Special to UM News

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (January 19, 2016)— Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has argued on behalf of free speech during his 45 years on the Supreme Court. Writing in dissent in Morse v. Frederick, he opined that a school’s interest in protecting students from speech was a violation of free speech.

In his keynote address at the opening of the University of Miami Law Review’s 2016 Symposium, “The Constitution on Campus: Do Students Shed Their Rights at the Schoolhouse Gates?” on February 5-6, Stevens will touch upon the topics of the two-day symposium: free speech, Title IX due process, and student privacy rights. A question-and-answer session his speech.

“This year’s symposium will provide an enriching discussion on various issues regarding students’ constitutional rights on campus – discussing free speech, sexual assault, and the right to privacy on campus,” said Ravika Rameshwar, editor-in-chief of the University of Miami Law Review. “In a time where these issues are gracing the front pages of news stories, it is important for students, academics, and the community-at-large to be informed on these issues to better advocate for and understand the rights in question.”

Panels of academic experts will provide in-depth discussion of “Free Speech v. Campus Speech Codes,” “Title IX Sexual Assault: What ‘Due Process’ Is Due?” and “Internet Privacy Rights.” The symposium will end with a roundtable discussion titled “On the Other Hand…Are Campuses Becoming Too Quiet?”

Panelists include UM School of Law’s Tamara Lave – who recently conducted a nationwide study of Title IX due process procedures; Harvard’s outspoken Professor Diane Rosenfeld; Susan Kruth of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE); University of Michigan Professor Leonard Niehoff, and Professor Joel Reidenberg of Fordham University, discussing the recurring conflicts between administering institutions of higher learning and the constitutional rights of students.

The symposium will take place at the University of Miami Donna E. Shalala Student Center, 1330 Miller Drive, Coral Gables, Florida.

Online registration and information about the speakers and topics is available on the symposium website. Eight general and two ethics CLE credits are available at a cost of $50 per day. The event is free (without CLE credits) and open to the public. Scholarship from the event will be featured in the symposium issue to be published in the Volume 71, Winter Edition.