Speaking at Georgetown Law School Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions vowed to defend free speech rights on college campuses across the country with the necessary resources from the Department of Justice.
"Starting today, the Department of Justice will do its part in this struggle. We will enforce federal law, defend free speech, and protect students’ free expression from whatever end of the political spectrum it may come," Sessions said. "To that end, we are filing a Statement of Interest in a campus free speech case this week and we will be filing more in the weeks to come."
"There are those who will say that certain speech isn’t deserving of protection. They will say that some speech is hurtful—even hateful. They will point to the very speech and beliefs that we abhor as Americans. But the right of free speech does not exist only to protect the ideas upon which most agree at a given moment in time," he continued.
In fact, the Department filed a statement of interest Tuesday afternoon on behalf of students from Georgia Gwinnett College over restrictive campus speech zones.
“A national recommitment to free speech on campus and to ensuring First Amendment rights is long overdue. Which is why, starting today, the Department of Justice will do its part in this struggle. We will enforce federal law, defend free speech, and protect students’ free expression,” Sessions said in a statement about the letter.
Earlier this year, President Trump suggested UC Berekely's federal taxpayer funding should be pulled should the school continue to prevent conservatives from engaging in free speech on campus.
