The Illinois Campus College Press Act, 110 ILCS 13/1, protects campus media from censorship. It was passed as a direct response to the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeal’s 2005 decision in Hosty v. Carter. The Illinois New Voices law was enacted in 2016 to provide similar legal protections to high school student media.
Sec. 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the College Campus Press Act. |
Sec. 5. Definitions. For purposes of this Act: |
Sec. 10. Public forum. All campus media produced primarily by students at a State-sponsored institution of higher learning is a public forum for expression by the student journalists and editors at the particular institution. Campus media, whether campus-sponsored or noncampus-sponsored, is not subject to prior review by public officials of a State-sponsored institution of higher learning. |
Sec. 15. Grammar and journalism standards. Collegiate student editors of campus media are responsible for determining the news, opinions, feature content, and advertising content of campus media. This Section does not prevent a collegiate media adviser from teaching professional standards of grammar and journalism to collegiate student journalists. A collegiate media adviser must not be terminated, transferred, removed, otherwise disciplined, or retaliated against for refusing to suppress protected free expression rights of collegiate student journalists and of collegiate student editors. |
Sec. 20. Injunction and declaratory relief. A collegiate student enrolled in a State-sponsored institution of higher learning or a collegiate media advisor of a State-sponsored institution of higher learning may commence a civil action to obtain appropriate injunctive and declaratory relief as determined by a court for violation of Section 10 of this Act by such State-sponsored institution of higher learning. Upon motion, a court may award attorney’s fees to a prevailing party in a civil action brought under this Section. |
Sec. 30. Discipline; unprotected speech. Nothing in this Act prohibits the imposition of discipline for harassment, threats, or intimidation, unless constitutionally protected, or for speech that is not constitutionally protected, including obscenity or incitement. |
Sec. 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes. |