Federal judge allows suit against Texas governor’s campus speech order to move forward

A federal judge in Austin ruled Monday that pro-Palestinian student groups at Texas’ public universities can proceed with a lawsuit arguing Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order banning antisemitic speech on campus is unconstitutional.

In May, pro-Palestine student organizations at the University of Texas branches and the University of Houston sued Abbott, state universities and university presidents over the order.

The suit seeks a preliminary injunction blocking universities from enforcing Abbott’s mandate. That order — issued as protests against Israel’s war in Gaza roiled campuses nationwide — demands state universities update their free speech policies and incorporate the definition of antisemitism established by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman not only deemed that the suit can move forward. He also stated that the plaintiffs had a strong case for their argument.

“The Court finds that Plaintiffs are likely to succeed in their claim … that the GA-44-compliant university policies impose impermissible viewpoint discrimination that chills speech in violation of the First Amendment,” Pitman wrote.

Pitman also ruled that student organization Palestine Solidarity Committee’s count against UT-Austin president Jay Hartzell could proceed.

That count maintains that the university’s crackdown on protesters in April and the group’s ongoing suspension from campus “was a pretext for impermissible viewpoint discrimination and violated the First Amendment.” At UT-Austin, state and local authorities arrested more than 130 demonstrators.

UT-Austin experienced the brunt of the state’s crackdown on what Abbott labeled hate speech. However, protesters at UT-San Antonio also maintain that school administrators violated the First Amendment by telling demonstrators they couldn’t chant words including “Israel” and “Zionism” during rallies.

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This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2024.