President Issues “Free Speech and Religious Liberty” Executive Order

Early conflicts over religious liberty and freedom of speech reveal that while we can agree on the Constitution’s text, we can profoundly disagree over the unwritten ideas we think the text represents. Debates about religion and free speech point to deeper unwritten principles that are at the very heart of America’s constitutional republic. The first debate deals with the prohibition on religious tests for office in Article VI. The second speaks to freedom of speech and press. In these early debates about religious liberty and freedom of speech, the antagonists agreed on the wording of constitutional text; they disagreed profoundly on the principles and political theory that underlie it in their understanding of America’s new republic. These early arguments reveal the importance of constructing constitutional meaning from the unwritten ideas that underlie the constitutional text.

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Part III, 12 Religious Expression

10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199606474.003.0012 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Ahdar Rex ◽

Leigh Ian

Keyword(s):

Free Speech ◽

Religious Liberty ◽

Public Order ◽

Open Society ◽

Religious Expression ◽

Religious Speech

This chapter begins with discussions of the importance of the freedom of religious expression and how religious liberty can conflict with free speech. It then considers protections for religious speech, restrictions on anti-religious speech, and limitations on religious expression. It argues that free speech is the best defence for a tolerant open society in which diversity of religious expression flourishes. There are clear signs, however, that these values are under threat, both for reasons concerned ostensibly with protecting public order, non-discrimination and, paradoxically, religious liberty itself.

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The Politics of Campus Free Speech in Canada and the United States

Constitutional Forum / Forum constitutionnel ◽

10.21991/cf29397 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 19-30

Author(s):

Stephen L. Newman*

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Free Speech ◽

Liberal Arts ◽

The United States ◽

Executive Branch ◽

Colleges And Universities ◽

Associate Professor ◽

Executive Order ◽

Free Inquiry ◽

Research And Education

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and US President Donald Trump have something in common: both recently issued directives to colleges and universities intended to promote free speech on campus. Premier Ford’s came first. In August 2018, shortly after winning the provincial election, Ford required all colleges and universities in the province to devise policies upholding free speech on their campuses in line with a minimum standard prescribed by his government. The policies were to be in place no later than January 1, 2019. Failure to comply would result in a reduction of operating grant funding from the province. President Trump’s executive order concerning “free inquiry” on American campuses was issued in March 2019. The order states that it is the policy of the federal government to encourage institutions of higher learning “to foster environments that promote open, intellectually engaging, and diverse debate, including through compliance with the First Amendment for public institutions and compliance with stated institutional policies regarding freedom of speech for private institutions.”1 Colleges and universities that fail to do so are threatened with the loss of federal research and education grants. * Associate Professor, Department of Politics, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, York University where he teaches political theory.1 Andy Thomason, “Here’s What Trump’s Executive Order on Free Speech Says”, The Chronicle of Higher Education (21 March 2019), online: <chronicle.com/article/Heres-Wat-Trumps-Executive/245943?cid+bn&utm_medium=en&cid=bn>. An executive order is a directive issued by the President of the United States in his capacity as head of the executive branch and has the force of law. Trump’s executive order on campus free speech is reproduced in its entirety online.

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RESTRICTING RIGHTS? THE PUBLIC ORDER AND PUBLIC MORALITY LIMITATIONS ON FREE SPEECH AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN UN HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS

The Review of Faith & International Affairs ◽

10.1080/15570274.2015.1005913 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 5-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Elizabeth K. Cassidy

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Free Speech ◽

Religious Liberty ◽

Public Order ◽

Public Morality ◽

The Public

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Sustaining Visions, 1873–1889

Radical Friend ◽

10.5149/northcarolina/9781469640327.003.0010 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 268-294

Author(s):

Nancy A. Hewitt

Keyword(s):

Social Justice ◽

Free Speech ◽

Later Life ◽

Frederick Douglass ◽

Religious Liberty ◽

Women’S Rights ◽

Women's Suffrage ◽

Industrial Workers ◽

Circle Of Friends ◽

Woman's Rights

Amy Post remained active in numerous causes until her death in 1889. These included women’s rights, women’s suffrage, and spiritualism as well as new organizations devoted to industrial workers and to religious liberty and free speech. The last issues were addressed by the National Liberal League, for which Amy served as a founding officer. Although Post suffered a variety of ailments in later life, she regularly attended Progressive Friends’ meetings and other conventions, hosted lecturers in her home, joined spiritualist circles, and continued her friendships with Nell, Jacobs, Truth, Douglass, and other early co-workers. Post was also honored at woman’s rights anniversary celebrations. Her son Willet joined her in many activities, and her sister Sarah, her children and grandchildren provided joy and solace. Amy mourned the deaths of many fellow activists, and when she died in 1889, the Frederick Douglass League of Rochester, spiritualists, radical Quakers, friends and family gathered to celebrate her life. Although well-known in her time, Post’s activism and her broad vision of social justice slowly faded from memory. The Post Family Papers bring her social justice legacy and her diverse circle of friends and co-workers vividly back to life.

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