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.
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Thanks, adding to OP 🫶
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.
What an absolute madness
" The overnight ban on expressive activities is unfathomably broad. Off the top of our heads, here are just a few examples of what such a policy would prohibit on campus between 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.: Meeting with other students to socialize or study, writing an email, working on a research paper, posting on social media, reporting for the student newspaper, wearing a T-shirt with a slogan, dancing, playing music, painting a picture, or praying at a sunrise service. "
I can hear them hurrying with a text that prevents any sort of protest, they came up with this.
So basically sleeping and silently staring at the walls will be the nightlife options at Texas universities.
What is this, BYU?
It’s even worse, BYU at least has Soaking^TM happening after dark.
Sounds like a good form of protest if done at the right locations and in sufficient numbers.
Every day is ten steps closer to Gilead
I don’t know both these activities involve involuntary and fast eye movement. Gotta check if that biological reaction is allowed.
Republican Free Speech™*
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Not even developing countries have such bullshit campus “laws”, WTF is this shit?
texas, combining russia, and the taliban in one state.
It’s called a fascist dictatorship. I don’t think people realize that we’re deep in this now. It’s no longer nascent, “Ur-Fascism” as Eco described. This is full-on.
It’s terrifying how many people appear to not be aware that this is even happening.
It’s worse how many people act like they care and then go on to say “nothing ever happens” and “I ain’t readin all that” when it comes time to learn what the problem is and what can be done.
We need a very large EMP blast to disable people’s phones and computers. We are responding to the atomization and destruction of society by atomizing ourselves further and withdrawing even further from community and social action.
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.
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.
You’re assuming that the supreme court still cares about the spirit or letter of the law. It’s just a rubber stamp for whatever the right wants.
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
ken paxton should been in jail for the past decade, but the gop legislature protects him.
The fines should be immediate replacement.
Because the Constitution is just a piece of paper without people who believe in it enough to enforce it. And there aren’t many of those on the Supreme court.
so a censorship curfew. Anyone who thinks about going to universities in texas, Dont, also the public ones seems to bending over backwards for trump anyways, especially a&M WHICH also hosted musks unsanctioned brain chip research
This made me curious about what the Texas state constitution had for an equivalent to the 2nd amendment. Some states have their own, and strictly speaking, the federal second amendment wasn’t officially imposed on the states until 2010. (Yes, that does mean that states without their own constitutional restriction could have regulated guns as much as they wanted within their boarders.)
Texas does have one, and its an interesting case.
Sec. 23. RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS. Every citizen shall have the right to keep and bear arms in the lawful defence [sic] of himself or the State; but the Legislature shall have power, by law, to regulate the wearing of arms, with a view to prevent crime. (Feb. 15, 1876.)
Which is interesting because it has an explicit out for regulating carrying of firearms that the federal constitution does not. Doesn’t really matter now that the 2nd amendment is incorporated to the states, but the fact is that Texas would have expressly allowed certain regulations on firearms.
Wait, expressive activity includes expressive conduct? Who would have guessed?
Shooting someone communicates hatred, fear, or self-defense, so it’ll be banned by default. Sometimes we’ll use gunshots for Morse code here
Free speech hours, what the actual fuck? Are the GOP alien lizards that need quiet time at night?
the zodiac killer, Reptilian cruz needs to shed his skin somehow, abbot lost his hamanity with his lower half.
Y’all are speedrunning that antifreedom thing eh?
texas already beat the rest the usa by a decade already. they are a template of russia’s governance.
We would do well to remember that for every democracy that has fallen (and there have been a lot) they had a large segment of the population feverishly supporting the dictators as they burned down the centers of education and the constitutions that ran contrary to the regime’s plans.
They are attempting this kind of overreach because there are people are supporting it. We have to fight these people.
Not with violence or weapons just yet, but with community action and spending our money more wisely. Get involved in your neighborhoods and city management meetings, get social even if you hate people, suck it up and hold some yard sales and bake sales, whatever else gets you talking to people in your immediate area. Start getting to know who your elected officials are and mount organized pressure on them to resist this fascist takeover.
We kick the base out from under this thing and it falls out. Stop fighting stupid, get off the internet, get off Lemmy where you get all your satisfaction looking at memes or fighting with other leftists. Stop buying new games and drugs and alcohol and doordash, hoard your money so the liches don’t get it. Now IS the time.
deleted by creator
Reminder that while the Texas Revolution may have been a diverse coalition of of Mexicans, Irishmen, and Native Americans the people in charge today are the descendants (both literally or ideologically) of the white settlers who were angry Mexico outlawed slavery.
thats why they had the southern baptist, and they still “segregate” race in the south, additionally golf clubs/country clubs, are notorious for that same thing too. one of my english prof in CC college, said he dated a girl who was part of this “high society” club and they had “servents” from Africa serving the country club members, whom were all very pale skin people.
" 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
This would not have flied in the catholic college I attended for two years. Heck it would have reduced academic performance. A whole lot of group study happens after 10pm. Some folks I know its the only time they studied snoozing through out the day between classes.
Wait till they realize facial expressions are in fact expressions.
“You’re suspended”Why?
“I saw a look on your face via the security footage when you were running to the bathroom trying not to piss yourself.”
Freedom!
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
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
“It’s legal if we like it.” – GOP, probably.
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…?
