Texas Public University Restrictions on Anti-Israel Speech Likely Violate First Amendment

[A]s a threshold issue, the Court finds the incorporation of this specific definition of antisemitism is viewpoint discrimination. In general, including the word “antisemitism” in speech policies, perhaps in the context of protecting students from discrimination and harassment, is not inherently a First Amendment violation. The Defendants wish to view the speech policies in this vacuum, claiming the revised policies do not in fact prohibit any specific expression. But here, the speech policies do not leave “antisemitism” open to constitutional definitions and interpretations, because GA-44 mandated a specific definition. That definition, by incorporation of the IHRA’s examples, labels “calling the State of Israel a racist endeavor” and “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” as antisemitic. And students can be punished for antisemitic speech under the revised speech policies. Plaintiffs follow this…