A federal appeals court in New Orleans heard arguments Tuesday, Oct. 6, over whether the University of Texas System may enforce a 2025 state law that limits protests and other expressive activity on public college campuses. The lawsuit was brought by students and student groups at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at Dallas.
The law, Senate Bill 2972, known as the Campus Protection Act, requires Texas public colleges to restrict expressive activity between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. and during the last two weeks of each semester. During those windows it also bars invited speakers, amplified sound and percussion instruments. Lawmakers approved it in 2025 after pro-Palestinian protests spread across college campuses nationwide, and it took effect Sept. 1, 2025.
On Oct. 14, 2025, a federal judge in Austin temporarily blocked key provisions, finding the students were likely to win their First Amendment claims. UT System officials appealed that order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
The arguments
Assistant Solicitor General Daniel Ortner, arguing for the state, told the judges the law does not regulate speech itself but directs colleges to write their own policies, and that the students sued the wrong officials because campus deans, not UT System leaders, enforce those policies. Asked whether a college policy banning all overnight expressive activity would be unconstitutional on its face, Ortner said such a policy would be difficult to defend, according to The Texas Tribune.