“The most important indication of bias is your own feelings,” the public university writes on its Bias Response Team page of incidents
Speech First filed the lawsuit in May 2018, claiming the Bias Response Team’s policies “capture staggering amounts of protected speech and expression.” The nonprofit membership association that works to combat restrictions on free speech at colleges and universities, represented three anonymous students in the lawsuit.
An agreement was reached between UM and the Washington D.C.-based Speech First on Oct. 24-25. The settlement came about a month after a federal appeals court vacated a federal district judge’s ruling against the nonprofit, saying the Bias Response Team acts with the implicit threat of punishment and intimidation to quell speech on campus.
Prior to the settlement, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals panel issued the majority opinion on Sept. 23, sending the case back to U.S. District Court, although it declined to instruct the lower court to issue a preliminary injunction to end the Bias Response Team.