Abuses on the First Ammendment Right in University Campuses

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“The measure of progress of civilization is the progress of people. (Silverglate)” Such progress is made through education, and discussion, and further nurtured by colleges. Be that as it may, under the guise of vague policies and rules, censorship is thriving. This progress is stifled through censorship and the penalization of student speech, by which many of speeches are what campuses disapprove of based on personal beliefs. It thus creates unrest and deterioration both within the campuses and society. In 2003, Steve Hinkle, a student at California Polytechnic State University, was posting fliers around the campus. The fliers included a photograph of the speaker, black conservative Mason Weaver, and the words “It’s OK to Leave the Plantation,” the name of the book in which the author, Weaver, correlates African-American dependence on government programs to that of slavery. When approaching the public bulletin board, some African-American students who were nearby objected to him posting the flier. They stated that it was “offensive” and “disrespectful.” According to reports, Hinkle response to something along the lines of: “How do you know its offensive? Why can’t we talk about it?” The offended students said that the flier violated the campuses Multicultural Center’s posting policy, and threatened to call the police. Hinkle left without posting the flier. However the police were later called by one of the offended students, and urged the campus to punish Hinkle on the premise of “hate speech.” The university did just that, punishing him for “disrupting” a bible study. Apparently, no one had told Hinkle there was a meeting and he did not see any Bibles present. For seeking peacefully and politely to exercise his First Amendme...

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"Freedom of Speech." n.d. Speak up. 26 April 2014.
Hall, Kermit L. "Free speech on public college campuses overview." 13 September 2002. First Amendment Center. 26 April 2014.
Jr., Stuart Taylor. "How campus censors squelch freedom of speech." 14 July 2003. The Center for Individual Rights. 26 April 2014.
Lukianoff, Greg and Robert Shibley. "6 Ways to Defeat the Campus Censors." 21 April 2013. Minding the Campus. 26 April 2014.
Lukianoff, Greg. "Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate." 11 March 2014. Reason. 26 April 2014.
—. "Is Campus Censorship the New Normal?" 29 July 2010. Huffington Post. 26 April 2014.
Shibley, Robert. "'Problem': Offensive speech. 'Solution':Censorship and vandalism?" 1 October 2012. The Daily Caller. 26 April 2014.
Silverglate, Harvey. "Campus Censorship Breeds Societal Dysfunction." 16 January 2013. Forbes. 26 April 2014.

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