Berkeley Law Dean: 'Hate Speech' Is Free Speech, Especially on Campuses

UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky affirmed that “hate speech” is protected speech on public college campuses, in a column for Vox on Wednesday.

Chemerinsky, a celebrated constitutional law scholar and dean of the law school at UC Berkeley, vigorously defended “hate speech” protections under the constitution in an article for Vox this week. Chemerinsky recalled conversations that were had at the prestigious public university following the fallout over several controversial speaking engagements that took place on campus this year.

It was September, and I was at a forum at which several professors, including me, discussed free speech issues before a large audience of students at the University of California Berkeley. Several faculty and students had already implored Chancellor Carol Christ to revoke the invitations of conservative provocateurs Milo Yiannopoulos and Ann Coulter to speak on campus, and their declarations were met with enthusiasm.

Finally, I spoke up. “Be clear that if Chancellor Christ were to exclude speakers based on their viewpoint, she would get sued and lose,” I said. “The speakers would get an injunction and be allowed to speak. They would recover attorneys’ fees and maybe money damages. They would be portrayed as victims. And since they would get to speak anyway, nothing would be gained.”

Chemerinsky went on to praise the intentions of those students and faculty that wish to rid their campuses of “hate speech.” “While teaching our class on free speech on campus at UC Irvine, Chancellor Howard Gillman and I realized that the students’ desire to restrict hurtful speech came from laudable instincts,” he wrote. “This is the first generation of college students to be taught from a young age that bullying is wrong; they have internalized this message. Many spoke powerfully of instances in which they or their friends had suffered from hurtful speech.”

Although private universities are not bound by the First Amendment, Chemerinsky argues that they should follow the same principles. “Although the First Amendment applies only to the government, including public universities, private universities should follow these same principles. They are essential to academic freedom, which is at the very core of a university’s mission,” he wrote.

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