Lawmakers advance bill pitched as university campus free speech protection

The Utah House approved a bill differentiating between protected free speech and harassment on college campuses.The controversial legislation includes a provision that would prevent a university from punishing any form of speech that doesn’t fall under the Supreme Court’s definition of harassment in the 1999 ruling in Davis vs. Monroe County Board of Education.Following a lively debate, the House voted 44 to 25 to send HB158 to the Senate.Bill sponsor Rep. Kim Coleman, R-West Jordan,