Here’s a thought experiment. Which of the following statements would have the most powerful effect if spoken out loud?

“Ready, aim, fire!”

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. …”

“Your nose looks like a potato.”

“Trump 2016!”

“This action is about a great deal more than just bathrooms. This is about the dignity and respect we accord our fellow citizens. …”

The Texas Supreme Court has handed a half-time victory to a group of high school cheerleaders who sued for the right to put Bible verses on the banners they paint for football games.

A court in Belfast, Ireland, has acquitted an evangelical preacher accused of hate speech in 2014 for calling Islam “satanic.”

Dismissing the case against pastor James McConnell of Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle Church on Jan. 5, District Judge Liam McNally said courts must be “careful not to criminalize speech which, however contemptible, is no more than offensive. It is not the task of criminal law to censor offensive utterances.”

Before a University of Missouri communications professor summoned “muscle” to help shut down a student reporter at a protest, a Yale University student shouted down a professor, saying, “You should not sleep at night! You are disgusting!”

These are just two notable, recent reminders that restrictions on free speech at places of higher learning are becoming increasingly commonplace.

Academic inquiry needs open minds and open ears. So why do open mouths prompt college campus authorities to shut them with speech restrictions? 

Feminist lawyer Wendy Kaminer told the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice last summer that the Department of Education is “out of control,” with a culture of censorship prevailing on campus. 

In a ruling issued late Tuesday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided unanimously with the pro-life Radiance Foundation in its trademark infringement fight with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

The court ruled a parody of the NAACP written by Radiance co-founder Ryan Bomberger did not violate trademark laws or confuse people about the NAACP’s mission.