Students Rights to Free Speech and Due Process
Press Release
AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton led 15 states in an amicus brief filed in the United States District Court in the Southern District of New York, defending the Department of Education’s reaffirmation of Title IX’s commitment to protecting students from actual harassment while upholding free speech and fair process. The Department of Education’s “Final Rule” bolsters the anti-discrimination purposes of Title IX without infringing free speech or due process rights.
“The Constitution applies to every American, and the Department of Education’s ‘Final Rule’ provides robust protection for individual rights where previous regulations and guidance failed. The Supreme Court has long recognized that students subject to disciplinary proceedings are entitled to due process,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Academic institutions cannot unlawfully deprive students of their constitutional rights to free speech, due process, or fair trial.”
Without safeguards, academic institutions can and have eschewed due process and imposed life-altering consequences on students without affording them the opportunity to defend themselves. The vast majority of colleges and universities currently deny students the right to present evidence or cross examine witnesses, and less than half require that fact-finders be impartial during investigations.
Read a copy of the amicus brief here.