The Louisiana Senate Education Committee Wednesday quickly advanced without objection a bill that would further limit free speech on public college campuses in the state.
Those limits have been packaged in a broader bill banning terrorist organizations from sponsoring or organizing campus protests, something that is not happening in Louisiana or across the country currently.
Senate Bill 294 by Sen. Valarie Hodges, a Denham Springs Republican, would carve out a specific exception to campus free speech protections if that activity is being funded or organized by “any individual, corporation, business, or organization that has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Dept. of State.”
Notably, the bill also adds in broad language saying protections for campus free speech don’t apply to “any criminal activity which is prohibited by state law.”
Non-violent protests often break laws, such as trespassing. Civil Rights Movement activists broke segregation laws with their sit-ins in the 1960s. The environmental and animal rights movements also have had a long history of direct-action protests.
The bill appears aimed at the sort of protests happening at Tulane University and other campuses across the country over the violence in Gaza. In a statement Wednesday, Tulane officials referred to an encampment set up by pro-Palestinian protesters as “illegal” and an “unlawful occupation.”
“What we need on college campuses is education, not activists,” Hodges said. “When you've got universities that are canceling classes and students threatening other students, that's just not acceptable.”
In New Orleans, pro-Palestinian protesters have held a number of demonstrations, including a student-led one at Tulane, organized in part by the Tulane and Loyola chapters of Students for a Democratic Society. Protesters set up an encampment Monday evening and stayed there until the wee hours of Wednesday morning, when armed police officers broke up the demonstration.
Over that time, the protest was largely peaceful with only minor skirmishes between students and police. In total, law enforcement made 20 arrests.
Current campus free speech protections in law already exclude commercial activities, in which organizers are being compensated or trying to advertise to make money, either for themselves or a business or organization.
Hodges said she was worried about her teenage daughter, who will be attending Louisiana State University in the fall.
“A lot of, including myself, people are worried about sending their children to college anyway, and we want to make sure that college campuses are a safe place for our children,” she said.
The committee moved the bill forward in less than 10 minutes. Nobody testified in favor or in opposition, though there were several green cards from people in support of the measure.
The bill will still have to pass the full Senate, a House committee, the full House and be signed by the governor to become law.
“This is a specific event that you can not contain,” Rep. Mandie Landry said of Mardi Gras.
The House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice on Tuesday pushed back votes on several bills that would have added exceptions to Lo…
