Montclair State University in New Jersey reversed its new protest policy 11 days after it was announced, NorthJersey.com reported.
The policy required that protests and leafletting be restricted to a small section of campus and limited silent actions like displaying signs. Community members and free speech advocates criticized the policy for being “excessive” and violating the First Amendment.
The revised policy broadens where protests can occur, but it still restricts such actions from taking place within 100 feet of any building. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said the regulation still goes too far. “It effectively means that most outdoor spaces on the campus are off-limits to students,” a FIRE spokesperson told NorthJersey.com.
An MSU spokesperson argued that distance is needed to maintain normal university operations. The university was previously entangled in a free speech controversy when a student group filed a lawsuit alleging that the university prevented them from holding a gun rights rally on campus; the lawsuit ended in a settlement, part of which required the administrators to revise institutional speech policies to be less restrictive.
