An extensively altered and shortened version of a bill to ban colleges and universities from retaliating against faculty members cleared the Louisiana House this week, with a unanimous vote of 103-0.
But lawmakers approved the measure without any provision that would have punished the university or individual(s) who violated a professor’s rights, in each case, and for each offense. Rep. Charles Owen, R-Rosepine, authored House Bill 1008.
As Louisiana Public Radio reports, the Central Louisiana lawmaker says college professors should not have to worry about retaliation for their research, controversial subject matter or exercising academic free speech.
Owen said, “I have concerns that we have faculty members who are often retaliated against and pushed around, and I would like to send a clear signal that in the state of Louisiana we value academic freedom.”
The issue of professors' academic free speech attracted statewide attention in the aftermath of two LSU tenured professors who made derogatory remarks about President Donald Trump and Governor Jeff Landry. One resigned and another lost his job.
ORIGINAL TEXT
– Penalties & Liability (Text Now Removed)
The original text of the legislation also proposed potential “referral to the attorney general or district attorney for potential criminal prosecution under applicable laws, including but not limited to malfeasance in office.”
A third exclusion of the original text, regarding punishment against a university or individual who violated a professor’s rights, covered liability of all financial, professional, and emotional harm.
As for timing of filing a complaint, the original bill stated, “An aggrieved faculty member may bring a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction within two years of the violation.”
All the provisions which spelled out the penalties and potential liability were removed from amended HB 1008. Those removals also left no new mechanisms in place for a faculty member to seek any kind of legal recourse for a perceived violation of their rights under this new law which forbids retribution for their exercise of academic free speech.
Among the other provisions also removed were any mentions of compensatory or punitive damages, reinstatement of their employment, or any compensation for court costs.
After clearing the full House, the amended HB 1008 now heads to the Louisiana Senate Education Committee.
NATIONAL RESEARCH & POLLING
- Faculty Academic Freedoms
For further insights into the subject of professors’ academic freedom of speech, one useful guide comes from the Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).
In the nonpartisan, nonprofit organization’s 2024 Faculty Survey Report entitled, “Silence in the Classroom,” it provided helpful perspectives into the thinking of 6,269 higher education faculty, both tenured and non-tenured alike, across 55 four-year colleges and universities in the United States.
Some revealing statistics included the fact:
* 35% of faculty said they recently toned down their writing for fear of controversy.
* 14% reported suffering discipline or threats of discipline for either their teaching, research, academic talks, or other off-campus speech.
* 23% of faculty worry about losing their jobs because someone misunderstands something they have said or done.
The research gives historical context, with just one of many examples, comparing some of the percentages above to those of the McCarthy era of the early 1950s, in which the responses then paled in comparison to what is being seen today on campuses across the country.
