Anti-BDS Legislation in Senate Disregards Free Speech
The Senate considers a bill expressing federal support for state and local anti-BDS laws.
The Senate considers a bill expressing federal support for state and local anti-BDS laws.
Florida prisons impounded four times more issues of The Militant in the past two years as in all the other prisons in the country over the last decade.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) joins 16 other organizations in condemning President Trump’s effort to intimidate a book publisher by threatening legal action. The joint statement states that the President’s attempts to intimidate book publishers will fail.
NCAC has joined the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Kansas in a letter to the University of Kansas (KU) strongly urging it to take a stand against censorship by restoring a public artwork that the university removed last week.
Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer and Secretary of State Kris Kobach separately pressured officials at the University of Kansas (KU) to remove an art display, threatening the free expression of the artist, curator and KU students.
This year's Youth Free Expression Program Film Contest asked filmmakers under 19 to create films that think broadly about protest, demonstration and change. After receiving hundreds of entries, we are delighted to share our 8 semi-finalist films.
NCAC is urging United States Customs and Border Protection to respect the artistic expression of deported US military veterans and the First Amendment rights of a recognized public artist. USCBP is considering destroying a mural on the border wall dividing San Diego and Tijuana, following a visit to the area by President Trump.
Despite winning an award in pre-show judging, a painting by blind painter Annie Young that takes on the difficult subject of police violence against people of color proved too controversial for display by the Burnsville Visual Arts Society at the Ames Center.
Resources with useful tips and strategies for students, artists and any activists seeking to drive social change through civic engagement.
The National Coalition Against Censorship continues its support of student-led protests by extending the deadline for its protest-themed film contest to May 15th. This year’s contest invites aspiring teen filmmakers to create short films on the value of protest as an instrument of social change. In the weeks leading up to the March for Our Lives and National School Walkouts [...]
Student protesters reached a settlement with the Howard University Board of Trustees... The sit-ins broke the record for the longest Howard University student protest and harked back to historic campus takeovers by black student activists in the 1960s.
(Photo: Masha George/Flickr/cc) NCAC joins PEN America and 31 other prominent arts organizations to jointly file a friend of the court brief in the case of State of Hawaii v. Trump, urging the Supreme Court to strike down the third version of the Trump travel ban issued on September 27, 2017. Executive Order (EO) 13780 bans all immigration from six majority Muslim [...]
Maggie Budzyna's debut film, CENSORED, tackles the slippery slope of banning words from public dialogue. We spoke with the 17-year-old filmmaker about censorship, youth activism and the importance of using her artistic freedom to resist injustice. Watch her film and read the interview.
Since 2005 the National Association of News Editors has branded the third week of March “Sunshine Week.” But in 2018, Sunshine Week is looking less bright. Sunshine Week has been obscured by an eclipse. Zach Garrett cautions against allowing partisan politics to obscure the real issues.
NCAC has joined a large group of organizations in opposing the continued, and growing, threats to openness, ethics and accountability created by a culture of secrecy in the US government. NCAC and its cosignatories have designated this week, which should celebrate public access to information, the Eclipse of Sunshine Week.
As millions of American students assert their First Amendment rights in protests across the country, National Coalition Against Censorship partnered with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund to release a new comic book to help protect students' rights.
The First Amendment doesn't end "at the schoolhouse gates." But students should know their schools' policies when it comes to organizing protests. This is NCAC's quick guide for student protesters.
Sunset Park High School in Brooklyn, NY removed a work of student art last week after complaints that its message was offensive. NCAC opposes allowing a "hecker's veto" to chill this student's right to free expression.
Following a widespread tide of denouncements of anti-BDS legislation, objections to the state laws have now moved into the purview of federal courts. The ACLU recently filed separate First Amendment challenges against bills in Kansas and Arizona, alleging that they prohibit political expression and association and engage in speaker-based discrimination.
Deyshia Hargrave was inappropriately removed from a school board meeting in Louisiana. The First Amendment guarantees all Americans a right to speak, inquire and petition the government.
NCAC has urged an Oklahoma board of education to rescind its policy of disciplining students who do not stand during the national anthem as students have the right to peaceful and non-disruptive political speech, which includes the right to protest.
By banning or discouraging students from participating in protests against racial discrimination, police brutality and other important issues, schools not only violate their First Amendment rights but deny them the opportunity to join a national debate that can contribute to their civic education.
In the letter to the Attorney General, the groups condemned the Department’s overbroad reach and expressed alarm over DOJ investigative tactics that offend the rights of all individuals to political dissent and free assembly.
Howard J. Kopel’s interpretation of the Nassau anti-BDS legislation seeks to punish an individual purely for expressing First Amendment-protected views.
The organizations express grave concern that the Executive Order will have a broad and far-reaching impact on artists’ freedom of movement and, as a result, will seriously inhibit creative freedom, collaboration, and the free flow of ideas.
When a seven-year-old student from Terre Haute, Indiana opted to sit silently during his school’s daily Pledge of Allegiance, the First Amendment stood up for his decision. But his teacher didn’t.
NCAC speaks with Miranda Taylor, a student at Richmond Early College in North Carolina, whose school canceled this year's yearbook, in part, because of her senior quote: "Build That Wall."
The petition focuses on the legal rights of whistle blowers, demanding adequate protections to ensure they receive a fair trial in any subsequent court action taken against them.
Even when not enforced or non-binding, anti-BDS bills potentially chill protected expression by singling out the expression of unpopular or controversial views. Such bills seriously and impermissibly undermine core First Amendment rights.
The message government is communicating appears to be that young people's opinions concerning such issues are not respected and don't matter.
The violent protesters of Charles Murray need to understand a basic principle: the right to speech exists for all, or for none.
Efforts to undermine the legitimacy or independence of the press, the statement reads, “betray the country’s most cherished values and undercut one of its most significant strengths.”
NCAC is urging a Maryland school district to allow its teachers to display a series of posters promoting diversity and inclusion in America after administrators ordered their removal over concerns of political bias.
The posters were deemed to break the school's policy that forbids classroom materials that attempt to sway the political opinions of students.
An exhibition of artworks celebrating Black History Month was removed from display in a San Jose School district building after complaints calling the works offensive.
“Blanket orders from the Trump Administration preventing the staffs and experts of federal agencies from communicating with the public send a chilling message that every governmental communication, no matter how routine or technical, will now be subject to a political litmus test."
The University have justified the decision based on the group’s “political goals” and support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, which they say are contrary to Fordham’s “mission and values.”
Rep. Clay, in a statement issued by his office in St. Louis, said the painting's removal has “sent a chilling message to young Americans that their voices are not respected, their views are not valued, and their freedom of expression is no longer protected in the U.S. Capitol.”
Representative Clay has stood in support of artistic free expression in the face of criticisms that the painting contains an anti-police message.
The letter to U.S Department of Justice praises the policy but pushes back against certain justifications for rule exemptions.