Remarkable that a law is needed to enforce what is already enshrined in the Constitution. The Kentucky chapter of the ACLU is less than thrilled.
Via Campus Reform:
Despite criticism by the state’s American Civil Liberties Union, a Kentucky bill protecting free speech on campus has passed the state’s House of Representatives and Senate and now awaits approval by the governor.
HB 254 would force public universities in Kentucky to adopt measures making certain that individuals do not “substantially obstruct or otherwise substantially interfere with the freedom of others to express views they reject.” The bill would also mandate that schools do not confine free speech to “free speech zones” and allow guest speakers to address campuses regardless of their views, The Louisville Courier-Journal reported.
HB 254 sailed through Kentucky’s Senate with a 30-7 vote on Thursday after the state’s House approved it by a 64-33 margin on March 12.
“I think everyone in this body would agree that universities are meant to be the place of discussion and debate,” Republican state Sen. Wil Schroder said, according to WVTQ. “Yet, unfortunately, many of our universities have policies in place to prohibit the marketplace of ideas.”
Schroder compared HB 254 to a 2018 Senate bill, which the Senate passed but which ultimately failed.
The state’s ACLU chapter is not thrilled with the bill.