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Law schools must adopt free speech policies to maintain their accreditation under a requirement approved by the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates Monday.
The new standard requires all law schools to approve written policies that protect the rights of faculty, students and staff to express controversial or unpopular ideas. It also forbids any conduct that limits free expression.
Although most law schools already have free speech policies, the requirement raises the stakes of enforcement because any law school found out of compliance would have to answer to its accreditor. The U.S. Department of Education recognizes ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar as the sole and independent accreditor of law schools.
The accrediting body approved a proposal for the free speech requirement in November, but the policy didn’t become final until the ABA’s House of Delegates approved it earlier this week.
The newly approved requirement has been in development since 2021. It comes after multiple instances of students shouting down guest speakers at law schools, including at Stanford University last year. Debates about free speech on college campuses have further intensified since the fall amid student protests over the Israel-Hamas war.
