Federal Judge David A. Ezra has temporarily blocked major provisions of Texas Senate Bill 2972, halting the University of Texas System's enforcement of restrictions on overnight campus expression, amplified sound, and speakers during the final two weeks of the semester.
In the ruling, Judge Ezra found that the student groups challenging the law are likely to succeed on their claims that SB 2972 violates their First Amendment rights.
Ezra wrote that while the law instructs universities to uphold free speech, it simultaneously "requires universities to adopt policies that violate those very constitutional protections."
"The Court cannot trust universities to enforce their policies constitutionally while Plaintiffs are left in a state of uncertainty," said Ezra.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) filed a lawsuit on September 3, arguing that the law's ban on expressive activity between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. and its limits on protest locations violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
"The First Amendment doesn't set when the sun goes down," said FIRE attorney JT Morris. "University students have expressive freedom whether it's midnight or midday."
Senator Brandon Creighton, the bill's author who recently resigned to become Texas Tech University System chancellor, defends the law as protecting both free speech and campus order.
"The ruling represents only a temporary stay by one judge," he said. "I'm confident the law will ultimately be upheld."
The Court's decisions mark a significant early victory for student speech advocates while the broader legal battle over Texas's campus expression law remains unresolved.
