Amendment 198cb

On the printed bill, delete everything after the enacting clause and insert:

" Section 1. That chapter 13-53 be amended by adding a NEW SECTION to read:

(2) "Materially and substantially disrupt," to significantly hinder, with intent or knowledge of doing so, the expressive activity of another person or group, to prevent the communication of the message, or to prevent the transaction of the business of a lawful meeting, gathering, or procession by:

(b) Physically blocking or significantly hindering any person from attending, listening to, viewing, or otherwise participating in an expressive activity. Conduct that materially disrupts may not include conduct that is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Protected conduct includes lawful protests and counter-protests in the outdoor areas of campus generally accessible to the members of the public, except during times when those areas have been reserved in advance for other events, and any minor, brief, or fleeing nonviolent disruption of events that is isolated and short term in duration;

(3) "Outdoor areas of campus," the generally accessible outside areas of campus where members of the campus community are commonly allowed, such as grassy areas, walkways, or other similar common areas not including outdoor areas where access is restricted to a majority of the campus community;

(6) "Student-on-student harassment," expression that targets a person on the basis of membership in a class protected under federal, state or local law that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it unreasonably interferes with the person's access to educational opportunities or benefits provided by the public institution of higher education;

(7) "Student organization," an officially recognized group at a public institution of higher education comprised of admitted students that receive benefits through the public institution of higher education.

Section 2. That chapter 13-53 be amended by adding a NEW SECTION to read:

An expressive activity protected under the provisions of this Act includes any lawful verbal or written means by which persons may communicate ideas to one another, including all forms of peaceful assembly, protests, speeches and guest speakers, distribution of literature, carrying signs,

circulating petitions, and the recording and publication of video and audio recorded in a public outdoor area of a public institution of higher education.

Section 3. That chapter 13-53 be amended by adding a NEW SECTION to read:

Any outdoor area of a campus of a public institution of higher education in this state is a public forum. A public institution of higher education may maintain and enforce reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions applicable to those outdoor areas of campus if those restrictions are narrowly tailored in service of a significant institutional interest and only if those restrictions employ clear, published, content, and viewpoint-neutral criteria, and provide for ample alternative means of expression. Any restriction shall allow for any student, student organization, faculty or any invited guest of any student, student organization, or faculty to spontaneously and contemporaneously assemble and distribute literature. Nothing in this section limits the right of student expression elsewhere on campus.

Section 4. That chapter 13-53 be amended by adding a NEW SECTION to read:

Any person who wishes to engage in noncommercial expressive activity in the open outdoor areas on campus may do so freely, as long as the person's conduct is not unlawful and does not materially and substantially disrupt the functioning of the public institution of higher education, subject only to the requirements in section 3 of this Act.

Nothing in this section may be interpreted to prevent a public institution of higher education from prohibiting, limiting, or restricting expression that is not protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, including any true threat or expression intended to provoke and likely to produce imminent lawless action, or prohibiting student-on-student harassment.

Nothing in this Act may be construed to enable any person, including any member of the campus community, to engage in conduct that intentionally, materially, and substantially disrupts another person's expressive activity if that activity is occurring in a campus space reserved for that activity under the exclusive use or control of a particular group.

Section 5. That the code be amended by adding a NEW SECTION to read:

Nothing in this Act may be construed to prohibit any content restriction on speech that is reasonably related to a legitimate pedagogical purpose, including classroom environment rules enacted by faculty.

For purposes of this section, the classroom environment includes any location where and while instruction is occurring.

Section 6. That chapter 13-53 be amended by adding a NEW SECTION to read:

Each public institution of higher education shall make public in the institution's handbook, on the institution's website, and through the institution's orientation programs for students the policies, regulations, and expectations of students regarding free expression on campus as provided in this Act.

Section 7. That chapter 13-53 be amended by adding a NEW SECTION to read:

Each public institution of higher education shall develop materials, programs, and procedures to ensure that those persons who have responsibility for discipline or education of students, such as administrators, campus police officers, residence life officials, and professors, understand the policies, regulations, and duties of the public institution of higher education regarding free expression on campus as provided in this Act.

Section 8. That chapter 13-53 be amended by adding a NEW SECTION to read:

Any person whose right of expression has been violated by an action of an institution of higher education or an agent of the institution acting in an official capacity that is prohibited under this Act may bring an action against that institution or any agent of the institution acting in the agent's official capacity in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover compensatory damages, plus court costs and reasonable attorney fees. If the court finds that a violation of this section occurred, the court shall award the aggrieved party at least five hundred dollars or reasonable compensatory damages, whichever amount is greater, for each violation. The total compensatory damages available to the plaintiff in a case arising from a single violation of this section may not exceed one hundred thousand dollars, excluding court costs and reasonable attorney fees. If there are multiple plaintiffs, the court shall divide the damages equally among the plaintiffs until the maximum award is exhausted.

Section 9. That chapter 13-53 be amended by adding a NEW SECTION to read:

A person is required to bring suit for violation of this section no later than one year after the day the cause of action accrues. For purposes of calculating the one-year limitation period, each day that the violation persists, and each day that a policy in violation of this section remains in effect, constitutes a new violation of this section and, therefore, a new day that the cause of action has accrued."