A new law enacted Monday in Louisiana excludes acts of civil disobedience from free speech protections on public college campuses, The Louisiana Illuminator reported.
Introduced in response to the wave of pro-Palestinian student encampments that swept campuses this year, the law, sponsored by Republican senator Valarie Hodges, is designed to maintain free speech while protecting the educational function of a college or university.
“What we need on college campuses is education, not activists,” Hodges told The Illuminator.
It excludes free speech protections from any act that carries a criminal penalty—in the case of encampments, trespassing, for example.
The bill, “protects free speech for everyone but makes it very clear that criminal activity and pro-terrorist, giving support to terrorist groups, does not belong on our college campuses,” Hodges said during a committee hearing on the bill in May.
Students and faculty oppose the law, arguing that it will inhibit First Amendment rights and cause a chilling effect at institutions that are meant to foster a marketplace of ideas.
“Criminalizing free speech is not the answer,” Pablo Zavala, a Loyola University of New Orleans professor, said at the same hearing. “Just because someone does not agree with what students are saying or what they are protesting does not give lawmakers authority to curb their rights.”
