Statement of EMU-AAUP
Re: EMU Disciplinary action in the case of Mark Higbee
As the union representing the EMU faculty, we have a legal responsibility to vigorously defend the due process and free speech rights of all our members.
In July 2018, a neutral third-party arbitrator found that Professor Mark Higbee’s speech was protected by the First Amendment.
The arbitrator concluded: “Without minimizing either the stupidity or the offensiveness of Higbee's insult, I am constrained to find that it is protected speech under the First Amendment.”
EMU-AAUP supports the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The law must apply equally to all.
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