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First Amendment 101

The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land. All legislation passed by the federal government and by state governments must be consistent with the Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court of the United States, otherwise that legislation is invalid. The rights guaranteed to Americans by the Bill of Rights are inviolable by the government. All Americans should understand this; this concept is central to the unique freedom that we enjoy as Americans. Sadly, however, it seems that many Americans, including the chief law enforcement official of the State of New Jersey, do not understand this at all.

FIRE is currently involved in a case at William Paterson University in New Jersey, which recently convicted a student employee of 鈥渄iscrimination鈥 and 鈥渉arassment鈥 for describing homosexuality as a 鈥減erversion鈥 in a private response to a professor鈥檚 unsolicited announcement of a university event that promoted a positive view of lesbian relationships. The student employee, Jihad Daniel, was convicted under the (鈥渢he New Jersey policy鈥). It is a violation of this policy to make 鈥渄erogatory references鈥 about an individual in a protected category or to display or distribute material that contains language that is 鈥渄erogatory or demeaning鈥 towards an individual in a protected category.

FIRE wrote to William Paterson University to explain to them that their punishment of Daniel鈥檚 speech was unconstitutional. FIREreceived a response from Peter Harvey, the Attorney General of New Jersey, since 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 complaint involved a statewide policy. Attorney General Harvey wrote that Daniel鈥檚 speech was prohibited under the New Jersey policy, and stated that 鈥渃learly speech which violates a non-discrimination policy is not protected.鈥 Incredibly, Attorney General Harvey seems to believe that a New Jersey Interim Policy determines what is protected by the First Amendment. As Harvey must have learned in first-year Constitutional Law, however, it is 100 percent the other way around: the U.S. Constitution determines what a state may legitimately pass as a law. As applied, the New Jersey policy violates the First Amendment, since the U.S. Supreme Court has made absolutely clear that unlawful harassment 鈥渕ust be sufficiently severe or pervasive 鈥榯o alter the conditions of [the victim鈥檚] employment and create an abusive working environment,鈥欌 and that the 鈥渕ere utterance of an鈥pithet which engenders offensive feelings in an employee鈥 does not constitute harassment. , 477 U.S. 57, 67 (1986).

An also illustrates the degree to which some Americans misunderstand the First Amendment. The article contains a brief interview with Arlene Holpp Scala, the William Paterson professor who was allegedly 鈥渉arassed鈥 by Daniel鈥檚 email. Professor Scala told NorthJersey.com that Daniel鈥檚 speech was not protected because 鈥渉e used the word 鈥榩erversion鈥 and that鈥檚 discriminatory. There are kinds of speech that are not protected. You cannot cry out 鈥榝ire鈥 in a crowded theater.鈥 Has our understanding of the First Amendment really degraded to the point where someone as highly educated as Professor Scala believes that a student鈥檚 expression of his religious beliefs is akin to inciting a potentially life-threatening panic?

FIRE is working diligently, through educational projects such as our Guide to Free Speech on Campus, to ensure that the next generation of citizens is educated about the rights absolutely guaranteed to them by the Constitution. However, Americans should also take it upon themselves to understand these precious rights we enjoy. As FIREcofounder Alan Charles Kors has said, 鈥渁 nation that does not educate in freedom will not long preserve it, and it will not even know when it has lost it.鈥

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