In a state that has seen lawsuits against universities amid a larger trend of restricting speech based on viewpoint, Governor Brad Little (R) has signed free speech protections into law.
Zack Pruitt, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, says the Protecting Campus Free Speech in Higher Education Act (HB 240) keeps colleges and universities from restricting certain viewpoints by clarifying definitions in state code with respect to harassment, students, and student groups.
"All of these definitions are designed just to make sure that the university officials are viewing these subjects and these topics in the way that the Supreme Court has defined them," Pruitt tells AFN.
The bill also bans the use of so-called "free speech zones"
"Free speech zones are something that we've seen schools use across the country to kind of take certain points of view and restrict them to far areas of campus where there's not as much foot traffic," the attorney explains.
That limits a speaker's ability to reach his or her intended audience, and it is something that Pruitt says has been "repeatedly ruled unconstitutional."
HB 240 also prohibits security fees from being applied in a viewpoint-based manner, meaning administrators cannot decide that a conservative speaker, for example, will have high security fees and that a liberal speaker will have minimal to no security fees.
Lastly, Pruitt says the new law simply requires disclosure to students, faculty, and administrators to ensure everyone knows their rights and the state's policies under the new law, which allows a student or student group whose rights have been violated to bring their case to a state court.
This comes on the heels of Gov. Little signing the Parental Choice Tax Credit bill (HB 93) into law in February – legislation that made school choice programs available for the first time in the state's history.
