Judge halts Texas law banning certain types of speech on college campuses after dark

The University of Texas system, including UT-San Antonio, implemented the law before a judge intervened. Credit: Shutterstock / University of College

AUSTIN — U.S. District Judge David Alan Azra on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking Texas’ public universities from stifling students’ First Amendment rights after dark.

In the wake of nationwide campus protests against Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza, the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 2972, which prohibited students at state schools from “any speech or expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment” between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.

Yikes.

Little surprise that a cohort of student organizations, with the help of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), was quick to sue over the state law, which was put into place by the University of Texas Board of Regents.

Azra, who sits on the federal bench for Texas’ Western District, ruled that the students in the lawsuit were likely to succeed on the merits and blocked the law from going into effect while the case makes its way through the courts.

“The First Amendment does not have a bedtime of 10 p.m.,” Azra said in his ruling. “The burden is on the government to prove that its actions are narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling governmental interest. It has not done so.”

Azra’s ruling also blocks a provision of the law that would have banned students from inviting outside speakers to campus.

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Judge halts Texas law banning certain types of speech on college campuses after dark

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