Survey Shows Complex Self-Censorship Patterns Among Law Professors
56% of U.S. law faculty report self-censorship, with conservatives feeling it more intensely.
Why it matters: Understanding self-censorship helps clarify debates about academic freedom in legal education. It also impacts how future lawyers are taught critical thinking and argument skills.
- 56% of law faculty report at least occasional self-censorship over expressing opinions.
- 72% of conservative law faculty feel unable to speak freely versus 50% of liberal faculty.
- Only 15% of law professors identify as conservative compared to 35% of practicing lawyers.
- The legal academy remains 11 percentage points more liberal than the broader legal profession after adjustments.
A recent survey by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) found that more than half of law professors in the U.S. experience self-censorship, fearing how students, colleagues, or administrators might react to their expressed opinions. This phenomenon is notably more prevalent among conservative faculty, with 72% reporting such concerns, compared to 50% of liberal faculty.
Research published in the Journal of Legal Studies (JLS) helps contextualize these feelings, showing that conservatives constitute only about 15% of law professors, while they make up 35% of practicing lawyers broadly. Even when adjusting for individual characteristics, the academic legal field is 11 percentage points more liberal than the profession as a whole.
These ideological patterns may shape scholarly output as well. A study by Adam Chilton and Eric A. Posner (SSRN) finds correlations between law professors' political donations and the ideological leanings of their legal scholarship.
According to Nathan Honeycutt, Manager of Polling and Analytics at FIRE, "Law schools are supposed to train the future lawyers, judges, and policymakers of America to grapple with all sides of an argument and make the strongest possible case for their position. When faculty report feeling unable to speak freely, it becomes harder to teach and model those critical skills for the next generation of legal professionals." This highlights the stakes academic freedom debates have for faculty governance and the quality of legal education.
By the numbers:
- 56% — U.S. law faculty reporting at least occasional self-censorship
- 72% — Conservative law faculty feeling unable to express opinions freely
- 11 percentage points — Legal academy more liberal than the legal profession after controls
Yes, but: While self-censorship appears widespread, specific causes and impacts on education outcomes remain under-explored in available data.
What's next: Future studies may track trends in self-censorship and explore causes and consequences for legal education.