Federal Campus Sexual Harassment Policy Draws Free Speech Concerns

Article here. Excerpt:

'The federal government is facing pressure from civil-liberties advocates to back down from a policy meant to curb sexual harassment at colleges and universities -- just as sexual-assault survivors demanded in a protest this week that the Education Department do more to punish colleges that fail to address campus assaults.

A coalition of free-speech advocates, led by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), wrote an open letter to the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights and the Department of Justice Tuesday calling for officials to retract a "blueprint" for campus sexual harassment policies that critics claim would violate the First Amendment.

FIRE's coalition says a resolution released in May by the Departments of Education and Justice -- after an investigation of the University of Montana's prosecution of rape on campus -- expands the definition of sexual harassment to "any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature," including speech, which coalition members contend is unconstitutional.'

Also see: Free Speech Coalition Files Open Letter to U.S. Department of Justice and Education to Retract Sexual Harassment Settlement