The Denver Post: Colorado lawmakers want to give free rein to free speech on college campuses by eliminating free-speech zones and turning them into monuments to the First Amendment.

Senate Bill 62 also would give students the right to take a college or university to court — but not collect monetary damages — should they feel their free speech rights have been violated.

The bill would ensure the free exchange of ideas on a college campus, which is “critical to our public higher education institutions’ mission as a place of learning and marketplace of ideas,” said Sen. Tim Neville, R-Littleton.

Entire campuses should be open to free speech, not just defined areas, Neville added.

“The rise of so-called ‘Free Speech’ or ‘Safe Space’ zones spreads the incorrect idea that our students should limit their speech to confined areas — often out of sight of the public or their peers,” Neville said.

“An institution of higher education shall not designate any area on campus as a free speech zone,” the bill says. “A free speech zone that exists on campus … shall be converted to a monument or memorial” that honors the First Amendment right of free expression.

“We just wanted to set up some parameters for colleges and universities in Colorado,” he added.

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