Telling a sex joke is now worthy of investigation, at least according to certain public universities. And depending on state law, inappropriate jokes could even lead to potential jail time for individuals involved.
Of course campus speech codes and state laws don’t explain it like that, but a crackdown on humor is certainly an unintended consequence of overly broad speech codes and the Obama administration’s potentially unconstitutional definition of campus sexual harassment.
For example, at California State University Channel Islands, students are prohibited from even a single occurrence of “derogatory comments” or “slurs,” whether spoken or visual, and even “gestures” according to their resident handbook. Violating the handbook could see you charged with harassment.
At the University of Oregon, a female student was issued the charges of “community disruption; a housing violation; harassment; university disruption; and disorderly conduct” for yelling “I hit it first” out the window at a couple. She was required to set up a hearing to determine her innocence or guilt, but then the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education stepped in to defend her.
“The University of Oregon’s absurd overreaction is the real joke here, and it’s not very funny,” said FIRE Senior Vice President Robert Shibley in a news release. “Using an unconstitutional speech code to punish a student for a joke shows how out of control censorship has become on our campuses in the name of making everyone feel ‘comfortable.’ ”
These speech violations don’t just take place in left-leaning states. And perhaps worse, in Texas, if a professor hears an inappropriate joke but doesn’t report it, that professor can face jail time too.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbot signed provisions into Texas law last month that use criminal law to enforce reporting requirements for “campus sexual harassment.” Because the definition is overly broad, it puts employees in an awkward position.
Any campus employee who “witnesses or receives information” — including hearsay — that may count as sexual harassment under this exceedingly broad definition and fails to report it under Title IX, could face termination and up to six months in jail under SB 212.
FIRE has warned Gov. Abbott about this, stating, “faculty and staff at Texas’s universities could be sent to prison for failing to report speech and conduct that does not even constitute sexual harassment” under the Department of Education’s proposed Title IX regulatory changes.
Oddly, the new Texas law is based off the Obama administration’s guidelines, even though the Trump administration has altered them. Regardless these speech restrictions, both for students on campus and those currently legally bound to report silly or immature jokes, are egregious and dangerous.
Alexander James is a contributor to Red Alert Politics and a freelance journalist.
