowledge produced the closest approximation to truth — and from truth may arise justice. But reason requires discourse and, frequently, argument. ... Indeed, it was the power of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words that crushed segregation and overcame the violence of the segregationists. At so many times in our history as a people, it was speech — and still more speech — that led Americans to a more just, more perfect union.”
The Brookings Institution last week released results of an August survey of 1,500 undergraduates who volunteered to answer questions about the First Amendment. The misperceptions on display were alarming. Forty-four percent answered no when asked, “Does the First Amendment protect ‘hate speech’?” With exceptions for direct incitement to violence, what’s called hate speech is constitutionally protected. Asked whether it was acceptable for a student group to use “violence to prevent a speaker from speaking,” 19 percent said yes. As the researcher John Villasenor noted, “Any number significantly above zero is concerning.” With tensions running high on campuses, here’s hoping that an abundance of free speech — from all sides — can promote deeper understanding.