The Emerging Phenomenon of Safe Spaces on Public University Campuses: A Social Policy Collision with the Constitution

Abstract

This research paper examines the safe space phenomenon that has unfolded on America’s public university campuses in recent years in an attempt to (1) define the shifting ideological motivations for both the restriction and preservation of the right to free speech; (2) illuminate the statutory and administrative controls of that right; (3) identify policy overreach by college administrators, and (4) illustrate the constitutional challenges resulting from the above. Beginning with a historical study of speech restriction on college campuses, this research will identify the current attempts to achieve that end as just the newest version of earlier failed efforts. The current avenue down which the forces of speech restriction are travelling, is the utilization of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a perceived inoculation against judicial scrutiny. Through legal analysis of pertinent Supreme Court cases, this research identifies the limited public forum doctrine as articulated in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez (2010) as applicable, and through a predictive analysis, determines that as with earlier failures, the speech restrictions intrinsic to the safe space movement will also be found to be unconstitutional in its inevitable day in court.