A federal appeals court struck down the University of Central Florida’s speech code on Thursday night, siding with conservatives who accused the public research institution of using anti-bias policies to silence right-leaning thought.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit said it was unanimously overturning the university’s discriminatory harassment policy and other anti-bias policies for being “almost certainly unconstitutionally overbroad.”
Judge Kevin Newsom, joined by Judge Stanley Marcus and District Judge Richard Story, noted that the university’s anti-bias policies punished a wide range of verbal and electronic expression on topics ranging from “race” and “religion” to “political affiliation” and “sex.”
“The discriminatory-harassment policy objectively chills speech because its operation would cause a reasonable student to fear expressing potentially unpopular beliefs,” Judge Newsom wrote in the opinion.
Judge Marcus wrote in his concurring opinion that “a society risks falling into the abyss of ignorance” when it sacrifices the pursuit of truth to other concerns.
“History provides us with ample warning of those times and places when colleges and universities have stopped pursuing truth and have instead turned themselves into cathedrals for the worship of certain dogma,” Judge Marcus wrote.
Judge Story, who serves in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, sat in on the ruling by designation.
All three judges were appointed by former President Donald Trump.
Spokesman Chad Binette said in a statement Friday night that UCF is reviewing the ruling and its policies.
“We wholeheartedly agree universities should be a place for civil discourse and the free exchange of ideas,” Mr. Binette said.
“We remain fully committed to encouraging differing viewpoints, free speech and free expression – and we recommit to ensuring our policies are consistent with those ideals,” he added.
The college’s discriminatory harassment policy bans such harassment, saying it “may take many forms, including verbal acts, name-calling, graphic or written statements (via the use of cell phones or the Internet), or other conduct that may be humiliating or physically threatening.”
Speech First, a nonprofit association of U.S. college students and alumni, filed the lawsuit in February 2021 on behalf of three anonymous UCF students who said the policies made it clear they would suffer for expressing their opinions on hot-button political issues.
The group said the college’s discriminatory harassment policy, computer use policy and bias-related incidents response team were meant to restrain, deter and suppress those opinions.
The Middle District of Florida initially ruled that Speech First lacked First Amendment standing to bring the lawsuit, noting that the university’s bias-related incidents response team could only “refer” students to administrators for punishment.
Judge Newsom reversed that ruling, saying the district court incorrectly overlooked whether the policies themselves were constitutional.
In his opinion, he quoted the words of one UCF student from the original complaint.
The judge noted that Student A wanted to express the opinions that “abortion is immoral,” that the government “should not be able to force religious organizations to recognize marriages with which they disagree,” that “affirmative action is deeply unfair,” that “a man cannot become a woman because he ‘feels’ like one” and that “illegal immigration is dangerous.”
Cherise Trump, executive director of Speech First, claimed victory Friday.
“This court decision should send an alarming message to anyone attempting to chill, silence, or bully into submission others’ opinions,” Ms. Trump said in a statement.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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