721 F.Supp. at 856. Views, whether they are controversial or commonplace, may be punished if anybody in earshot becomes offended. I am currently searching for test cases at area schools, especially MIT, to overturn sexual harassment policies that violate free speech. My brother Lars, an MIT graduate student, is weighing the possibility of suing MIT on the basis of its sexual harassment policy, since expressing his opinions opposing regulation of sexually-explicit speech might technically place him in danger of administrative reprisals under the MIT policy. When I spoke to Dean Wald at the diversity forum several weeks ago, she told me that the same sexual harassment policy would be applied to speech among students as to speech between administrators and faculty and staff.
Employees can go home and escape the watchful eyes of administrators.
I have published extensively on free speech and privacy rights issues relating to sexuality. If Harvard adopts a similarly censorial policy that heavily restricts speech on sexual matters, I will promptly bring an action in the local superior court to have the policy vacated. In contrast to many other potential targets of sexual speech restrictions, I might be sanctioned for merely expressing my political beliefs. Therefore, I would have an uncommonly good chance of prevailing in court, since core political speech has greater protection under the law than merely personal sexual speech engaged in between people in a non-political context. Please contact me for any information I can provide you in writing the news story on the proposed sexual harassment policy.