A panel of 5th Circuit judges on Tuesday questioned the scope of a district court’s injunction blocking Texas’ campus speech restrictions, raising concerns that the order does not clearly identify which university policies officials can enforce.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments over an injunction blocking enforcement of portions of Senate Bill 2972, known as the Campus Protection Act. The bill was a response to pro-Palestinian protests that happened in 2024 at colleges across the state, including the University of Texas.
A federal district judge found that the challenged provisions likely violate the First Amendment because they sweep in protected speech that is not disruptive.
5th Circuit hears arguments over Texas campus speech law
On Tuesday, the state argued that the bill doesn't directly regulate students. Instead, Assistant Solicitor General Daniel Ortner said the law directs universities to adopt campus policies.
Ortner argued that those named in the lawsuit aren't actually the ones who enforce student discipline, instead the deans of students are the officials that enforce policies, and they are not named in the lawsuit.
Ortner also argued that the students should have challenged the specific policies adopted by UT Austin and UT Dallas rather than the state law itself.
One judge asked if a college policy banning all overnight expressive activity would be unconstitutional on its face. Ortner said a policy like that would be hard to defend, but argued that the district court did not conduct the proper legal analysis before issuing an injunction.
Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said the state was artificially separating the law from the university policies adopted to implement it.
The statute and university policies are "two heads of the same snake," Steinbaugh said.
He argued that the use of the word "shall" in the law required universities to adopt the restrictions and that the resulting threat of discipline chilled students' speech.
The court did not issue a bench ruling on Tuesday.
What is Senate Bill 2972?
Senate Bill 2972, also known as the Campus Protection Act, requires Texas public colleges to adopt policies that ban expressive activity on campus from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. and prohibits invited speakers, amplified sound and drums or other percussion during the final two weeks of a semester or term.
The injunction blocked the enforcement of those provisions at UT Austin and UT DAllas and, through the UT System Board of Regents, across the University of Texas system.
Why did the plaintiffs sue?
Student organizations, a student newspaper, advocacy groups and a student at UT Austin and UT Dallas sued after the universities adopted policies implementing the law.
They argued the restrictions were too broad and could apply to protected speech even when it was quiet, peaceful and unrelated to campus disruption.
The plaintiffs said the law could affect late-night student journalism, religious gatherings, political advocacy, invited ministers and other speakers, musical performances and rehearsals.
They also argued that existing university and local rules already addressed genuinely disruptive conduct, excessive noise and safety concerns.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the attorneys said they were not aware of any students who had been punished under the challenged provisions.
The Source: Information in this article comes from documents filed in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and the District Court for the Western District of Texas. Arguments made by attorneys in the case come from oral arguments made in front of a panel of judges from the 5th Circuit on Oct. 6, 2026.