Today, Mountain States Legal Foundation filed an appeal in Young America’s Foundation v. UCLA, a critical case about whether public universities can silence lawful speech simply because administrators fear—or sympathize with—hostile protestors.
This case asks a simple but vital question: when a peaceful speaker is threatened by a disruptive mob, must a public university protect free speech, or may it take the easy way out and shut the speaker down instead?
UCLA chose the latter. Rather than addressing those who were prepared to disrupt or intimidate, university officials silenced conservative, pro-Israel speakers—anticipating backlash and yielding to it. That is exactly the kind of “heckler’s veto” the First Amendment forbids.
By filing this appeal, we are asking the court to reaffirm a foundational principle: public universities cannot surrender free speech to the loudest or most aggressive voices, nor may they discriminate based on viewpoint under the guise of “security.”
