ABA Receives Favorable Comments On Proposed Law School Free Speech Accreditation Standard

Following up on my previous post, ABA Sends Out For Notice And Comment Proposed Law School Accreditation Standards On Academic Freedom And Freedom Of Expression, Learning Outcomes And Assessment, And Library and Information Resources:  Reuters, Law School Free Speech Proposal Gets Warm, If Muted, Reception:

An American Bar Association proposal that would require law schools to adopt free speech policies has drawn a largely positive response from the legal academy.

The ABA received 19 comments on a potential change to its law school accreditation standards under which schools must have written free speech policies protecting the exchange of ideas and prohibiting disruptive activities on law campuses, after giving the public a month to weigh in—a somewhat muted response given that law schools have seen a rash of high-profile free speech controversies.

Nearly all commenters said they support the addition of a free speech rule, though many suggested the ABA beef up the proposal to provide further protections or tweak it in different ways. ...

The ABA’ s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar could take up the free speech proposal at its next meeting on Nov. 17 in Dallas.

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• ABA Weighs New Free Speech Rule For Law Schools (Aug. 16, 2023)
• ABA Sends Out For Notice And Comment Proposed Law School Accreditation Standards On Academic Freedom And Freedom Of Expression, Learning Outcomes And Assessment, And Library and Information Resources (Sept. 1, 2023)