A federal judge in Austin has ruled against a group representing University of Texas students who claim the school’s policies on verbal harassment and hate speech are too broad, protentially opening them up for punishment or sanctions.
The lawsuit was filed in 2018 by a group called ‘Speech First,’ which offers to sue universities for as little as $5. In the suit against UT, the group says the students are afraid to express dissenting opinions over hot button issues like gun control, abortion, and illegal immgration. So, for example, if a student wanted to speak out against people coming into the country illegally, the lawsuit claims the school stifled their right to free speech by implementing the fear that they would face some form of retaliation, or at the very least, a host of complaints from student activists.
On Tuesday, however, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel threw out the lawsuit, claiming there was no evidence to prove that any student has been harmed by the policies of the university, siding with attorneys representing UT who had made that case.
Speech First had been seeking an injunction in order to prevent UT from imposing or enforcing its policies on public speech.
