Academic Freedom

From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right

David M. Rabban

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English

Harvard University Press
03 September 2024

A definitive interpretation of academic freedom as a First Amendment right, drawing on a comprehensive survey of legal cases.

Is academic freedom a First Amendment right? Many think so, yet its relationship to free speech as guaranteed by the Constitution is anything but straightforward. David Rabban examines the extensive case law addressing academic freedom and free speech at American universities, developing a robust theory of academic freedom as a distinctive subset of First Amendment law.

In subsuming academic freedom under the First Amendment, Rabban emphasizes the societal value of the contribution to knowledge made by the expert speech of professors, the classic justification for academic freedom in the influential 1915 Declaration of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). Any indication that professors might be disciplined because people without academic training disagree with their scholarly views would undermine confidence in the integrity of their work and therefore their ability to perform this vital function on behalf of the public. Rabban argues that academic freedom fosters two central First Amendment values recognized by courts in a wide range of contexts: the production and dissemination of knowledge and the contribution of free expression to democratic citizenship.

The First Amendment right of academic freedom applies most directly to professors, but it also plausibly extends to the educational decisions of universities and to students' learning interests. More broadly, this vision of academic freedom can guide in developing additional distinctive First Amendment rights to protect the expert expression of journalists, librarians, museum curators, and other professionals. At a time when academic freedom is under attack from many directions, Academic Freedom proposes a theoretically satisfying and practically useful guide to its meaning as a First Amendment right.

By: David M. Rabban
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 24mm
Weight: 439g
ISBN: 9780674295957
ISBN 10: 0674295951
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 03 September 2024
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

David M. Rabban is Dahr Jamail, Randall Hage Jamail, and Robert Lee Jamail Regents Chair in Law and University Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas School of Law. The author of Free Speech in Its Forgotten Years, he was General Counsel of the American Association of University Professors and chaired its Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure.

Reviews for Academic Freedom: From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right

The best kind of scholarship—deeply researched and immensely useful. Wherever you stand on issues of free speech and academic freedom, you will learn from this book. -- Michael Roth, President of Wesleyan University and author of Safe Enough Spaces The best book that I have seen on academic freedom and its relationship to the First Amendment. A must-read for all involved in higher education. -- Erwin Chemerinsky, coauthor of Free Speech on Campus A major work on academic freedom in the United States by one of our leading experts. This landmark contribution could not be more timely and more necessary. -- Keith Whittington, author of Speak Freely Essential. This book clarifies the meaning not only of academic freedom but also of free speech more broadly and the First Amendment itself. -- Laura Weinrib, author of The Taming of Free Speech Indispensable. Academic freedom is a perennially contested subject, particularly in its constitutional dimensions, but David Rabban has authored a comprehensive guide to the law. -- Robert Post, coauthor of For the Common Good