Alabama governor signs vital law protecting free speech on public college campuses

Thursday, Jun 6, 2019
The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Kellie Fiedorek regarding Alabama’s passage of HB 498, a bill that ensures that state-funded public colleges and universities may not ban students from engaging in expressive activity on campus, so long as the student’s conduct is lawful and does not disrupt the functioning of the college or university:

“Public colleges and universities are meant to be free and open to the exchange of ideas—a place where our future teachers, lawyers, doctors, judges, community leaders, and voters can exercise their constitutionally protected freedom of speech. This new law ensures that public universities remain places where intellectual diversity flourishes and all students are able to engage in the exchange of ideas rather than being censored on campus or banished to tiny so-called ‘free speech zones.’ We commend Gov. Ivey and the Alabama Legislature for protecting students’ First Amendment freedoms.”
 
  • Pronunciation guide: Fiedorek (Fuh-DOHR’-eck)
 
The ADF Center for Academic Freedom is dedicated to ensuring freedom of speech and association for students and faculty so that everyone can freely participate in the marketplace of ideas without fear of government censorship.
 
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ABOUT Kellie Fiedorek

Kellie Fiedorek serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where she is a member of the Strategic Affairs Team. Since joining ADF in 2012, Fiedorek has defended religious liberty, marriage, and the family against legal attacks. She has authored federal and state legislation, and advised members of Congress, governors, state attorneys general, state legislators, and policy organizations on how to preserve First Amendment freedoms. She has also litigated constitutional cases defending citizens’ freedom to live and work according to their conscience. Fiedorek earned her J.D. from Ave Maria School of Law in 2009. Before graduating from law school, she completed the Alliance Defending Freedom leadership development program to become a Blackstone Fellow in 2008. She is admitted to the bar in Florida, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Supreme Court, and multiple federal appellate courts.


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