Model Legislation
FIRE’s Legislative and Policy Department works closely with lawmakers from across the country and the political spectrum to protect civil liberties on college campuses. FIRE’s model legislation is available here for consideration.
Campus Free Expression (CAFE) Act
The CAFE Act prohibits public colleges and universities from limiting speech and expressive activity to unconstitutionally restrictive “free speech zones.”
Association and Campus Clubs Equal Status and Support (ACCESS) Act
The ACCESS Act protects freedom of association on campus by prohibiting discrimination against students who organize around shared beliefs. Specifically, it bars public institutions of higher education from denying benefits to a student organization merely because the organization is belief-based or requires voting members to adhere to the organization’s beliefs.
Association and Campus Clubs Equal Status and Support (ACCESS) Act
College Free Press Act
Prohibits institutions of higher education nationwide from censoring student-run campus media. Protects student journalists from punishment solely for expressive activities.
Free Inquiry and Rights for Student Training (FIRST) Act
The FIRST Act requires public institutions of higher education to incorporate free speech training into in-person orientation programming for new students. The training must cover certain aspects of First Amendment law, core free speech principles, and the institution's free speech policies, to help students understand their rights and the rights of others when they arrive on campus.
Free Inquiry and Rights for Student Training Act
Guaranteeing University Academic Rights and Discourse (GUARD) Act
The GUARD Act draws on decades of First Amendment case law to ensure faculty at public colleges and universities can exercise their academic freedom and private speech rights without fear of state discipline. The bill takes constitutional protections that can be costly and time-consuming to vindicate in court and puts them directly into state law, with clear standards for universities and meaningful remedies for faculty.
Guaranteeing University Academic Rights and Discourse Act
Intellectual Freedom Protection Act
Prohibits the use of political litmus tests in college admissions, hiring, and promotion decisions. It bans all loyalty oaths and litmus tests, without regard to viewpoint or ideology.
Intellectual Freedom Protection Act
Student and Administration Equality Act
Guarantees critical due process protections to students at public institutions of higher education facing serious non academic disciplinary proceedings.