• Block access to buildings offices or sidewalks; intentionally disrupt university activities; use force or violence, or intentionally threaten force or violence, against any member of the university community.
• Use amplified sounds or music, including megaphones, without permit, or noise levels that are disruptive.
• Result in vandalism.
• Conflict with university-authorized security measures. 

Explore 51����’s Free Speech Rights and Limits website to learn more about free speech, including First Amendment protections and exceptions. 

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Much broader protection exists for the freedom of expression today. There are exceptions for speech that incites people to violence, but they are very narrow. In , the U.S. Supreme Court held that “the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force or of law violation except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action.” Subsequent Supreme Court cases have clarified that speech advocating illegal action at some indefinite future time is protected by the First Amendment, if it does not constitute criminal conspiracy. These rulings ensure that people can advocate for different forms of societal change, free from government reprisals.

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This definition means that expression that may seem threatening may be protected, as only true threats where the speaker expresses intent to explicitly cause immediate harm are prohibited. An example of seemingly threatening expression that was protected occurred in , where the Supreme Court overturned Watts’ conviction for stating at an anti-war rally that, “I am not going. If they ever make me carry a rifle the first man I want to get in my sights is L.B.J.” The Supreme Court ruled that Watts’ language was not a true threat on the life of President Lyndon B. Johnson (L.B.J.), as Watts’ rhetoric was simply “political hyperbole.”

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If you make a false statement of fact about a public official or a public figure, more First Amendment protection applies to ensure that people are not afraid to talk about public issues. According to , defamation against public officials or public figures also requires that the party making the statement used “actual malice,” meaning the false statement was made “with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.”

 are protected by the First Amendment (and are not defamatory). Parodies and satire are meant to humorously poke fun at someone or something, not report believable facts.

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However, non-expressive conduct receives no First Amendment protection. The Supreme Court has ruled, for instance, that a . Similarly, there is no constitutional protection for protestors who engage in property damage, trespassing or blocking entrances to buildings.

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Obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment.  is a narrow category of unprotected expression that meets all of the following criteria: (a) the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; (b) the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and (c) the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

The government can also restrict minors’ access to pornography, and criminal statutes that prohibit adults from exposing minors to pornography have been ruled constitutional. Additionally, child pornography is not protected by the First Amendment.

Sexual harassment, discussed elsewhere, is a separate category that is outside of First Amendment protection.

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Officially recognized student organizations have the right to invite speakers to campus, subject to the policies announced in the Student Organizations Manual. Per the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in , student segregated fee committees that allocate funds to student organizations must do so without regard to the viewpoints espoused by the organization. The First Amendment prohibits a public university from canceling an event or punishing the sponsoring organization based on the views expressed by an invited speaker. Only in specific circumstances may the university cancel an invited speaker event. If a student organization invites a speaker to campus, the university is required to take reasonable precautions to ensure that the event takes place safely, without undue interference or violence.

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Discriminatory harassment, like incitement, is a narrowly drawn category of unprotected speech. It typically requires repeated activity, as one incident involving speech without conduct is unlikely to constitute discriminatory harassment. As , discriminatory harassment “must include something beyond the mere expression of views, words, symbols or thoughts that some person finds offensive.”

Discriminatory harassment is defined in 51���� policy as:

• Any conduct (verbal, written, physical, etc.) that is directed toward or against a person because of the person’s protected status (e.g., race, gender identity or expression, disability, religion, etc.), and
• unreasonably interferes with someone’s work, education or participation in programs at 51����, or
• creates a working or learning environment that a reasonable person would find threatening or intimidating.

51���� prohibits sex-based discrimination and will respond to all reports of sexual misconduct as sexual harassment or sexual violence (including assault, dating or domestic violence, stalking and sexual exploitation) with care and support.

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