Giving Compass' Take:

· The Heritage Foundation discusses a recent incident at the University of Arizona concerning the difference between freedom of speech and harassment.

· Where do colleges draw the line between free speech and harassment? How can colleges protect students' freedom of speech rights on campus?

· Here's more on the future of free speech on college campuses.

Three Arizona students may soon learn a valuable lesson: There’s a difference between exercising your free speech on campus and blocking someone else’s attempt to do the same.

In March, three University of Arizona students shouted down a group of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, and then chased them to their cars, hurling insults and other invectives along the way.

While the entire incident is not available on video, a police report and available recordings suggest the students disrupted an event inside a campus facility, harassing both students and the agents.

The students have become known as the “Arizona Three.” They face charges for Interference with the Peaceful Conduct of an Educational Institution, among other citations.

Arizona has some of the nation’s best provisions for protecting free speech on public college campuses, and universities can hold hearings when students violate someone else’s expressive activity and consider “a range of disciplinary actions.”

Yet criminal activity must be referred to the proper authorities, and schools have the responsibility to maintain order inside classrooms and other campus facilities. The university police were within their professional capacity to refer these students to local authorities.

Read the full article about the difference between free speech and harassment on college campuses by Jonathan Butcher at The Heritage Foundation.