Kentucky governor signs vital law protecting free speech on public college campuses
The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Zack Pruitt regarding Kentucky’s passage of HB 254, a bill that requires state-funded public colleges and universities to adopt policies protecting students and faculty’s freedom of expression on campus, so long as the speech is lawful and does not disrupt the functioning of the college or university:“Kentucky’s public universities and colleges are meant to be free and open to the exchange of ideas—a place where future teachers, lawyers, doctors, judges, community leaders, and voters can exercise their fundamental, constitutionally protected freedom of speech. This new law helps ensure that public universities continue to be places where intellectual diversity flourishes and both students and faculty are able to engage in the exchange of ideas rather than being censored on campus. We commend Gov. Bevin and the Kentucky Legislature for protecting First Amendment freedoms.”
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ABOUT Zack Pruitt
Zack Pruitt serves as senior counsel and director of U.S. government relations at Alliance Defending Freedom. In this role, he promotes ADF's policy and legislative work at the national level on behalf of the broader ADF legislative advocacy team. As a principal strategist, Pruitt oversees the federal and state government relations teams and provides legal counsel regarding ADF’s core issues to state officials, members and staff of the U.S. Congress, the White House, and federal agencies. Prior to joining ADF, Pruitt served as senior policy analyst at Americans for Prosperity and director of public policy for the Family Action Council of Tennessee. Pruitt earned his Juris Doctor with a certificate in International and Comparative Law from St. Louis University School of Law. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He is member of the state bar in Tennessee and the District of Columbia and is also admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court.