Doe v. University of Michigan
Doe v. University of Michigan, 721 F. Supp. 852 (E.D. Mich. 1989), was a case that determined that the University of Michigan's 1988 hate speech law violated the constitutional right to free speech. Background. In the late 1980s, incidents of hate crimes and racial slurs were increasing on American campuses. Michigan was one of the first schools in the late 80s to adopt a hate speech code, prohibiting negative speech towards specific ethnic groups, women, LGBT people and other minorities. Outcome. The court ruled in the favor of Doe and against UoM. Doe v.