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HB54 • A bill promoting freedom of campus speech won unanimous approval Tuesday in the Utah House and now heads to the Senate.
Rep. Kim Coleman, R-West Jordan, has said that HB54 was created to address limits on speech on certain campuses.
Coleman said the bill affirms that college campuses are traditional public forums for speech and that "the institution may maintain a reasonable time, place or manner of restrictions on expression, but everything else is free."
Outdoor areas of public colleges and universities are reserved for free speech and an institution may not prohibit it so long as the speakers' conduct is lawful, under the bill. It also recognizes a cause of legal action if free-speech rights are violated.
The Utah system of higher education has been working with Coleman to create and draft HB54 to update Utah's free-speech policies.
— Jessica Banuelos