Scholars for Peace in the Middle East Legal Task Force Releases Its Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and the Freedom of Speech

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Board of Directors of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East voted this week to approve the final draft of the SPME Legal Task Force's Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech.  The project included legal scholars from the United States, Canada and Europe and was the result of more than a year of intense discussions and give and take.  

The members of the Task Force who were most involved included: Kenneth L. Marcus (chair), Executive Vice President, Institute for Jewish & Community Research, USA; Marc Cogen, Professor of International Law, University of Ghent, Belgium; Karen Eltis, Associate Professor of Law, University of Ottawa, Canada and Adjunct Associate Professor of Law, Columbia University, USA; Robert Goldstein, Professor of Law, University of California at Los Angeles, USA; Kenneth Lasson, Professor of Law, University of Baltimore, USA; and Ed Morgan, Professor of Law, University of Toronto, Canada.

The project was funded by a generous donation from the Achelis and Bodeman Foundations of New York.

The full report may be found at www.spme.org.

Most important the Taskforce focused on the following eight key areas of concern: Intramural and Extramural Speech; Policies/Enforcement; Silencing/Intimidating Students; Bias/Discrimination/Hostile Environment; Outside Speakers; Respecting the Mission of the Academic Institution; and Compelled Speech.  The Task Force will now turn its attention to begin to explore the issue of harassment of Jewish students at colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada, Europe and elsewhere.  

Excerpts of the SPME Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech follow:

Intramural and Extramural Speech
"As a matter of proper university governance, professors and students should enjoy freedom of intramural and extramural expression regardless of how these freedoms are secured by external sources of law.  This freedom must be secured on behalf of all members of the scholarly community with particular sensitivity to dissenting expression.  These freedoms are inherent in the academic enterprise and are indispensable to facilitate the search for truth, the free exchange of ideas, and, by virtue of the University's role as an educator, the pursuit of democratic governance in society.  The extent to which these freedoms are inscribed in law varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.  Nevertheless, the underlying value of free inquiry and expression are universal in their centrality to the academic enterprise."

Policies/Enforcement
"The freedom of speech and doctrine of academic freedom must be carefully guarded and even-handedly enforced.  Selective or inconsistent application creates unfair conditions, generates resentment, exacerbates conflict and undermines values essential to the academic enterprise.  Even-handedness requires treating like cases similarly and unlike cases differently.  Disparate treatment of protected groups is unacceptable.  This does not, however, permit or require failure to respond in an appropriate manner to misconduct by members of any group."

Silencing/Intimidating Students
"These rights entail correlative responsibilities.  For example, members of the academic community should take care not to express themselves in a manner which threatens, intimidates or silences others; which tends to create a perception of unfairness or favoritism unrelated to excellence; or which foreseeably may chill the speech of students or less senior faculty members.  The university must protect the conditions for a free exchange of ideas, which include not only the absence of formal restraints but also the absence of those forms of harassment or intimidation which foreseeably limit the equal right of all members and groups to individual and group self-expression.  The manner in which these conditions are best protected will depend on context.  For example, classroom speech should be regarded differently than coursework assignments or examination materials, since lessons give more scope to add professorial perspectives that are not contained within course material. In continental Europe this thought in the judiciary finds its expression in the adage, "la plume est serve, mais la parole est libre."..

Bias/Discrimination/Hostile Environment
"In general, no one -- and especially persons in positions of authority such as professors -- should exercise expressive freedom or their power in the classroom in a way that diminishes the rights of others; which entails discrimination or contributes to a hostile environment; or which undermines the mission of the university.  Specifically, members of the academic community must not engage in expressive or non-expressive conduct in a manner that undermines the advancement of learning, the dissemination of knowledge, or the cultivation of an environment of respect free of harassment, retaliation or reprisal. In this respect, universities must protect not only freedom from infringements on faculty academic prerogatives but also students' affirmative rights to expression, learning, dignity and equality.  These limitations follow generally from the academic freedom of students but also, at their most extreme, are necessary to protect the humanity of students."

Compelled Speech
"The freedom of expression includes a freedom from compelled speech.  The right of faculty members to form labor unions must be respected to the extent guaranteed under applicable laws.  Professors must not be required to support with compulsory labor union dues speech with which they disagree but which is not directly related to the interests of their bargaining unit.  For this reason, faculty unions should avoid engaging in speech, especially political speech, which may be controversial among their members but which does not directly advance the material interests of the bargaining unit.  Where such speech is unavoidable, faculty should receive specific, detailed and timely advance notice; a fair opportunity to have their opposition heard and considered; and the right to a proportional reduction of their dues payments."

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SOURCE Scholars for Peace in the Middle East