1. INTRODUCTION
[T]hreats of lawsuits, or even just
the fear of threats of lawsuits, can suppress scholarly debate and
thereby compromise academic freedom.1
Researchers and academics are routinely required to defend
statements they have made in the course of their work — at
conferences of their peers, in the context of internal reviews, in
complaint and discipline proceedings, and in peer-reviewed
publications. But the prospect of defending the same statements in
a court when faced with a defamation claim (or even the dark threat
of a defamation claim) is another beast entirely — one that
can have the devastating effect of inhibiting academic freedom.
Academic freedom has been defined as the freedom to teach,
discuss, research, and publish works without institutional
censorship or other unreasonable interference. Without academic
freedom, post-secondary institutions cannot achieve their goals of
conducting independent research, disseminating knowledge,
