The Justice Department on Monday filed a statement of interest in a lawsuit that claims the University of Michigan is restricting free speech.
The lawsuit was filed by Washington-based group Speech First on May 8 in the Eastern District of Michigan, and claims the university’s Bias Response Team censors “staggering amounts of protected speech and expression,” and thus violates students’ First Amendment rights.
“Instead of protecting free speech, the university imposes a system of arbitrary censorship of, and punishment for, constitutionally protected speech,” the Justice Department said in its statement in support of the lawsuit.
“Freedom of speech and expression on the American campus are under attack. This Justice Department, under the leadership of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, is committed to promoting and defending Americans’ first freedom at public universities,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio in an accompanying statement.
The lawsuit asked the court to declare University of Michigan’s speech code as unconstitutional and to enjoin the bias response system.
Monday’s statement is the fourth one in a campus free speech case filed under Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ watch.
