Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to tackle a challenge involving Virginia Tech’s “bias response teams.”

Critics say these teams act like speech police, making students afraid to speak freely. The court said the argument about the teams at Virginia Tech isn’t relevant anymore because the policy has been stopped. Similar programs exist at other colleges. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, who are conservative, thought the court should have looked into the issue. By saying the case wasn’t relevant anymore, the court threw out a ruling that favored the university.

A group called Speech First, which fights for free speech, argued that the policy is like a rule limiting speech. They say students could get in trouble for using their free speech rights, protected by the First Amendment. People have been talking a lot about free speech on college campuses, especially among those on the political right. They believe college leaders are silencing conservative voices. Under the Virginia Tech policy, complaints would go to a group that included campus administrators and police. Speech First argued this group acted like “speech police.” However, the college said the group only checked complaints to make sure they followed the First Amendment and couldn’t punish students.