Re the controversy over nine student groups banning speakers who think Israel should exist.
The Jewish Law Students Association can refuse to invite Holocaust deniers. The Black Law Students Association can refuse to invite white supremacists. I may not like the choices they make about what viewpoints they invite or not invite, but that is their First Amendment right.
What is not allowed is excluding a speaker based on religion or race or sex or sexual orientation. And that has not – and I am confident will not happen at Berkeley Law. To be clear, the law, and campus policies, distinguish between word and deed, expression and action. To date the offending student groups have issued statements, declarations, and intentions. Those are constitutionally protected forms of expression. To date, no student has been excluded, cancelled, disinvited, or interrupted. To date no student has been denied the right or the ability to express themselves, to exercise their freedom of speech. Should that happen—and we are working hard to make sure it does not—that would represent a cross-over from expression to conduct and that would be subject to serious discipline.
