Montana Law Guarantees Free Speech on Public College Campuses
The pages of The Daily Citizen are filled with stories of First Amendment lawsuits by college students and Christian clubs having to sue public schools and universities simply to be allowed to speak the truth concerning Christ, discuss the sanctity of life, or express views concerning the culture. Restrictive speech codes and “speech zones” serve to strangle the right to speak on campus under the guise of “reasonable time, place and manner” regulations. And, year after year, federal court victories for free speech continue to rack up, yet somehow do not serve to educate or motivate college administrators the way they should.
That’s why Montana recently joined other speech-friendly states in passing its own laws abolishing speech codes and zones on public college campuses within its borders. HB 218 prohibits speech zones, requires school policies that affirm and encourage free speech, and requires accountability from the state’s public colleges and universities.
That accountability takes the form of regular reports to the governor and the public outlining the institution’s steps taken to comply with the law. It also allows students whose free speech rights have been violated to sue the educational institution for monetary damages.
A second bill passed by the Montana legislature, HB 349, prohibits discrimination against student clubs on the basis of their viewpoint. It includes the protection of a club’s right to require its leaders to adhere to the club’s sincerely held beliefs, a response to situations around the country involving a school’s attempt to force Christian clubs to accept leaders who don’t adhere to the club’s statement of faith or code of conduct.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has represented numerous clubs and students in these types of cases around the country over the years. It issued a press release commending Montana for its new law.
Jeff Laszloffy is the President of Montana Family Foundation (MFF), a Focus on the Family-allied organization. MFF promotes pro-family values in The Treasure State. The Daily Citizen spoke with Laszloffy to get his reaction to the two new free speech laws in his state.
“Well, obviously, we think it’s a great idea,” he said. “The muzzle has been removed, and students can once again speak freely about their beliefs and their political viewpoints.”
Laszloffy mentioned that the two recently enacted bills were prompted by an incident at the University of Montana where the student chapter of the Christian Legal Society was penalized and defunded for requiring its leadership to sign a statement of faith.
He also told us that the legislature has passed a state version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), known as SB 215, which prohibits government from substantially burdening the free exercise of religion unless it has a compelling government interest at stake. Even then the government must take care to accomplish its goal in a the least restrictive way available. A RFRA is a valuable tool to have at the state level in the protection of our precious religious freedom.
And as if that wasn’t enough good news, the Montana legislature also passed a Religion is Essential Act, as several other states have recently, to ensure that when public emergencies such as pandemics require the closing of businesses and other facilities, churches are treated fairly.
The Montana legislature is almost finished with its yearly session, but it has successfully passed several major pieces of pro-family, free speech and religion-friendly legislation. Congratulations to Jeff Laszloffy and the Montana Family Foundation for their great work!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bruce Hausknecht, J.D., is an attorney who serves as Focus on the Family’s judicial analyst. He is responsible for research and analysis of legal and judicial issues related to Christians and the institution of the family, including First Amendment freedom of religion and free speech issues, judicial activism, marriage, homosexuality and pro-life matters. He also tracks legislation and laws affecting these issues. Prior to joining Focus in 2004, Hausknecht practiced law for 17 years in construction litigation and as an associate general counsel for a large ministry in Virginia. He was also an associate pastor at a church in Colorado Springs for seven years, primarily in worship music ministry. Hausknecht has provided legal analysis and commentary for top media outlets including CNN, ABC News, NBC News, CBS Radio, The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe and BBC radio. He’s also a regular contributor to The Daily Citizen. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Illinois and his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law. Hausknecht has been married since 1981 and has three adult children, as well as three adorable grandkids. In his free time, Hausknecht loves getting creative with his camera and capturing stunning photographs of his adopted state of Colorado.
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