The College Fix

First Amendment protections should be the same on and off campus, lawmaker says

After five years of legislative debate and multiple higher education related free speech lawsuits, Idaho has passed a bill to protect students’ freedom of speech on campus.

The bill, Protecting Campus Free Speech in Higher Education Act, passed the state House and Senate and then Gov. Brad Little signed it into law on March 31. It goes into effect in July 1.

“First Amendment protection should apply …with the same force on college campuses as a community at large,” state Rep. Barbara Ehardt told The College Fix in a recent phone interview.

Ehardt, (pictured) a Republican from Idaho’s 33rd District, championed the legislation alongside state Sen. Kevin Cook. She told The Fix she stuck with it for five years, introducing it again in February after it failed to pass in the previous sessions.

“I’ve always been a proponent of our First Amendment, and it was something that I knew needed to happen…and I’m grateful to see it pass this time,” Ehardt said.

This piece of legislation backs up the U.S. Supreme Court decision Healy v. James, which was cited in the bill. It states that students on college campuses deserve their First Amendment rights to be upheld and protected the same as if they were anywhere else in the country.

The new law prohibits public higher education institutions from creating “free speech zones or other designated outdoor areas of campus outside of which non-commercial, protected expressive activities are prohibited.” These zones limit where students may speak freely about controversial issues.

Additionally, institutions cannot charge security fees to student organizations due to “the content of the expression … or the anticipated reaction to an invited guest’s expression.”

By the end of the year, each college and university must publish a report on its website about its actions to implement the requirements in the new law.

Ehardt told The Fix the five year delay on the bill was due to party splits as well as the leadership in the state Senate.

When the bill was brought to the floor in 2022, it had bipartisan support, but not enough votes to pass, she said. This spring, while the bill did pass the full legislature, Ehardt said it was “baffling that we didn’t get that support this time through.”

Although the journey was long, it was well “worth it,” Ehardt wrote on X.

Advocates of legislation cited free speech lawsuits in the state as one of the reasons for its necessity. In recent years, several lawsuits were filed against Idaho universities alleging students, faculty, and even outsiders had their free speech rights impeded on campus.

One case came from members of the University of Idaho’s Christian Legal Society, claiming the law school punished them for making comments in support of biblical marriage between a man and a woman.

In 2022, the university agreed to pay $90,000 to settle the case, The Fix previously reported.

Representing the Christian law students in the case was Alliance Defending Freedom, an organization that works to protect freedom of speech and religion. The legal group was a key supporter of Ehardt’s bill.

“Free speech particularly on college campuses is critical, namely because today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders, and we just need to ensure that they have the proper constitutional framework for what free speech is and what it is not,” ADF Senior Counsel Zack Pruitt said.

Pruitt told The Fix in a phone interview that the bill clarifies for universities and students what is considered free speech and what isn’t.

It also requires each university’s free speech policies to be better advertised and explained to students so they know their rights, he said.

Idaho joins the ranks of 23 other states that have passed similar legislation, aiming to protect the First Amendment rights of all people on college campuses.

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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Campus Mania/YouTube, Barbara Ehardt/Idaho Legislature

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