Next month marks one year since Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while giving a speech at Utah Valley University. In the 12 months since, a bronze statue of Kirk has been sculpted for Times Square. Congress designated his birthday a National Day of Remembrance. More than 100,000 people attended his memorial at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. And the legal architecture protecting free expression on campus has never been stronger.

Nearly half of U.S. states have now passed some version of the Forming Open and Robust University Minds Act, which bans so-called “free speech zones,” prohibits viewpoint discrimination against student organizations, and requires schools to keep outdoor campus areas open as public forums. Last fall, the House passed the Respecting the First Amendment on Campus Act on a bipartisan vote. The Supreme Court’s position on hate speech hasn’t budged in decades: there is no hate speech exception to the First Amendment. The line is drawn at incitement to imminent lawless action, and it always has been. The legal scaffolding is in place.

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So why does none of that seem to matter?

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This year’s FIRE College Free Speech Rankings tell a story that should unsettle anyone who thinks legislation alone can fix this. For the first time in six years of data........

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