Submitted by Hugh Stevens, Attorney at Stevens Martin Vaughn & Tadych, PLLC
Over more than 50 years, Hugh Stevens’ legal career has encompassed a wide array of civil litigation, the representation of numerous media companies, and teaching both undergraduate and law students. For more than 20 years Hugh served as general counsel to the North Carolina Press Association, which designated him as “counsel emeritus” upon his retirement in 2002. In 2003, the NCPA honored Hugh by selecting him to receive its W. C. Lassiter Award in recognition of his zealous defense of the First Amendment, and in 2006 he became the second lawyer ever inducted into the North Carolina Journalism & Media Hall of Fame.
Some recent online posts by the UNC Alumni Free Speech Alliance have me thinking about Nat Henhoff’s book Free Speech for Me But Not for Thee: How the American Left and Right Relentlessly Censor Each Other. Like Hentoff, I consider myself a “First Amendment purist,” meaning that I identify with these words from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.’s dissent in United States v. Schwimmer:
“. . . if there is any provision of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other, it is freedom of thought. Not free thought for those who agree with us, but freedom for the thought that we hate.”
I have been curious about AFSA since it first emerged a few years ago – so curious, in fact, that I bought two tickets to their annual dinner last April and dragged another First Amendment lawyer along – which was a good thing, because it turned out that although the event attracted 250 people, I didn’t know any of them other than my guest. Nevertheless, the reception was friendly and the program, which featured a speech by Professor Jonathan Turley of the George Washington University Law School, was thought provoking. I was impressed by the number of undergraduate and law students who attended, and although I felt a bit like a fish out of water, no one seemed compelled to ask me, “What are you doing here?”
Given the lineup of AFSA’s guest speakers and the make-up of their Board of Directors, it’s clear that AFSA comes at the First Amendment from a right-of-center perspective but, as their recent actions demonstrate, their commitment to freedom of speech and thought on campus effectively appears to be unrestricted, in constancy with Justice Holmes’ admonition.
On April 8, AFSA sent a letter to Chancellor Roberts urging that all UNC course syllabai include a “free speech and expression statement” affirming the University’s commitment to freedom of speech and thought. See https://www.uncafsa.org/university-administrator-violates-university-freespeech-and-institutional-neutrality
Then, in a message posted on April 13, AFSA publicly hammered Senior Vice Provost James Orr for “condemning two April Fools’ communications that offended some students, announce[ing] an investigation of a student group, and implied intimidation of The Daily Tar Heel.” The post said, correctly, that “it is not the proper role of the University to shield individuals from protected First Amendment speech, even if it is unwelcome or offensive.” In an apparent response to AFSA, the University declared its commitment “to upholding the First Amendment rights of our students and student groups to engage in free expression” and denied that it was “investigating any student or student group” or that it “in no way intended to chill free speech on our campus.” It also confirmed that
“We support the First Amendment rights of all students and student groups to exercise those rights unburdened by the University. As a public university, we will both uphold the core principle of free speech and care for our community at the same time.”
When I taught undergraduate and law classes at UNC and Duke, my syllabus always made plain my commitment to free speech and expression on the part of my students, many of whom took me up on it, and I think AFSA’s vitriolic criticism of Vice Provost Orr was both welcome and warranted, so I’m personally giving the group an “attaboy” for both of its recent posts.
Nice going, AFSA. Thank you. Stay the course, because unbridled freedom of speech is always in limited supply on campus.