Texas Legislators Say They Are Protecting Free Speech on Campus by Banning ‘Expressive Activities’ at Night
Five years ago, Brandon Creighton, a Republican who represents parts of five southeastern Texas counties in the state Senate, co-sponsored a law, Senate Bill 18, aimed at protecting freedom of expression at public universities. This year, Creighton introduced a bill, S.B. 2972, that would dial back those protections. Civil libertarians are urging Gov. Greg Abbott to veto the new bill, warning that it contradicts the state’s avowed commitment to vigorous debate representing a wide range of viewpoints.
In a recent Houston Chronicle op-ed piece, First Amendment lawyer Caitlin Vogus and journalist Jimena Pinzon call S.B. 2972 “one of the most ridiculous anti-speech laws in the country.” Among other things, they note, the bill includes an “unfathomably broad” provision that “would ban speech at night—from study groups to newspaper reporting—at public universities in the state.” If Abbott signs the bill, they say, “it will inevitably face a First Amendment challenge that Texas simply can’t win.”
Why have Texas legislators retreated from their support for free speech on campus? In 2019, Republicans were worried about university speech restrictions that discriminated against or disproportionately affected conservatives. Nowadays, they are worried about potentially disruptive anti-Israel activity by left-leaning protesters. But that sort of contingent support for freedom of speech undermines the principle that legislators defended in 2019, which protects speakers regardless of their opinions, ideology, or political affiliation.
S.B. 18, which Abbott proudly signed after it passed the state legislature with broad, bipartisan support, declared that “freedom of expression is of critical importance and requires each public institution of higher education to ensure free, robust, and uninhibited debate and deliberations.” To promote that “uninhibited debate,” the law recognized that “all persons may assemble peaceably on the campuses of institutions of higher education for expressive activities, including to listen to or observe the expressive activities of others.”
S.B. 18 also stipulated that “common outdoor areas” on public university campuses “are deemed traditional public forums,” meaning they are open to lawful expressive activity as long as it “does not materially and substantially disrupt the functioning of the institution.” And the law sought to protect invited speakers from ideological discrimination by barr
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