Hear No Offense, See No Offense, Speak No Offense

At San Jose State University, you can’t “publicly [tell] offensive jokes.” That’s according to their speech code, which just garnered them FIRE’s Speech Code of the Month award.

But that’s not all. What qualifies as an “offensive joke”? By the speech code’s words, whatever the aggrieved party wants.

I am not making this up. Though if I were trying to come up with a better picture of absurdity, I’m not sure I could.

For this, SJSU deserves not only FIRE’s Speech Code of the Month, but a lawsuit. One in which the university must remain silent while the judge tries its case from the viewpoint of whoever SJSU has offended.