Maryland Regents Reject Porn Policy

The University of Maryland Board of Regents rejected a proposal that would require all films shown on campus to have "educational content," the Student Press Law Center reports.

The rule, proposed by a Maryland state senator, came in response to the planned showing of a pornographic film on the College Park, Md., campus, the report says. (Students showed parts of the video despite the outcry and spoke about freedom of speech at the same event.) The policy proposal sparked a fierce debate on campus over the freedom of speech and the First Amendment. Opponents of the screening idea applauded the regents' decision.

"The students couldn't be happier," Sarah Elfreth, appointed student member of the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, tells the SPLC. "We really feel like this is a victory for free speech . . . . What the board said is that we're going to follow the laws of the land."

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