Lawmaker introduces measures to protect students’ constitutional rights

In response to numerous violations of students’ First Amendment rights across several of Michigan’s public colleges and universities, state Rep. John Reilly today unveiled a pair of measures to establish – and some cases, restore – free speech protections on college campuses.

“The state’s public colleges and universities have the responsibility to uphold the constitutional rights of students and the community on campus grounds,” said Reilly, of Oakland Township. “Right now, students at multiple universities live under speech policies that infringe on their rights to free speech and assembly. Due to some schools’ ongoing unwillingness to ensure their rights, the Legislature must do so.”

Reilly noted that in 2018, Northern Michigan University paid $173,500 in damages to four students who were browbeaten and threatened with punishment if they talked to peers about their risk or thoughts of suicide. He also pointed to recently settled cases against Kellogg Community College, Grand Valley State University, Western Michigan University and Eastern Michigan University.

The plan comes the same day President Donald Trump signed an executive order linking federal aid grants to colleges across the country that succeed in protecting the free speech rights of students of all political beliefs.

House Bill 4436 would prohibit public colleges from quarantining free speech to designated “free speech zones.” Reilly noted that Kellogg Community College settled out of court when students sued the school for having been put in handcuffs and jailed for seven hours for distributing copies of the U.S. Constitution in a public area. One of those students appeared with President Trump at a news conference on his executive order.

“All public colleges—which are supposed to be ‘marketplaces of ideas’—have the duty to protect and promote the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech,” Reilly said. “Not to mention that it’s the taxpayers footing the bill for avoidable legal battles. The Legislature not only has the authority but the duty to protect free speech rights of its citizens and shield its taxpayers from unnecessary financial liability arising from lawsuits to resolve unconstitutional campus policies.”

Reilly’s second measure, House Bill 4435, would require speech policies of Michigan’s public universities to be consistent with the First Amendment as determined by the courts.

“Universities having failed to comply with the courts’ guidance, the duty falls upon the Legislature to establish a framework for speech policies that protect the civil liberties of students and student organizations at public colleges receiving taxpayer money,” Reilly said. “Our state’s universities are supposed to be incubators of diverse viewpoints and role models of public engagement. Anything short of that is shameful.”

Typically, Michigan’s taxpayer-funded universities are able to operate autonomously of the Legislature under an operational autonomy agreement. However this agreement has certain limits. A Michigan 1999 Supreme Court ruling in Federated Publications v MSU Bd of Trustees found that the Legislature can exercise its police power over public universities in order to protect the public welfare.

Both of Reilly’s bills will be formally read into the record April 9.