Temple U.'s Past Policy Violated Free-Speech Rights, Appeals Court Says

The Chronicle of Higher Education
Tuesday, August 5, 2008

By JOSH KELLER
A federal appeals court ruled on Monday that a sexual-harassment policy that Temple University abandoned early last year was unconstitutionally broad and violated students' freedom of expression.
The Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit—upholding a district court's March 2007 decision—said the university's policy could have stopped its students from making legally protected speech. The case was brought two and a half years ago by a former Temple graduate student, Christian M. DeJohn, who said his conservative views were unwelcome at the university.
The policy's definition of sexual harassment, the appeals court wrote, was "sufficiently broad and subjective" that it "could include 'core' political and religious speech, such as gender politics and sexual morality." The court said the policy had no test to differentiate between speech that was merely "offensive" or "hostile" and speech that actually resulted in a hostile work environment.
The decision has no immediate effect because Temple had revised its sexual-harassment policy shortly before the case went to trial. But the conservative legal-advocacy group that filed the suit on behalf of Mr. DeJohn, the Alliance Defense Fund, called the decision a victory against university-sponsored discrimination.
"Christian and conservative students shouldn't fear discrimination or censorship by university officials simply for expressing their beliefs," said Nate Kellum, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, in a written statement. "The university is a 'marketplace of ideas' where all viewpoints are welcomed, and this significant ruling makes that clear." [To see the entire story, go to: http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/08/4118n.htm?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en ] Subscription required.