Speak No Evil

by Gould, Jon B.

• ISBN13: 9780226305530
• ISBN10: 0226305538
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-07-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Opponents of speech codes often argue that liberal academics use the codes to advance an agenda of political correctness. But Jon B. Gould's provocative book, based on an enormous amount of empirical evidence, reveals that the real reasons for their growth are to be found in the pragmatic, almost utilitarian, considerations of college administrators. Instituting hate speech policy, he shows, was often a symbolic response taken by university leaders to reassure campus constituencies of their commitment against intolerance. In an academic version of "keeping up with the Joneses," some schools created hate speech codes to remain within what they saw as the mainstream of higher education. Only a relatively small number of colleges crafted codes out of deep commitment to their merits. Although college speech codes have been overturned by the courts,Speak No Evilargues that their rise has still had a profound influence on curtailing speech in other institutions such as the media and has also shaped mass opinion and common understandings of constitutional norms. Ultimately, Gould contends, this kind of informal law can have just as much power as the Constitution.

Author Biography

Jon B. Gould is assistant professor in the Department of Public and International Affairs and visiting assistant professor in the School of Law at George Mason University, where he serves as assistant director of the Administration of Justice Program.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Background and Chronology

Theoretical Implications

The Rise of Hate Speech Codes

The Courts Act

While They Slept

The Triumph of Hate Speech Regulation

Appendix: Methodology and Data Sources

Notes

Index

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