cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/30989415
Texas lawmakers trying to muzzle campus protests have just passed one of the most ridiculous anti-speech laws in the country. If signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, Senate Bill 2972 would ban speech at night — from study groups to newspaper reporting — at public universities in the state.
Ironically, the bill builds on a previous law passed in 2019 meant to enshrine free speech on Texas campuses. But now, lawmakers want to crack down on college students’ pro-Palestinian protests so badly that they literally passed a prohibition on talking.
SB 2972 would require public universities in Texas to adopt policies prohibiting “engaging in expressive activities on campus between the hours of 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.” Expressive activity includes “any speech or expressive conduct” protected by the First Amendment or Texas Constitution.
Let’s do the same thing with the second amendment and see how that goes over in Texas. “You have the right to bear arms, but not when you should be in bed…”
How does a law explicitly interfering with first amendment rights not get immediately struck down as unconstitutional? Limiting free speech is not even an unintended theoretical side effect of the bill; it’s the expressed purpose.
It still has to be passed before it can make it’s way through the courts to strike it down. And then it depends on the clearly partisan judges in Texas.
The politicians who write these laws should be fined for wasting the taxpayers’ money.
No they should be imprisoned for 90 days, second offense 2 years, 3rd offense 10 years, with no way to appeal.
Immediately stripped of office for dereliction of duty to the American people. That’s the first step. Fines or jail after, scaled appropriately to the attempted damage they’re trying to cause.
scaled appropriately
So, like we’d do with a fish?
1st offense: Pillory
2nd offense: Luigi
The funny thing is, it was not explicitly clear at the time of the founding whether things like the First Amendment applied to States at all. After all, the Constitution applied to the Federal Government, and States had their own government…
… Until after the Civil War, when the 14th amendment was ratified. You might be familiar with the 14th Amendment as it is the one that guarantees birthright citizenship. Well, that’s just it’s first sentence. The second sentence also guarantees all citizens the rights enumerated in the Constitution, making it clear that the States cannot abridge those rights.
But right now, the plain language of the 14th Amendment is under attack by Conservatives who claim that it all of a sudden does not cover people born here whose parents are not citizens. So as long as today’s Conservatives will ignore one part of the 14th Amendment, why not ignore the rest and hope a captured SCOTUS makes it all hunky-dory after the fact!
If that part of the 14th doesn’t apply, then logically none of the people in the former Confederate states are US Citizens.
Pretty sure they don’t want that.
Oh they’ll figure out some tortured logic to make sure they get the outcome they want while screwing over people they hate.
Just to be clear, limiting free speech is already allowed to a degree. The Supreme Court has long ruled that it’s legal to constrain the right to expression based on time, manner, and place restrictions, so long as those restrictions are content neutral, serve a legitimate public need, and are minimally restrictive to serve that need.
This law absolutely does not qualify. I’m sure they will argue it served some bullshit need to prevent disruption to campus activities, issues with policing, public safety, etc. But there is no chance that restricting all 1st amendment expression on a college campus for nearly 12 hours a day serves any legitimate public need in the least restrictive manner to serve that need. It will certainly be struck down as unconstitutional by a sensible judge somewhere along the way.
But the problem is that this law is not the goal. They want a judge to strike it down. That is the actual goal. That is why they keep passing such blatantly unconstitutional laws in red states pertaining to religion, free speech, lgbt rights, etc. They are doing it for 2 reasons A) They are trying to make the legitimate acts of the judicial branch out to be some sort of overreach on the will of Trump and conservative states to help remove stopgaps that they can’t control from their way entirely. That’s what the SCOTUS’ ruling against national injunctions for lower federal courts was meant to hinder. And B) when it does get ruled against, they just have to keep appealing until they get to the Supreme Court and let the right wing nuts redefine our 1st amendment rights to suit their desires for the entire country, not just Texas. Even if this particular law doesn’t survive their decision, again, that was never the point. You can bet your ass that even in striking the specific law down, they will set new precedent with the case that will fundamentally weaken free speech rights for all of us. It will make it easier to implement draconian laws like this on a national scale.
Shooting someone communicates hatred, fear, or self-defense, so it’ll be banned by default. Sometimes we’ll use gunshots for Morse code here
" a similar policy at Indiana University that required prior approval for protests on campus occurring between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m"
Kinda off topic but I think we need a different word for this kind of “protest”. If you’re gathering at a place chosen by the people you’re protesting against, at a time chosen by the people you’re protesting against, you aren’t protesting. You’re having a protest-roleplaying picnic
It’s the “free speech zones” of the Dubya days all over again 😮💨
I’m partial to “parade.”
Edit: never mind
oh i am in the middle of writing a song about this. Its called You Are Not Invited To The Jaywalking Parade
Land of the free
Red Tailed Hawk screech
Rock, flag, and eagle, right Charlie?
Gonna rise up, gonna kick a little ass…
*terms and conditions apply.
Okaaaay…we’ll just do it in the daytime, where more people can witness it and more people can join us ✌️😂
GOP Congressmen are weak, ineffectual, inverse virtue signalers. We can’t let them just hang around like the Confederates did after the Civil War, which is a big part of why we’re back here again.
Inverse virtue signalers? Does that mean they’re “vice signalers,” or…?
I’d say that this is such a clear violation of the 1st amendment that it would be struck down quicker than Trump on a PDF File candidate but with all things given…
How do they expect people to get a degree if you cant stay up all night in a lab bashing 3 heads at a problem?
Like many laws, it will be enforced only against speech they don’t like. If you make it so that everyone is breaking laws at all times, you can target anyone you want with impunity while letting your friends run free.
or skin colors they don’t like
or generally, anyone they don’t like
Update: This article was published on June 5. Since then, Gov. Greg Abbott has signed Senate Bill 2972 into law. It will take effect Sept. 1.
Wow. So they actually went through with the lunacy 🤦
Yeah, I saw it on the update they put in the post when I pulled it up on archive to get passed the subscription requirement. It’s crazy that anyone could think a law like that should pass anywhere.
Crazy is the word, yeah. If anybody tells you that zionism and MAGA aren’t cults, you can point to this as a stellar example of how the programming has melted away any resemblance of sanity.
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So basically sleeping and silently staring at the walls will be the nightlife options at Texas universities.
What is this, BYU?
Every day is ten steps closer to Gilead
It’s even worse, BYU at least has Soaking^TM happening after dark.
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Sounds like a good form of protest if done at the right locations and in sufficient numbers.
Texans should exercise their second amendment in order to protect their first. Kill traitors to the Constitution.
Technically we have more campus carry rights than 1st amendment rights now
Sounds like it violates a couple of amendments, there.
so along with a bunch of other things that they’re trying to do, then. business as usual. and nobody stopping them.
Like 50 or so it seems
Not even developing countries have such bullshit campus “laws”, WTF is this shit?
Free speech hours, what the actual fuck? Are the GOP alien lizards that need quiet time at night?
Republican Free Speech™*
*terms and conditions apply
That ASL Elective is about to fill up.
zionism is just flatly incompatible with American free speech. There will be a backlash to this overreach and I wouldnt want to be a zionist when it happens.
