A federal judge in Texas ruled that an anti-Israel group can continue a lawsuit against university officials over alleged free speech violations and “viewpoint discrimination” following protests last spring, The Austin American-Statesman reported Thursday.
Obama-appointed district judge Robert Pitman found that the Palestine Solidarity Committee at multiple Texas universities has standing to continue a lawsuit against several universities over First Amendment violations. In the midst of intense anti-Israel protests, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued a March executive order limiting antisemitic speech on campuses, to which universities allegedly limited all forms of speech to comply with the order, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
“If this viewpoint is expressed in a way that truly does rise to the level of a substantial disruption, the disruption can be addressed through content-neutral, time, manner, and place restrictions, such as those the Defendants vigorously argue they applied during the spring protests, making the prohibition on this specific expression not only unconstitutional but unnecessary,” the ruling states.
State Troopers surrounded anti-Israel protesters at the University of Texas at Austin in April after agitators clashed with Austin Police Department officials and members of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Following the April 24 and April 29 protests, over 100 demonstrators were arrested, which led the student group to being suspended, Austin American-Statesman reported.
Pitman ruled that the groups’ suspension was also deemed viewpoint discrimination and a violation of the First Amendment.
“Here, the characteristic of universities as an environment for vigorous debate is outcome determinative,” the ruling states. “The revised university policies chill a kind of expression that is a hallmark of university activity […] the Court finds the [university] cannot show this expression sufficiently rises to the level of a ‘substantial disruption’ at the university level.”
“To the contrary, this type of passionate political debate is essential at universities, where students are forming their worldview as adults,” the ruling continues. “Restrictions on speech at the secondary-school level are justified in part by schools acting in loco parentis to children, but universities do not serve that same function, and even perform a disservice to their mature students by prohibiting expression that some may find disagreeable.”
The UT Palestine Solidarity Committee did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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