Settlement fixes vague UT-Knoxville speech policy
The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Jon Scruggs regarding settlement of McGlone v. Cheek, a lawsuit that challenged the University of Tennessee at Knoxville’s practice of requiring outside speakers to obtain internal “sponsorship” before they could engage in free speech on campus. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit temporarily prohibited the university from enforcing the written policies behind the practice in August of last year and has now issued a consent order that settles the case:“University administrators cannot pick and choose which viewpoints they will allow on campus. This settlement resolves that problem at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville by removing the vague policies that the 6th Circuit found to be unconstitutional. Confusing policies that don’t provide appropriate direction to both speakers and university officials don’t benefit anyone.”
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ABOUT Jonathan Scruggs
Jonathan Scruggs serves as senior counsel and vice president of litigation strategy and the Center for Conscience Initiatives with Alliance Defending Freedom. In this role, he identifies new litigation opportunities and develops new strategies for protecting free speech and religious liberty in collaboration with the chief legal counsel and litigation team directors. As the leader for the Center for Conscience Initiatives, Scruggs oversees the litigation team defending the rights of professionals and business owners to live out their faith as well as the litigation efforts to protect equal opportunities for women in athletics. Since joining ADF in 2006, Scruggs has worked on and prevailed in a variety of cases that protect the right of people to freely express their faith in their business, at school, and in the public square. He earned his J.D. at Harvard Law School and is admitted to practice in the states of Arizona and Tennessee. Scruggs is also admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court and multiple federal district and appellate courts.