WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday it won’t hear a challenge from conservative college students who say their freedom of speech is violated by a university program for reporting allegations of bias.
Two of the nine justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, publicly said they would have heard the case.
The students say Indiana University’s bias-response team stifles speech on campus by allowing anonymous reports about things that appear prejudiced or demeaning.
The university says the program is aimed at education and support, and the two-person team doesn’t dole out punishment.
The unnamed students are represented by the group Speech First, which says 450 universities have similar programs. The group has filed multiple similar lawsuits and come to settlements ending programs in Michigan, Texas and Florida.
The high court majority didn’t detail their reasons for declining the case in their brief order handed down Monday, as is typical. Alito noted briefly that he would have heard the case.
Thomas wrote in a dissent that the bias response teams can refer students for possible discipline, and he identified indications they could chill students’ free speech.
“Given the number of schools with bias response teams, this Court eventually will need to resolve the split over a student’s right to challenge such programs,” Thomas wrote.
