Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones. (City of Calumet City)

Hank Sanders reported in an Oct. 20 story that consultants told Calumet City administrators the city’s stormwater infrastructure was in poor condition before flooding wrought by record September rains. Officials say Sanders continued to call and email city employees, drawing complaints including from Mayor Thaddeus Jones.

(WTTW News)

The Forum’s mission of “understanding, practicing and advancing” free inquiry and expression takes form this week with speaker panels as part of the initiative’s official launch.

Cloud Gate (Johnny Knight / Statue Stories Chicago)
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The proposed settlement is set to be considered by the City Council’s Finance Committee on Monday. A final vote of the City Council could come on Wednesday.

(StartupStockPhotos / Pixabay)

Should social media companies be responsible for fact-checking content? The debate over free speech on Facebook.

(PublicDomainPictures / Pixabay)

It’s Banned Books Week, an annual event organized by the Chicago-based American Library Association to highlight the threat of censorship. Find out which books were challenged most in 2018.

Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam speaks at St. Sabina Church on Thursday night, May 9, 2019. (Ashlee Rezin / Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

The Nation of Islam leader who was recently banned from Facebook spoke Thursday in a wide-ranging sermon that hit upon some of the anti-Semitic and black nationalist themes he has come to be known for.

How did we get the free speech protections we enjoy today, and where might they head in the future? A new book uncovers that – and more.

A Black Lives Matter protester interrupts a speech by conservative blogger Milo Yiannopoulos at DePaul University in May 2016. (Courtesy of Diamaris Martino)

Universities across the U.S. are trying to reconcile two conflicting free speech concerns: the right of students to protest controversial speakers and the right of those commentators to speak on campus.

The Dr. Seuss book "The Lorax" was banned in a California school district in the late 1980s. (Carissa Rogers / Flickr)

Readings and discussions with a focus on this year’s theme of diversity will take place in libraries and bookstores across Chicago.

(Burns Library, Boston College / Flickr)

Safe spaces and trigger warnings: Are they good for college students or stifling academic and intellectual freedom?

(Gage Skidmore / Flickr)

Is Donald Trump inciting violence with his latest controversial quip? A closer look at whether his words constitute free speech. 

Ben Shapiro speaks at a Young America's Foundation event.

Students across the political spectrum are angry with DePaul University's decision not to allow a conservative writer and commentator to speak at an on-campus event.

Jeremy Geltzer

Jeremy Geltzer's new book "Dirty Words and Filthy Pictures" explores the film industry's relationship with the First Amendment and how the definition of obscenity has changed over the years.