TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Aug 21, 2023

The ABA’s legal education arm has advanced a proposal that would require all law schools to have written free speech policies as part of the accreditation process, Reuters reports. Schools would develop their own policies but such policies would have to protect the rights of faculty, staff and students to communicate controversial or unpopular ideas; safeguard robust debate or protests; and forbid disruptive activities that hinder free expression or interfere with law school functions. A member of the ABA Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar said the proposal was born out of two concerns: legislative efforts to restrict the teaching of certain subjects and controversial speakers not being allowed to express their opinions on campus.