10.2190/LUGG-TK64-42RF-DQDA LUGGTK6442RFDQDA 4 Free Speech on the Firing Line: The Legal Controversy Continues 39 46 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 LUGGTK6442RFDQDA.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=LUGGTK6442RFDQDA 1 Carol B. Gilmore Ph.D. Martha Broderick Esq. University of Maine First Amendment speech rights are increasingly becoming a source of controversy on college and university campuses. As the Supreme Court struggles to establish a balance between the teacher, as citizen, and the university, as employer, the line between protected and unprotected speech has been bent but not broken. An examination of recent court decisions reveals some answers and provides educators with guidelines for determining the nature and extent of the protections offered within the purview of academic free speech rights. Indicators of the more typical issues raised about the conflict between free speech and academia are suggested. <i>Pickering v. Board of Education</i>, 391 U. S. 563, 1 IER Cases 8 [1968]. <i>Rankin v. McPherson</i>, 107 S. Ct. 2891, TER Cases 257 [1987]. <i>Ayers v. Western line Consolidated School District</i>, 18 FEP Case 1399, U. S. District Court. Northern District of Mississippi, July 2, 1975. <i>Kemp v. Ervin</i>, 651 F. Supp. 495 [N. D. Georgia, 1986], U. S. District Court N. S. Georgia, Atlanta Division (April 1986). <i>Trotman v. Board of Trustees of Lincoln University</i>, No. 70-2490, 635 F.2d 216, U. S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, Nov. 25, 1980. <i>Kurtz v. Vickrey</i>, 855 F.2d 723 11 Cir. 1988. <i>Connick</i>, 461, U. S. at 146, 103 S. Ct. at 1690. <i>Ferrara v. Mills</i>, 781 F.2d, 1508, 1516 [11th Cir. 1968]. <i>Eiland v. the City of Montgomery</i>, 797 F.2d 953, 957, 11th Cir., 1986, Cert. Denied, 483 U. S. 1020, 107 S. Ct. 3263, 97 L. Ed. 2d, 762 (1987). <i>Mount Healthy City Board of Education v. Doyle</i>, 429 U. S. 274, 287, 97 S. Ct. 568, 576, 50 L. Ed. 2d 471, 484 [1977] <i>Perry v. Sindermann</i>, 408 U. S. 593, 92 S. Ct. 2694, 33 L. Ed. 2d 570 [1972]. <i>Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District</i>, 439 U. S. 410, 58 L. Ed. 619, 99 S. Ct. 6931. <i>Smith v. Kent State University</i>, 696 F.2d 476 [1983]. <i>Fong v. Purdue University</i>, 692 F. Supp. 930 [N. D. Ind. 1988]. <i>Duke v. North Texas University</i>, 469 F. 2d 829 [5th Cir. 1973]. <i>Mahoney v. Hankin</i>, 844 F.2d 64 [2nd Cir. 1988]. <i>Seibert v. Oklahoma ex re University of Oklahoma Health Service Center</i>, (Ca. 10, February 10, 1989) 4 IER Cases 459. <i>Maples v. Martin</i>, 858 F.2d, 1546 [11th Cir., 1988]. <i>Mahaffey v. Kansas Board of Regents</i>, 652 F. Supp. 887 [1983]. <i>Lewis v. Hillsborough Transit Authority</i>, 726 F.2d 664, 667 [11th Cir. 1983] Cert. Denied, 469 U. S. 822, 105 S. Ct. 95, 83 L. Ed. 2d 41 (1984).