"Supreme Court Avoids Ruling on College Campus 'Speech Police' Dispute"

The Supreme Court declined to address a challenge to college "bias response teams," which are criticized as stifling free speech, citing the mootness of the dispute over Virginia Tech's discontinued policy. Justices Alito and Thomas expressed dissent, arguing that the policy stifled students' speech. The nonprofit group Speech First equated the policy to a "speech code," while the university maintained that the panel had no power to discipline students and the policy's rescission was unrelated to the litigation. The case was initially declined by a federal judge and upheld by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.