academic freedom links

ACADEMIC
FREEDOM LINKS

Below is a listing of useful websites on issues of academic freedom and constitutional rights. The listing includes advocacy, information, research and political sites. Sites cover a range of political, social and economic views. Listing does not imply endorsement by the PSC
AAUP Summary and Comments About "Academic Bill of Rights" Legislation
http://www.aaup.org/Issues/ABOR/aborsummary3.htm
Excerpts of key sections of the "Academic Bill of Rights" developed by David Horowitz with annotated comments by the AAUP. The AAUP also has a page with links to its critical analysis of the "Academic Bill of Rights" and updates on the campaign to make the bill law in several states.

Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression: An AAUP Position Paper
http://www.aaup.org/govrel/capthill/2003/affexpress.htm
The AAUP published this statement in support of the Freedom to Read Protection Act of 2003

Academic Freedom and National Security http://www.aaup.org/publications/Academe/03mj/03mjtoc.htm
The May/June(2003) issue of Academe, the magazine of the AAUP, was devoted to "Academic Freedom and National Security."

American Association of University Professors
http://www.aaup.org
The Academic Freedom page of the AAUP site provides resources, updates and the full text of the AAUP's famous "1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure (With 1970 Interpretive Comments)."

American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression http://www.abffe.com
The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression "is the bookseller's voice in the fight against censorship. Founded by the American Booksellers Association in 1990, ABFFE’s mission is promote and protect the free exchange of ideas...."

American Civil Liberties Union
http://www.aclu.org
The ACLU is a nationwide, nonpartisan organization that works "daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States."

American Council of Trustees and Alumni http://www.goacta.org/issues/academic_freedom.html
ACTA, founded by Lynn Cheney, sees the threat to academic freedom as "internal" from left of center professors whose "aim is not to educate the young to think for themselves but to transform them into 'change agents' for the professor's own brand of social engineering."

American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif
The ALA, which has been in the forefront of educating Americans about the Patriot Act, has formed an "Office of Intellectual Freedom" to promote free and unrestricted access to library collections.

American Studies Association Statement on "Intellectual Freedom in Time of War" http://www.georgetown.edu/crossroads/AmericanStudiesAssn/newsletter/
archive/newsarchive/freedom.htm
Statement on the "storm of attacks on intellectual freedom and the ebb of open public debate, in the name of patriotism and a war on terror."

Cato Institute-Civil Liberties
http://www.cato.org/current/civil-liberties/index.html
The Cato Institute is libertarian think tank dedicated to "principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace."

Center For Constitutional Rights
http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/home.asp
"The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) is a non-profit legal and educational organization dedicated to protecting and advancing the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

Ellen K. Solender Institute in Free Speech and Mass Media Law http://library.law.smu.edu/free_speech/
The Solender Institute is an "international resource center, providing materials to researchers from courts, legislatures, bureaucracies, the legal profession, legal education, mass media, and telecommunications services."

FIRE Guides (Foundation For Individual Rights in Education) http://www.thefireguides.org/
FIRE, in its mission statement, claims America's colleges and universities have (1) made too many concessions to what it calls "political correctness" and (2)compromised "the sustenance and enhancement of critical mind, individual rights, honest inquiry, and the core values of liberty, legal equality, and dignity."

Freedom of Information Act
http://www.usdoj.gov/04foia/foiastat.htm
This is the full text of the FOIA as amended in 2002.

Free Expression Policy Project
http://www.fepproject.org
FEPP, with a focus on artistic and intellectual freedom, "provides research and analysis on difficult censorship issues, and seeks free speech-friendly solutions to the concerns that drive censorship campaigns."

New York City Bill of Rights Defense Campaign http://www.nycbordc.org/index.shtml
The New York City Bill of Rights Defense Campaign (NYCBORDC) is a project "dedicated to restoring civil liberties curtailed by the government since September 11th." The project spearheaded a campaign that, on February 4, 2004, succeeded in its goal to get New York City to join "249 other cities and 3 states and become the largest city in the nation to pass a resolution opposing the infringement of civil liberties in the name of national security."

Students For Academic Freedom
http://www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/
SAF describes itself as a "clearing house and communications center for a national coalition of student organizations whose goal is to end the political abuse of the university and to restore integrity to the academic mission as a disinterested pursuit of knowledge." It argues that universities tilt ideologically to the left and calls for state legislatures to institute its proposed "Academic Bill of Rights" to correct this bias.

U.S.A. Patriot Act
http://uscis.gov/graphics/lawsregs/patriot.pdf
This is a PDF file with the full 184-page text of the act which is officially cited as the "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (PATRIOT) Act of 2001"

PEN American Center
http://www.pen.org
PEN, which has been particularly in opposition to the Patriot Act, identifies itself as a "voice of the literary community the organization [that] seeks to defend the freedom of expression wherever it may be threatened...."

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette First Amendment Site
http://www.post-gazette.com/firstamendment/
An advocacy and resource website for "open government."

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