Seventh Circuit finds Indiana university law does not violate professors' free speech

A three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit determined that Indiana's recent higher-education statute does not infringe on professors' First Amendment protections. The law, added to the state’s education code, mandates that public-university faculty present scholarly works from varied political or ideological frameworks, with non-compliance potentially leading to tenure loss or termination. The judges found no credible enforcement threat or chilling effect, noting that the professors could not show that the act compelled self-censorship.

The panel affirmed that the plaintiffs lacked standing, echoing a district court finding that the statute applies to university trustees rather than directly to faculty. Judge Joshua Kolar, appointed by President Biden, wrote that the record did not reveal an objective threat, while Judge Frank Easterbrook, a Reagan appointee, concurred and argued that academic freedom resides with the institution, not individual instructors. The decision leaves Indiana’s “intellectual diversity” requirement in place.