Justices Thomas and Alito push to address issue as free speech group challenges IU policies
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a review of campus bias response teams Monday following claims that they suppress free speech.
The justices declined the petition for a writ of certiorari from Speech First, a group that aims to safeguard free speech on campuses, according to the court’s opinion.
Speech First states Indiana University has long suppressed dissenting viewpoints through its administration and policies, such as sabotaging student events and using a bias response team to encourage anonymous reporting of peers who challenge the dominant ideology, according to the group’s website.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas stated IU actively encourages students on its websites and social media to flag “bias incidents” to administrators.
Further, IU defines “bias incidents” in broad terms, covering any behavior, words, or expressions influenced by prejudice intended to threaten, belittle, ridicule, or isolate people based on their real or perceived identities. As a result, this sweeping policy has encouraged students to report virtually every perceived insult or offense, he wrote.
In addition, “the Courts of Appeals have split as to whether [bias response teams] ‘objectively chill’ student speech for purposes of Article III standing.”
Therefore, he “would grant certiorari to resolve that important split.”
“More than 450 of our Nation’s colleges and universities have ‘bias response teams.’ These teams ‘encourag[e] students to report one another for expressions of ‘bias,’ and then review and act upon reports,” Justice Thomas wrote.
Considering the prevalence of bias response teams across schools, the court will ultimately need to address the division over students’ rights to contest these programs, he wrote.
By declining to act now, the court leaves students navigating an inconsistent landscape of First Amendment protections, “with a student’s ability to challenge his university’s bias response policies varying depending on accidents of geography,” Thomas wrote.
Similarly, Justice Samuel Alito also said he would take up the appeal from Speech First.
IU’s own president has been the subject of two complaints, according to records obtained by The College Fix.
Someone complained that President Pamela Whitten did not properly “recognize Hispanic [Heritage] Month.”
Another person said Whitten “disrupted peaceful protesters with armored police officers,” likely referring to when police broke up a pro-Palestinian protest in April 2024.
The school’s bias response team “reviews all submitted bias incident reports” and will provide “1-on-1 ongoing support” to those affected, “engage person(s) impacting others,” “engage leaders to address systemic issues,” log incidents, and “refer [the] reporter to appropriate campus offices,” according to IU’s website.
However, it does not take disciplinary action, conduct formal investigations, or “impinge on free speech rights and academic freedom,” the website states.
MORE: Students will ‘self-censor’ after SCOTUS dismissed bias response team case
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