Higher Education, Harassment, and First Amendment Opportunism
37 Pages Posted: 25 Mar 2008 Last revised: 1 Apr 2008
Abstract
Much of the rhetoric, and some of the legal argument, surrounding university campus harassment - and especially campus anti-Semitism - consists of First Amendment opportunism. That is to say, it consists of agenda-driven efforts, varying in degree of success, to change the topic from harassment to speech in a context in which the First Amendment is arguably inapplicable. These efforts are fraught with social, political and legal significance, as they mark a struggle to shift the boundaries of constitutional discourse in a way that could increase some protections while decreasing others.
Keywords: speech, university, anti-Semitism, harassment, First Amendment, Jewish
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