A federal court in Los Angeles has issued an injunction against the Los Angeles Community College District’s speech code. This injunction is merely the latest in a long (very long) line of federal decisions striking down or enjoining speech codes. Off the top of my head, I can think of federal-court decisions against the University of Wisconsin, the University of Michigan, Central Michigan University, Shippensburg University, Texas Tech, Temple, and San Francisco State University. And that list doesn’t include the many universities who have changed their policies as part of court settlements. So far, a federal court has never upheld a speech code on the merits.

And yet schools still cling to their codes, and these codes enable outrageous abuses of free speech. I’ve written about this case before:

Shortly after election day, one of Lopez’s teachers told his speech class that any individual who voted for Proposition 8 was a “fascist bastard” and argued that supporters of traditional marriage valued animals more than people. A few weeks after this declaration, Mr. Lopez gave a speech (in response to an open-ended assignment) in which he discussed his Christian faith and read from a dictionary definition of marriage. His professor interrupted his presentation, called him a “fascist bastard,” invited offended students to leave, and then (when no one left) terminated the class. Rather than grade his speech, the professor told Lopez to “ask God” what his grade was.
That was not the end of the matter. When Lopez complained of his treatment to the dean, the professor threatened Lopez with expulsion. When Lopez sent a more formal demand letter (through counsel), the school responded with an assurance that a confidential disciplinary process would be initiated but then went out of its way to note that other students complained that Lopez was “preaching hate” and “spout[ing] hateful propaganda.”

The speech professor also admonished Lopez to be mindful of the student code of conduct when he spoke. As of yesterday, that code will (finally) protect free speech rather than enable censorship and oppression.