Chapter 3.3. Speech And Other Communication of California Education Code >> Division 10. >> Title 3. >> Part 59. >> Chapter 3.3.
(a) No private postsecondary educational institution shall
make or enforce a rule subjecting a student to disciplinary sanctions
solely on the basis of conduct that is speech or other communication
that, when engaged in outside the campus or facility of a private
postsecondary institution, is protected from governmental restriction
by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Section
2 of Article I of the California Constitution.
(b) A student enrolled in a private postsecondary institution at
the time that the institution has made or enforced any rule in
violation of subdivision (a) may commence a civil action to obtain
appropriate injunctive and declaratory relief as determined by the
court. Upon motion, a court may award attorney's fees to a prevailing
plaintiff in a civil action pursuant to this section.
(c) This section does not apply to a private postsecondary
educational institution that is controlled by a religious
organization, to the extent that the application of this section
would not be consistent with the religious tenets of the
organization.
(d) This section does not authorize the prior restraint of student
speech.
(e) This section does not prohibit the imposition of discipline
for harassment, threats, or intimidation, unless constitutionally
protected.
(f) This section does not prohibit an institution from adopting
rules and regulations that are designed to prevent hate violence, as
defined in subdivision (a) of Section 4 of Chapter 1363 of the
Statutes of 1992, from being directed at students in a manner that
denies them their full participation in the educational process, so
long as the rules and regulations conform to standards established by
the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Section 2
of Article I of the California Constitution for citizens generally.