Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli
In March 2017, Kevin Shaw, a student at Pierce College in Los Angeles, filed a lawsuit against the community college. The college administrators had stopped him from passing out copies of the U.S. Constitution in Spanish. They argued that he had not sought permission from them and that he was doing this outside the school’s free speech zone, a designated area the size of three parking spaces. Shaw argued that his civil right to free speech had been violated.
In today’s chaotic political climate, the question of freedom of speech on college campuses has gained attention. University authorities want to maintain an environment conducive to education. Loud protests and individuals hawking their vitriol work against this. Not surprising, therefore, colleges have been creating free speech zones. These zones are not something new. During the 1960s and 1970s, as America grappled with the morality of the Vietnam War and with the civil rights movement, many schools of higher learning began to create free speech zones on campus.
Free speech zones have not gone unchallenged. Civil liberties advocates view free speech zones on campus as a form of censorship. It is a way to marginalize any opposition to policies and political views espoused by the majority or by a particular school. As a result of court litigations, states such as Colorado, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Missouri and Arizona have banned free speech areas.
Nonetheless, a survey of 346 colleges and universities in the United States has revealed that seventy-five percent of them have policies restricting free speech. According to a report from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, many students at America’s universities and colleges leave their free speech behind when they walk on campus. The question of the free exercise of speech is not new nor will it quietly go away.
As Americans, we value our freedom of speech. The First Amendment to the Constitution allows citizens to express their opinions and views. It states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” The First Amendment intends to ensure a free exchange of ideas even unpopular ideas. Institutions of higher learning should never sacrifice their role as the modern Areopagus of free ideas to the tyranny of any particular ideology.
Nonetheless, freedom of speech is not an absolute right in itself. It is a qualified right. We cannot use it to speak evil, to promote racism, to cause divisions, to spread lies or destroy lives. Speech cannot be used to harm others. As Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously said, shouting “fire” in a theater and causing a panic is not protected speech. Hateful speech, incendiary oratory and personal attacks on those with different beliefs are not the exercise of freedom of speech. In a democracy, they are just as much a form of tyranny and oppression as the censorship of free speech in a dictatorship.
The right of free speech protects us from interference from others as we pursue truth. Truth is the higher authority. And we can only come to truth when we are free to ask questions, examine divergent opinions, express our minds and speak honestly. No state, no school, no individual or group of individuals has the right to coerce us to accept their opinions or obstruct our pursuit of the truth. Truth alone has the authority to bind our conscience.
Freedom of speech is not only a right, but a responsibility. It calls “for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate. It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one’s deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate” (Pope Benedict XVI, Speech at the White House, April 16, 2008). In our tumultuous times, we need to take stock of what true freedom of speech is. We can best safeguard free speech when we put aside all malice and rancor in our conversations and public debates and heed the words of Sacred Scripture: Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt (Col 4:6).