Noah Feldman, Columnist

Maybe Florida Really Can Muzzle Its College Professors

Academic freedom took a hit when a public university barred its scholars from testifying in an election-law case. But that doesn’t necessarily mean free-speech rights were violated.

November 2, 2021 at 2:00 PM UTC

By Noah Feldman

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A professor of law at Harvard University, he is author, most recently, of “To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and the Jewish People."

It’s complicated.
Photographer: Andrew Harnik-Pool/Getty Images

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The University of Florida struck a blow against academic freedom last week by prohibiting three professors from testifying in a lawsuit claiming the state’s new election laws are discriminatory. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the university’s action is a violation of the professors’ free speech rights. A court should find the decision unlawful, but might not.

There’s a difference between academic freedom and free speech. As explained by former Yale Law School Dean Robert Post in a classic work, these two freedoms are based on different principles, and involve freedom from different kinds of constraints.