Texas Governor Abbott Doesn’t Understand the First Amendment
On the 27th of March, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order which had the purpose of curbing speech deemed as “anti-semitic” on all state-run universities. Unfortunately, speech protection on public universities has been shaky in the past with universities attempting to restrict speech many times with varying levels of success. Supreme Court decision Healey v James 1972 states that “Among the rights protected by the First Amendment is the right of individuals to associate to further their personal beliefs. While the freedom of association is not explicitly set out in the Amendment, it has been held to be implicit in the freedoms of speech, assembly, and petition.” There is a long precedent of courts protecting speech, even what is considered hate speech in the United States. This has previously extended to college campuses, although states universities have challenged this ruling.
The terrible events of October 7 have prompted the Governor to issue an executive decree related to speech, specifically speech which is deemed to be anti-semitic. One can argue the semantics behind labeling anti-zionist speech as anti-semitic speech, but regardless, the First Amendment and court precedent has been clear on the topic. The executive order given by Governor Abbott features language which conflicts with the the First Amendment. In the order, the Governor supposes that the graffiti marked on Texas university campuses was anti-semitic. While of course graffiti
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