Bill > SB0723

This bill, known as the "Campus Free Speech Protection Act," amends Title 49 of the Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA). The key provisions of the bill include: 1. Affirming that public institutions of higher education in Tennessee are not immune from the protections of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I, Section 19 of the Tennessee Constitution, which guarantee freedom of speech and expression. 2. Requiring public institutions to adopt a policy that upholds the principles of free speech, including maintaining campuses as "marketplaces of ideas," allowing students and faculty to invite guest speakers regardless of their views, and prohibiting the establishment of "free speech zones" or the disinvitation of speakers based on the anticipated reaction of others. 3. Defining "student-on-student harassment" narrowly as unwelcome conduct that is discriminatory, severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive, in order to avoid overly broad speech restrictions. 4. Allowing institutions to impose reasonable, content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions, as well as restrictions on non-protected speech, to preserve the institution's mission and property. 5. Authorizing the governing bodies of public institutions to promulgate rules to effectuate the purposes of the act.

Education

http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/Billinfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0723&ga=110