A public university in Louisiana has a speech code that permits students to express their beliefs freely for two hours per week at three predetermined locations. The Northwestern State University policy requires students to apply 24-48 hours in advance before holding a public demonstration or assembly, and limits such activities to “one, 2-hour time period every 7 days, commencing on Monday.” Public demonstrations are limited to three locations on campus: the Student Union Plaza, Prather Coliseum East Parking Lot and a so-called “Green Space between CAPA and Varnado Hall.”
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education dubbed the Northwestern State policy its “Speech Code of the Month.”
“Each of these restrictions is problematic in its own right, but the cumulative effect of requiring prior notice and limiting protests to just two hours per week, at one of just three locations on campus, is severely restrictive,” wrote FIRE’s Samantha Harris in a blog post on Wednesday.
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education dubbed the Northwestern State policy its “Speech Code of the Month.”
“Each of these restrictions is problematic in its own right, but the cumulative effect of requiring prior notice and limiting protests to just two hours per week, at one of just three locations on campus, is severely restrictive,” wroteFIRE’s Samantha Harris in a blog post on Wednesday.
“For this reason, Northwestern State’s demonstration policy is our August 2016 Speech Code of the Month,” she wrote.