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The University of Texas system, including UT-San Antonio, implemented the law before a judge intervened. Credit: Shutterstock \/ University of College<\/p>\nThe University of Texas system, including UT-San Antonio, implemented the law before a judge intervened. Credit: Shutterstock \/ University of College<\/p>\n
AUSTIN \u2014 U.S. District Judge David Alan Azra on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking Texas\u2019 public universities from stifling students\u2019 First Amendment rights after dark.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the wake of nationwide campus protests against Israel\u2019s ground offensive in Gaza, the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 2972, which prohibited students at state schools from \u201cany speech or expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment\u201d between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yikes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Azra, who sits on the federal bench for Texas\u2019 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe First Amendment does not have a bedtime of 10 p.m.,\u201d Azra said in his ruling. \u201cThe burden is on the government to prove that its actions are narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling governmental interest. It has not done so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Azra\u2019s ruling also blocks a provision of the law that would have banned students from inviting outside speakers to campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Apple News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>| Twitter<\/a>\u00a0| Or sign up for our\u00a0RSS Feed<\/a><\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tPornHub sued to overturn the new rule on free-speech grounds, and a judge agreed, calling the law \u2018unconstitutional on its face.\u2019\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tTech groups have also sued to block the state law from going into effect Sept. 1.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMichael Karlis is a Staff Writer at the San Antonio Current. He is a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., whose work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, Orlando…\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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