Free Right to Expression in Education Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1672 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to ensure that public institutions of higher education protect expressive activities in the outdoor areas on campus. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 11, 2019 Mr. ROONEY of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to ensure that public institutions of higher education protect ex- pressive activities in the outdoor areas on campus. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Free Right to Expres- 4 sion in Education Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. CAMPUS INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS. 6 Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 7 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) is amended— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1672.IH H1672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1672 IH (1) in section 487(a), by adding at the end the 1 following: 2 ‘‘(30) In the case of an institution that is a 3 public institution, the institution will comply with 4 the expressive activity protections described in sec- 5 tion 493E.’’; and 6 (2) in part G, by adding at the end the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘SEC. 493E. CAMPUS INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS. 9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF EXPRESSIVE ACTIVITIES.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 11 ‘expressive activity’ includes— 12 ‘‘(A) peacefully assembling, protesting, or 13 speaking; 14 ‘‘(B) distributing literature; 15 ‘‘(C) carrying a sign; or 16 ‘‘(D) circulating a petition. 17 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.—In this section, the term 18 ‘expressive activity’ does not include violence, har- 19 assment, or obscenity (as defined by the Secretary in 20 accordance with the precedents of the Supreme 21 Court of the United States). 22 ‘‘(b) EXPRESSIVE ACTIVITIES AT AN INSTITUTION.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each public institution of 24 higher education participating in a program under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1672.IH H1672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1672 IH this title may not prohibit, subject to paragraph (2), 1 a person from freely engaging in noncommercial ex- 2 pressive activity in an outdoor area on the institu- 3 tion’s campus if the person’s conduct is lawful. 4 ‘‘(2) RESTRICTIONS.—An institution of higher 5 education described in paragraph (1) may maintain 6 and enforce reasonable time, place, or manner re- 7 strictions on an expressive activity in an outdoor 8 area of the institution’s campus, if the restriction— 9 ‘‘(A) is narrowly tailored to serve a signifi- 10 cant institutional interest; 11 ‘‘(B) is based on published, content-neu- 12 tral, and viewpoint-neutral criteria; and 13 ‘‘(C) leaves open ample alternative chan- 14 nels for communication. 15 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—The protections provided 16 under paragraph (1) do not apply to expressive ac- 17 tivity in an area on an institution’s campus that is 18 not an outdoor area. 19 ‘‘(c) CAUSES OF ACTION.— 20 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.—The following persons 21 may bring an action in a Federal court of competent 22 jurisdiction to enjoin a violation of this section or to 23 recover compensatory damages, reasonable court 24 costs, or reasonable attorney fees: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1672.IH H1672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1672 IH ‘‘(A) The Attorney General. 1 ‘‘(B) A person claiming that the person’s 2 expressive activity rights, as described in sub- 3 section (b)(1), were violated. 4 ‘‘(2) ACTIONS.—In an action brought under 5 this subsection, if the court finds a violation of this 6 section, the court— 7 ‘‘(A) shall— 8 ‘‘(i) enjoin the violation; and 9 ‘‘(ii) if a person whose expressive ac- 10 tivity rights were violated brought the ac- 11 tion, award the person— 12 ‘‘(I) not less than $500 for an 13 initial violation; and 14 ‘‘(II) if the person notifies the in- 15 stitution of the violation, $50 for each 16 day the violation continues after the 17 notification if the institution did not 18 act to discontinue the cause of the 19 violation; and 20 ‘‘(B) may award a prevailing plaintiff— 21 ‘‘(i) compensatory damages; 22 ‘‘(ii) reasonable court costs; or 23 ‘‘(iii) reasonable attorney fees. 24 ‘‘(d) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1672.IH H1672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1672 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 1 graph (3), an action under this section may not be 2 brought later than 1 year after the date on which 3 the cause of action accrues. 4 ‘‘(2) CONTINUING VIOLATION.—Each day that 5 a violation of this section continues after an initial 6 violation of this section, and each day that an insti- 7 tution’s policy in violation of this section remains in 8 effect, shall constitute a continuing violation of this 9 section. 10 ‘‘(3) EXTENSION.—For a continuing violation 11 described in paragraph (2), the limitation described 12 in paragraph (1) shall extend to 1 year after the 13 date on which the most recent violation occurs.’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1672.IH H1672 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS