|
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is a non-profit group founded in 1999 that focuses on civil liberties in academia in the United States. Its goal is "to defend and sustain individual rights at America's colleges and universities," including the rights to "freedom of speech, legal equality, due process, religious liberty, and sanctity of conscience--the essential qualities of individual liberty and dignity".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=About FIRE )〕 One of FIRE's main activities has been criticism of university administrators whose activities have, in FIRE's view, violated the free speech or due process rights of college and university students and professors under the First Amendment and/or Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. FIRE lists over 170 such instances on its website.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Case Archive )〕 FIRE was founded by Alan Charles Kors, a libertarian professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvey A. Silverglate, a civil-liberties lawyer in Cambridge, Massachusetts.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=FIRE's Founders )〕 Silverglate remains the chairman of FIRE's board,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Board of Directors )〕 while Kors is Chairman Emeritus. Since March 23, 2006, FIRE's President has been Greg Lukianoff, who previously served as interim president. FIRE has no stated political affiliation, and has represented the causes of parties with varied political viewpoints, including conservative and religious student groups and other members of PETA and Professor Ward Churchill. ==Issues== One of FIRE's primary focuses is opposition to campus "speech codes." FIRE identifies as speech codes those college and university policies prohibiting expressions that the institutions consider to be sexually, racially, religiously or otherwise offensive in content if such policies prohibit speech that would be protected by the First Amendment in the off-campus society.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=What are Speech Codes? )〕 FIRE has taken stances on campus sexual misconduct policies; for example, it denounced the American Association of University Women's report on sexual harassment as "fatally flawed" and sided with the defendants in joining an amicus brief in ''Lyle v. Warner Brothers Television Productions et al.''〔Summary of case and opinion on its impact: (【引用サイトリンク】title=California Supreme Court Issues Ruling in ''Friends'' Sexual Harassment Case )〕 Another issue is opposition to campus "security fees" that some campuses impose on organizations hosting controversial or unpopular speakers on the theory that they should pay for extra security the colleges deem necessary due to the likelihood of demonstrations and disruption of the events. FIRE bases its opposition to such fees on the Supreme Court ruling in Forsyth County, Georgia v. The Nationalist Movement; the Supreme Court stated that "speech cannot be financially burdened, any more than it can be punished or banned, simply because it might offend a hostile mob." FIRE has also voiced support for freedom of association by funding and operation of "expressive" student organizations, including campus religious organizations that may discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or religious belief in membership (for example at Tufts University〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Tufts University: Refusal to Allow Evangelical Christian Club to Reject Homosexual Leadership )〕〔"(Tufts University to Reconsider Status of Christian Group )", Beliefnet.com. Accessed March 31, 2008.〕 and at the Milwaukee School of Engineering)〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Milwaukee School of Engineering: Threat to Christian Group’s Freedom of Association )〕 and fraternities that may engage in "off-color" or "misogynistic" speech. The group also targets situations where students and faculty are adjudicated outside the bounds of due process afforded to them by Constitutional law or stated university policy. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Foundation for Individual Rights in Education」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|