College campuses have come a long way from the harmless panty raids of the 1950s.

Today, many are seething cauldrons of political correctness and censorship of free speech.

Dissenting students are punished or expelled without due process of law.

SC Attorney General Alan Wilson has joined other states' officials in urging a US District Court to protect :

- Students from harassment,

- Free speech and fair process. 

Wilson said the court must let the Department of Education reaffirm Title IX’s anti-discrimination purpose without infringing on free speech or due process. 

“We think that some colleges and the Department of Education have been so intent on getting rid of anything offensive from campus that they’ve trampled on the rights of students to free speech and due process,” he said.

“Schools don’t have to make a choice between fighting sexual harassment and protecting constitutional rights.

"They can do both.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton led the 15-state appeal and said, “Academic institutions cannot deprive students of their constitutional rights to free speech, due process, or fair trial. The [Education Department's] Final Rule provides robust protection for individual rights where previous regulations and guidance failed. The Supreme Court has long recognized that students subject to disciplinary proceedings are entitled to due process,”   

Without safeguards, academic institutions can and have eschewed due process and imposed life-altering consequences on students without affording them the opportunity to defend themselves, he said. 

The vast majority of colleges and universities currently deny students the right to present evidence or cross-examine witnesses, and less than half require that fact-finders be impartial during investigations.