Federal Judge Downplays Bias Response Team’s Dangers

When the University of Michigan launched a “Bias Response Team,” free speech advocates worried. A federal judge looking at its charter does not appear to be as concerned. “Although no ruling has been issued yet, U.S. District Court Judge Linda V. Parker said during a hearing this week that the University of Michigan’s ‘Bias Response Team’ (BRT) isn’t ‘an implicit threat’ to student free speech rights,” Elizabeth Nolan Brown reports on Reason.com. “‘There’s not a lot of teeth here,’ she said of the lawsuit seeking to undermine the program, which relies on student reports of ‘biased’ speech on campus and contacts the alleged speaker to offer guidance on speaking in a school-approved way.”

“Students who are contacted are not required to respond.”

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