By David L. Hudson, Jr.: Student activists engaged over the battle for civil rights and war protests changed the course of American history. Today, this feeling of student activism seems to be returning—its latest iteration inspired by the horrors of mass school shootings. To have their voices heard, students exercise their First Amendment freedoms of expression to speak out against a failure to change gun laws, petition government officials to amend laws, and assemble together peaceably to amplify their voices and concerns. Read more →
11 posts categorized "David L. Hudson Jr."
The author of Let the Students Speak! warns school officials to be wary when punishing students for inappropriate off-campus, online speech. Read more →
David L. Hudson, Jr. is a First Amendment Scholar with the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University. He teaches at Vanderbilt University Law School and Nashville School of Law. He is the author of Let the Students Speak!: A History... Read more →
A student at a Tennessee high school alleges that his principal verbally and physically assaulted him for wearing a T-shirt that supported the school's Gay/Straight Alliance. Read more →
The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression is the bookseller's voice in the fight against censorship. Founded by the American Booksellers Association in 1990, ABFFE’s mission is to promote and protect the free exchange of ideas, particularly those contained in... Read more →
A federal judge ruled that a Nevada school didn't violate a student's rights when they punished him over threatening online speech. Read more →
From a trusted scholar and powerful story teller, an accessible and lively history of free speech, for and about students. Read more →
What happens at a slumber party... is no business of the principal. So says a judge in a student speech case in Indiana. Read more →
Can a student insult a school administrator online? David Hudson looks at a tricky free speech case. Read more →
A landmark decision by the Supreme Court 25 years ago created a huge exception to free speech that still applies within school walls today. Read more →
This week, the Supreme Court declined to hear Doe v. Silsbee Independent School District, a case in which a cheerleader was kicked off her squad when she refused to cheer for the boy she said raped her. Read more →