In an April 22 article, Robert Gehrke raised alarm that many pieces of legislation pending in legislatures aren’t written from scratch by elected lawmakers, but often originate with model legislation, or from other subject matter experts.
To illustrate that the phenomenon occurs in Utah, Gehrke singled out Rep. Kim Coleman’s legislation on campus free speech, which he incorrectly identified as being a version of the Goldwater Institute’s model legislation.
As the legislative and policy director at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, I worked closely with Rep. Coleman on her bills. FIRE believes strongly in transparency and has made no secret of our involvement.
Language in the bills can be found in multiple state laws because the laws are designed to closely track decisions of the United States Supreme Court. Consistency with First Amendment principles is key. It should worry critics more if the campus free speech bills introduced by legislatures tried to reinvent the wheel and departed from well-established legal precedent.
What at first blush may appear to be problematic is often — as is the case here — actually necessary to ensure the legislation passes constitutional muster.
Joe Cohn, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
