What could be more constitutional than the U.S. Constitution?
Yet, students have been arrested for handing out the nation's founding document, because it's deemed unacceptable speech on a college campus.
In fact, such incidents have occurred mostly every year since 2010.
Colleges repeatedly are being told by courts that they cannot set up a small fenced area behind a maintenance building and call it a "free speech zone," disallowing ordinary communications on all other areas of campus.
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Yet, Wednesday night's riot at the University of California at Berkeley was precisely an attempt to squelch the speech of conservative activist Milo Yiannopoulos, who had been invited by the campus chapter of College Republicans.
Leftists were so outraged that they set fires, destroyed stores and injured people.
WND long has reported the politically correct speech limits on university and college campuses, which usually are found illegal when challenged in court.
But now there's an organized pushback to such constitutional violations: a model law proposed in a report "calling on public universities to adopt policies that would punish students who physically block other students from attending campus events where unpopular speakers or ideas will be discussed."
The report, "Campus Free Speech: A Legislative Proposal," comes from the Goldwater Institute in collaboration with Stanley Kurtz of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
A spokeswoman said the report explains that, yes, people do have a constitutional right to hear speakers of their choice or exchange ideas, and violence preventing free speech should not go unpunished.
Explains the free speech report: "In her 2016 convocation speech, Brown University President Christina Paxson explained that a reporter had recently asked school officials if Brown had established any 'safe spaces' on campus. 'What on earth are they referring to?' Paxson said. 'Idea-free zones staffed by thought police, where disagreement is prohibited?' While 'safe spaces' have become the stuff of Saturday Night Live skits, the truth is, this kind of challenge to campus free speech is now widespread. Surveys show that student support for restrictive speech codes and campus bans on controversial speakers is at historic heights."
The report said that nowhere "is the need for open debate more important than on America's college campuses."
"Students maturing from teenagers into adults must be confronted with new ideas, especially ideas with which they disagree, if they are to become informed and responsible members of a free society."
Calling free speech "the increasingly imperiled principle and practice" on campuses, the report proposes legislation that would fix a number of problems.
It suggests an official university policy that "strongly affirms the importance of free expression, nullifying any existing restrictive speech codes in the process."
The proposed legislation also would prevent administrators from "disinviting" speakers, set up disciplinary actions for students "and anyone else" who interferes with others' free speech, and allow victims to recover court costs and attorney's fees.
It also would affirm that universities should remain neutral on controversies and ensure that students know about the policies and report to authorities on the problems that develop.
"To my knowledge, this is the most comprehensive legislative proposal ever offered to protect and preserve campus free speech. It promises to kick off a national debate on how best to address the ever-growing threats to freedom of thought and expression at our colleges and universities," said Kurtz, senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
"The Campus Free Speech Act gives the First Amendment bite," said Jim Manley, senior attorney at the Goldwater Institute and a co-author of the act and report. 'Where this bill becomes law, there will be real consequences for anyone – including protesters, administrators, or professors – who tries to prevent others from expressing their opinions. The legislation also provides robust due process protections for anyone accused of trying to silence speech."
The movement already has begun. The institute worked on legislation in Arizona last year that made college campuses free speech zones.
WND also reported when a state lawmaker in Washington state proposed a financial penalty for violating the Constitution.
The bill drafted by Rep. Matt Manweller included a fine of at least $500 for a university's "active suppression of students' First Amendment rights." And it would grow by $50 per day until the violation is removed.
In Colorado, the Denver Post said, lawmakers are working on a plan to "give free rein to free speech on college campuses by eliminating free-speech zones."
Senate Bill 62 also would give students the right to take a college or university to court if they believe their free speech rights have been violated, even though they couldn't collect monetary damages.
Sen. Tim Neville, R-Littleton, explained the plan simply would ensure the free exchange of ideas.
"The rise of so-called 'Free Speech' or 'Safe Space' zones spreads the incorrect idea that our students should limit their speech to confined areas – often out of sight of the public or their peers," Neville said.
The report explains: "The primary function of a university is the discovery, improvement, transmission, and dissemination of knowledge by means of research, teaching, discussion, and debate. To fulfill this function a free interchange of ideas is necessary not only within its walls but with the world beyond. It follows that the university must strive to ensure the fullest degree of intellectual freedom. Although the need for intellectual freedom cannot by itself fully resolve the question of what to teach or how to structure the curriculum, free expression is a central value and priority of university life.
"Because the university is committed to free and open inquiry in all matters, it guarantees all members of the university community the broadest possible latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn. Except insofar as limitations on that freedom are necessary to the functioning of the university, the university fully respects and supports the freedom of all members of the university community to discuss any problem that presents itself."
It specifically explains that people undoubtedly will meet up with others with whom they disagree and ideas they may not like, but "it is not the proper role of the university to attempt to shield individuals from speech protected by the First Amendment, including, without limitation, ideas and opinions they find unwelcome, disagreeable, or even deeply offensive."
The Berkeley riots, in which at least six were injured, show, according to Young Americans for Liberty, that schools need help in protecting Free Speech.
"Instances like this prove that even the most liberal, open-minded campuses in our country harbor intolerance for those that disagree with them. Simply because they did not support the message and principles that Yiannopoulos stands for, students and protesters wreaked havoc and violence ensued. The violence caught the attention of President Trump as he tweeted, "If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?" the group said.
YAL President Cliff Maloney Jr. said: "Speakers of all political persuasions should be welcome at universities, especially public ones. Free academia & free thought is essential to the mission of a university, and the well-being of a free society. Protests like the ones at UC Berkeley reflect a dangerous, anti-free speech trend on America’s college campuses."