A lawsuit filed last year by three faculty members at the University of Texas at Austin that sought to reverse the state’s controversial campus-carry law has been dismissed by a federal judge, The Texas Tribune reports.
Lee Yeakel, the judge presiding over the case in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, wrote that the professors — Jennifer Lynn Glass, a professor of sociology; Lisa L. Moore, a professor of English; and Mia Carter, an associate professor of English — did not have standing to sue. Judge Yeakel wrote that the professors could not provide “concrete evidence to substantiate their fears” that the law would affect free speech on the campus.
“The chilling effect appears to arise from plaintiffs’ subjective belief that a person may be more likely to cause harm to a professor or student as a result of the law and policy,” he wrote.
Renea Hicks, a lawyer for the professors, told The Texas Tribune that the case is not over yet, because while the judge dismissed it, he did not respond to some of the professors’ arguments aside from the First Amendment.
“We had other claims in the lawsuit beyond that — a Second Amendment claim, an equal-protection claim. The order accompanying his dismissal doesn’t seem to address those issues,” he said. “So there’s a bit of confusion on our part.”
Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas, celebrated the decision. “The court’s ruling today is the correct outcome,” he said.
